Performance Reviews: Working on Self-Evaluations

They can feel like a pain to get through, but self-evaluations, when done right, can benefit not just your company, but yourself as well.
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The gradsingapore Team
Dawn Yip
Senior Writer
Performance Reviews: Working on Self-Evaluations

When it comes to performance reviews, self-evaluations are often a common part of the process, meaning that it’ll be on you to reflect on (and also rate) your own performance over a set period of time. That seems simple enough on paper, but it’s often considered one of the more challenging (and stressful) parts of a performance review, to the point that people dread dealing with it when appraisal season rolls around. 

That doesn’t mean that you have to be one of these people. Here are a few things to help you along this process and make it a little easier to handle.

Looking back

For a lot of people, self-appraisals can feel like a big time waster, and just another headache from management for you to deal with. In fact, you’ll find plenty of posts and articles online complaining about them, to the point of demanding for their abolishment entirely.

Admittedly, the sentiment is understandable: it’s a pain to think back on all you’ve done in the year, and how much use does the company even get out of your answers, anyway? 

In reality, however, a good self-appraisal isn’t just a way for your company to gain insight on your performance from your own viewpoint, but it also serves as a good way for you to recalibrate yourself for the upcoming new year.

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Delving deeper

At the most basic level, your self-evaluation should generally cover the following:

Recognising your accomplishments

If you’ve done some amazing things at work this year, now’s the time to let people know, such as if you aced a project or secured a lucrative client. Alternatively, this can also include notable milestones for your development. Maybe you’ve stepped up to take charge of a new project, or you’ve gotten a few new useful certifications under your belt. 

This is especially important if you’re looking to appeal for a raise or even a promotion. Your supervisor isn’t an all-seeing being; even the best of them may not always be in the loop about your progress, especially if you work in a larger company. 

Common questions:

  • What were your key objectives and to what extent did you achieve them?
  • How would you rate your performance since your last appraisal?
  • What is your proudest achievement when thinking about your performance this year?

Admitting your mistakes and shortcomings

Maybe you fell short of your target sales, or whiffed on a marketing campaign. As much as you’d rather forget that it ever happened, the best employees are the ones who aren’t just willing to pinpoint what went wrong, but also figuring out what can be done to do better next time.

Admittedly, it can be difficult to talk about your mistakes, but resist the temptation to minimise your errors, be defensive or blame others in your self-evaluation. Rather, you’ll want to position yourself as a problem-solver who's willing to improve and prevent your current mistakes from occurring again.

Common questions:

  • Are there any areas that you think you could improve on?
  • Were there any notable challenges that you faced this past year?
  • What could you have done better at work over the past year?

Reviewing present goals (and setting them for the future)

This is a big part of your self-appraisal, and for good reason. After all, you should know best about what you want to do next in your professional career, whether it’s to advance to another role, change departments or become more specialised in your current position. 

Common questions:

  • Are you happy with the results of the goals you’ve set for yourself?
  • What are your future goals for next year? What can be done to help you achieve them?
  • Is there anything in particular that you want to achieve next year?

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Some additional notes

Apart from having the foundations laid out, here are a few more things to keep in mind when writing your self-evaluation.

1. Be honest about things...

It’s tempting to just be placating and say that everything’s just going great, but playing things down for yourself tends to hurt you in the long run. Instead, think about how you actually feel about your overall performance this year. Be sure to highlight any specific examples that come to mind, whether it’s about an assignment that you’re proud to have aced or being sad that a project didn’t go as well as you’d hoped. 

Don’t worry if it feels like you’re coming across a little too strongly at this stage; you can always make edits along the way once you actually start on your self-evaluation.

2. ...But stay professional

That being said, remember that your self-appraisal is for the company, so try to keep your personal grievances out of it. That means no bad-mouthing about uncooperative clients or throwing shade about a team member you worked with. 

This professionalism shouldn’t stop there, though. That also means taking your self-evaluation seriously, so take the time to ensure that it’s well-written and comprehensive. After all, this is a rare opportunity to really let yourself be perceived by your management, so make it count!

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Self-evaluations can feel like a drag to deal with, but rather than seeing it as a yearly (or quarterly) chore, use this opportunity as a chance to give yourself a pat on the back for your hard work this year, and to gear yourself up for the next one.