How to Effectively Implement Employee Self-Assessments

Yesterday’s post covered the pros and cons of employee self-assessments, and today’s post will cover how to effectively implement them.

The following are things you’ll want to do to successfully implement employee self-assessments.

Petition for and Demonstrate Honesty, Transparency, and Positivity

Ask your employees to be honest and fair when evaluating their own performance, and encourage them to use objective data or information when necessary. Also, make sure to consult objective data and information yourself when reviewing their performance claims and assessments, and encourage employees’ managers to do the same.
Otherwise, the assessments will become too subjective and won’t offer much value. Also, present your evaluation as an opportunity for growth and learning, not as a tool for reprimands, harsh criticisms, or personal judgments.

Initiate an Open Dialogue with Employees About Their Self-Assessments

Use employee self-assessments to initiate and guide a meaningful dialogue with employees about their performance and to gain insight into how they view and approach their work. Make sure employees know that their concerns will be addressed and that they can talk to you and their managers openly about their performance.

Allow Employees to Complete Self-Assessments Outside of the Office

Allow employees to remove themselves from the distraction of their work spaces to accurately assess and report on their performance, and provide them with enough time to objectively evaluate their role and achievements.

Encourage Employees to Document Achievements

Have employees document their achievements so that they can better focus on their strengths and find ways to improve on their shortcomings. This will also encourage them to remain positive and engaged and to continue performing at optimum levels, as well as yield positive and productive employee assessments.
For more insight, read “Why You Should Develop and Promote Strengths Training.”

Ask Employees to Answer Hard Questions and Seek Opportunities for Improvement

To encourage employees to really think about their roles, have them ask themselves hard questions about how they can improve or maintain their high level of performance—for instance, if a certain project didn’t go well, how can they improve on similar projects in the future?
Also, encourage them to seek out learning, coaching, or mentoring opportunities that can help them grow on both personal and professional levels so that they can continually improve their performance.

Use Employee Self-Assessments to Influence Career Maps

Most importantly, use employees’ self-assessments as tools to  develop their career maps, as these maps can tell you a lot about how employees approach their work, what they’re good at, what they enjoy doing, etc. So, use the information you gain from these assessments to build personalized employee and organizational career maps.
If you want employee self-assessments to be effective, keep the best practices outlined above in mind.