Most employers are skeptical about the usefulness of having employees fill out self-appraisals or self-evaluations.
And with good reason.
A Business Week survey asked 2,000 employees in middle management and above the following question: “Are you in the top 10% of performers at your company?”
Of those who responded, an astounding 84% said yes.
With findings like that, it’s hard to trust employees to give an honest and objective evaluation of their own performance.
Despite the potential negatives, self-evaluations can be a great tool for managers and supervisors if they use them in the following ways:
1. To understand the employee
If the self-evaluation is given well in advance of the supervisor’s formal performance review, it can ensure the review goes more smoothly.
Reason: It gives the supervisor a specific perspective on the employee’s point of view and assumptions going into the formal review.
2. As a jumping-off point
An employee’s self-evaluation may provide a jumping off point for the supervisor in terms of explaining a deficiency the employee isn’t even aware of.
Example: An employee may have rated himself or herself extremely high when it goes to working in a group setting.
However, the supervisor received several complaints from his or her team members recently.
The self-appraisal revealed a disconnect that the employee wasn’t even aware of.
