Most employees dread the idea of performance evaluations at work, seeing it as an ultimately pointless, but obligatory process. These days, many companies have introduced the use of self-evaluation with the purpose of better participation and active engagement with employees regarding their work performance; through this method, employees are expected to set personal job goals and career goals based on how they perceive their own work performance, which in turn pushes employees to be more self-aware of their work ethic and how to actively improve themselves.
As with more traditional performance evaluations, the purpose of self-evaluation is to promote more effective discussions regarding an employee’s work performance. Giving employees a voice also ensures that individual accomplishments and goals are documented based on individual feedback. Asking employees detailed questions in their evaluation forms such as “How do you feel you have contributed to your department?” and “Do you feel you have accomplished your annual goals?” can help put performance in perspective. These questions should make employees reflect on how their work impacts their department and company as a whole, and this helps management to better monitor performance overall. In addition, employees may be more proactive in addressing their own shortcomings if they are discovered through honest self-reflection, instead of simply having them pointed out by a supervisor.
Using self-evaluation has its benefits as a motivational tool, and as an overall better process to better understand how employees view their own performance, but there are important steps businesses need to take in order to maximise its effectiveness. Some studies have shown that self-evaluations provide a link between job satisfaction and employee self-worth; maximising the effectiveness of these evaluations therefore means asking the right questions regarding an employee’s perception of their own performance. For example, asking employees if they feel in control of their work, or if they feel they are on track in their career, can help to paint a bigger picture of employee attitude towards work and how it can be improved.
One problem with self-evaluations is that employees find it difficult to make an honest evaluation of themselves; they may struggle to avoid either boasting too much about their performance, or shooting themselves in the foot by being too brutally honest about their shortcomings. Employees can also find themselves confused about how their evaluations will be used and whether their responses will impact their chances of a promotion or other career opportunities. To combat these potential issues, it is best for HR departments to be transparent about the purpose of their evaluations and to reveal who will have access to them. It is best to ask employees what aspects they like about their job, or what they are best at, in order to demonstrate the idea that management wants genuine communication with the employees to better support them in their career, and to give them tasks or projects that cater to their strengths and interests.
Self-evaluations as a whole can be a very effective tool for a company when used properly. They have the potential to better actively engage employees with the evaluation process and encourage them to make honest self-reflections to improve themselves. However, to ensure these evaluations have the desired effect, it is important to ask the right questions that push employees towards a meaningful reflection, and to show that higher management is willing to communicate with employees to help them along their career path and improve their overall work experience.
Edward Mah
Sources
https://hbr.org/2013/03/how-to-write-the-dreaded-self-appraisal
https://www.employeeconnect.com/blog/employee-self-evaluation-phrases-examples/
https://www.thebalance.com/use-an-employee-self-evaluation-1918856
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/boosting-job-performance-raising-employee-core-ascanio-pignatelli