Writing your self assessment: 8 tips for employees No one likes it when employee review time rolls around again. Work is disrupted by admin duties, and you need to write that dreaded self assessment of how you think your performance is going. A lot of people find this difficult, but it needn’t be such hard work. Here are eight self assessment tips for employees to help it all go smoothly for you and your boss. 1. Ask what it will be used for Before you start writing, ask what the self assessment is going to be used for. Self assessments could be used for employee reviews, or for figuring out wage increases, and so on. By knowing what it’s for, you can make things easier for everyone by writing it to fit that purpose. Your boss will be grateful and you’ll be better able to make yourself look good. 2. Be positive The key to a good self assessment is positivity. You’ve achieved things in this role, and should be proud – so put them down in your assessment and make your boss aware that you’ve been doing well. Even your shortcomings can be put positively. Own up to any mistakes you’ve made, but never mention a negative without also saying what you’re doing to improve it. Perhaps you’ve changed the way you perform a task now, or started learning more about it. Even if what you’re doing to improve isn’t particularly great, it shows that you’re self-aware and capable of taking steps to solve problems on your own. This is also a good time to discuss training or coaching if you think it would help your performance. 3. Give specific evidence Your skills look much better when they’re supported by a bit of evidence. Instead of saying ‘I work well with the team,’ show that you work well with them by talking about, for instance, the ways you’ve assisted your colleagues when workloads were high. The more specific you can get, the better. Mention particular projects, events, statistics, and so on. It’s good that you made lots of sales, but talking about how you’re consistently 20% over your targets or brought in an important client is fantastic. 4. Be honest Always be honest in a self assessment. Lies will get found out and it’s likely that your bossknows what really happened. Even exaggerations won’t look good: by all means speak positively about your skills, but don’t over-play something that you know was just mediocre. This will give the impression that you don’t understand what counts as a good job in your role, which could worry your boss a bit. 5. Use your job description It’s easier to show you’re good at your job if you know what your job is. Dig out your job description and performance standards, and write your self assessment based on how you meet those criteria. If
you’ve done a self assessment at the company before, find that too. Then you can talk about how you’ve improved the things you said you would – and you won’t get caught off guard if your boss asks you about them. Then you can talk about how you’ve improved those things. 6. Help each other out Not sure what to write? Your colleagues can help. Since you all work together, you can assist each other by discussing and reminding everyone of things they’ve achieved or are good at. And don’t turn your back on them when you write your assessment by criticising or blaming them for things that went wrong. This may make it look like you can’t take responsibility for your weaknesses and aren’t a team player. If a colleague truly is doing badly, they should be discussing that themselves in their own assessment. 7. Work with your boss It can feel like employee reviews are just to catch you out and show up your bad side, but that’s not the case at all. Bosses want their employees to succeed. A good team reflects well on them, for one thing, and they want jobs done well and employees who are satisfied. So it’s always best to work with them. Keep the dialogue open between the two of you, so you can really discuss what’s going on and how things can be improved. 8. Ask about career development Since careers are on everyone’s mind, it’s a good idea to use this opportunity to ask about your career development. This isn’t the time to negotiate promotions or your salary, but it’s definitely the right point to open a dialogue. Talk about what direction you want to go in, what opportunities may be available, and how you can get yourself there. Still looking for a role where you can be proud of your self assessment? Check out HolyMoleyJobs and find your latest job matches. www.holymoleyjobs.com Uk Jobs , London Jobs