One of the fundamentals necessary for self-development is self evaluation and this is very necessary if you work for an organization. Your ability to self-evaluate will be pivotal in ensuring you get a good report during performance reviews.
Self-evaluation involves answering a couple of questions that require a whole lot of reflection regarding your weaknesses, strengths, goals, inspirations, and accomplishments in the workplace. It offers you the chance to showcase your accomplishments and own up to your mistakes.
In most cases, this practice is usually awkward for both employees and employers. Nevertheless, if it is done properly, it has major benefits for both the individual who participates and the organization as a whole. Visit Teamly.com to learn more on how to improve your organization’s growth.
Therefore, it becomes necessary to learn how to carry out this practice in the right manner. Hence, in this article, we will provide you with the important things you need to know to ensure that the activity benefits every party involved.
Let’s begin, shall we?
Self Evaluation Benefits
The following are the benefits of this practice to workers and the organization in which they work:
1. Builds Self-awareness
When we talk about self-awareness, we are referring to being able to focus and understand your feelings, action, and thoughts. A person with proper self-awareness can understand how they are being seen by others. Hence, they can positively harness their strengths and overcome their challenges.
When employees are self-aware, they affect the bottom line of the organization positively. This, in turn, contributes to the growth of the company.
2. Encourages Honesty and Development
One of the key aims of this activity is to ensure that the participant is honest with themselves. It allows the person to identify their weak areas truthfully without being judged by their employer. The employer is then expected to provide the necessary support required to aid the worker to develop in such weak areas.
As this is done, the company will experience monumental development as the workers are becoming better in areas they didn’t excel in previously.
3. Promotes Goal-settings & Long-term Success
In this activity, the goals, ambitions, and plans of the individual are discovered. With this discovery, the management can help them out to ensure that such goals are achieved. Also, when this activity is carried out from time to time, it allows accurate details of the achievements of an employee to be well-recorded. This then provides a yardstick for goal setting and promoting improvements.
4. Improves Accountable Communication between Employee and Employer
Through this activity, the employee can voice out their hidden thoughts. Hence, it provides them with a chance to be helped in remaining accountable for both their missteps and accomplishments.
The management, on the other hand, gets an understanding of what is deemed to be a “good performance” by their employees. Hence, they can help align such definitions of what a good performance is if they don’t fit the company’s overall goals.
5. Provides a Chance for the Employees to Show they Care
Sometimes, managers can be so engrossed in work that they fail to recognize the accomplishments of their staff. Hence, this exercise presents a perfect avenue where an employee can show his care and commitment to the organization.
This is shown through the successes that they have achieved over time while also acknowledging areas where they didn’t do well. Creating a reasonable plan to overcome those challenges that held you back will further cement your commitment to the organization.
When this is done, the management is sure to take notice, and who knows, you might just get the promotion you have been wishing for.
Self Evaluation Drawbacks
The following are the major disadvantages of this practice. We also reveal what can be done to lessen the negative effects:
1. It can be hard to be Objective as an Employee
The problem of objectivity for employees is very common during self-evaluation. This is because they are unable to accurately assess their performance. One of the main reasons for this is that they do not understand and know what the organization regards as good performance.
Therefore, to avoid this drawback, we recommend you have a record that details your achievements for the period. This can be presented rather than trying to rate your performance. Furthermore, make use of proof when carrying out this practice.
2. Different Perceptions can cause Conflict
What do you do when you rate yourself highly, and your manager feels otherwise? Well, to avoid a full-blown confrontation, simply presenting the record of your achievements will serve as the ace in your hand. Provided you present the facts with proof, such conflicts can be prevented.
3. Managers can use it to Place the Responsibility of the Performance Review on the Employees
The monitoring, as well as the recording of the performance of employees during this exercise, is done by managers. Sadly, some managers tend to focus on the self-perception of the employee rather than the main performance review. As an employee, you can overcome this by asking for regular feedback regarding your performance. You should also begin dialogues on your achievements as they occur.
How to Have a Great Self-Evaluation
- Prepare
- Be honest, critical, and proud
iii. Ask questions
- Reflect on your goals
- Provide honest feedback. Click here to learn why feedback is important.
Things you should avoid during Self-Evaluation
- assumptions
- exaggerations
- Avoid going for the exercise without preparation
- blaming and shaming
- Avoid refusing to own up to your mistakes, weaknesses, and failures
Conclusion
Self-evaluation can be a scary activity as we are required to lay it all out as it is, and most folks don’t want to feel exposed in that manner. However, as an employee, it is one of the best things to do if you desire personal development.
Also, when you use the tips we have shared in this article, we are sure that your employer will recognize how much value you have added to the company over time.
