Companies can give their employees the tools to self-evaluate, set goals, and assess their performance by combining a manager’s performance evaluation with an employee’s appraisal. Self-reflection can be difficult.
You can improve your employees’ overall experience, company alignment, and assessment results by giving them the structure and techniques that will allow for effective self-reflection. Here’s how.
What is a Self-Appraisal?
A self-appraisal asks employees to evaluate their work performance over time. A self-appraisals main purpose is to empower employees to take control of their professional development.
What Happens Generally During a Self-Appraisal?
An employee will be asked to self-assess their abilities during a self-evaluation.
- Accomplishments
- Weaknesses
- Progression
A self-evaluation usually leads to a traditional review between the employee and the manager. Here they will discuss goals and compare appraisals.
What is the purpose of self-evaluation?
A traditional performance review can reduce an employee’s autonomy or control, but a self-evaluation does the opposite. The employee has full control over their performance assessment or can weigh in.
Self-evaluation is not meant to relieve a manager of work by assigning it to an employee. Instead, it encourages employees to be critical of their work, roles, and performance.
Managers and supervisors can use self-evaluations to help them see the employee’s unique perspective and better understand their career path.
Do You Need A Manager Appraisal or A Self Appraisal?
Why not combine both? To get a complete overview of an employee’s performance, it is best to have both self-evaluations and manager reviews.
If you conduct only self-evaluations or manager reviews, your results will not reflect an employee’s true performance. Let’s explore this idea a little more.
What are the Downsides of Only Self-Appraisals?
If the employee is not honest and critical enough, self-appraisals may not be accurate. On the other hand, employees might be too critical or self-critical and unable to recognize their real achievements or career advancement.
An employee might perform poorly in one aspect of their job but may not understand its impact on their company or department. Here is where the manager’s perspective plays a critical role.
What are the Downsides of Manager Appraisals?
A manager-only review might overlook some positive contributions an employee has made. A manager or supervisor may be unaware of all employee issues. Employees have the chance to share their concerns and obstacles with others through self-evaluations.
An employee might have won a client or customer, and their superior didn’t notice. This could be a sign of their problem-solving abilities and communication skills. Although they might not feel comfortable sharing their accomplishments regularly, self-evaluation allows them to highlight them.
Which is better, manager appraisals or self-appraisals?
You can ensure the employee and supervisor are on the same page by pairing their self-evaluation with their performance review.
To ensure clarity and avoid subjective assessments, the employee and manager should provide tangible evidence that supports their views.
6 Reasons to Use Self-Appraisals
Employers and employees will benefit from incorporating self-evaluations into their performance review process. Here’s why:
Your employees will feel more involved in their work and their experience if they have the chance to evaluate and reflect on their performance.
They will feel more motivated and engaged in their work and company if they are actively involved in their appraisals, as opposed to passive recipients. This motivation can result in improved performance at work, greater potential, and a brighter outlook.
1. Your employees will feel heard
You’re showing your employees that you trust them and can openly discuss the performance review process. As a result, their opinions are important and heard. As a result, they can have a positive impact at work.
2. It is possible to improve employee relations
Combining self-evaluations and manager reviews will remove the “us against them” mentality often associated with traditional performance reviews.
This is a great time for supervisors and managers to learn about employees’ values and motivations. Supervisors and managers can use this information to communicate with employees more effectively, thereby establishing stronger relationships.
3. You Can Reduce Discrepancies
You can increase transparency in the appraisal process by asking employees to give you an account of their performance. Instead of being judged on the manager’s views, employees can provide a complete picture of their achievements and weaknesses and help clarify any discrepancies.
4. You can highlight career growth opportunities
Self-evaluations can help employees identify areas where they need or want more training, learning and development opportunities. This is something that a supervisor or manager may not know. This can be a great way for employees to move up in their careers or in their succession plans.
5. Employees learn new self-assessment skills
Employees can learn to self-reflect by regularly reflecting on their work and reviewing their progress.
This can allow them to self-correct throughout their career, not just after a performance evaluation. In addition, regular self-reflection can help them improve their critical thinking skills and be more aware of their work relationship.
6. Employers gain previously unattainable insight
Employers can gain unique insights into their employees’ teams through self-evaluation and the discussions that result from it.
This insight is more than about whether the employee met deadlines and quotas. It also covers areas like job satisfaction, motivations and career goals.