So you thought that your college exams are the last exams of your life? Sorry to burst your bubble!
Every year in March, employees receive their HR emails to conduct and complete their self-appraisal formalities, which requires grading oneself and defending your case.
It is similar to defending a dissertation paper, just in a different ambiance on succeeding which you can get rewards such as hikes, promotion, or even additional responsibilities!
Sounds intimidating, right? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
With the appraisal season beginning, let’s get a thorough understanding of what is self-appraisal and why it is important, and also the tips to writing one along with a self-appraisal review example.
What is self-appraisal?
The first thing to understand about self-appraisal is that it is a practice in which an employee evaluates his/her performance during a particular period.
A financial year is divided into 4 quarters and you need to highlight your achievements in these quarters.
You need to be 100% honest in your review and therefore need to also mention your lowest moments during the period.
What is the importance of a self-appraisal?
In this segment, let's take you through the aspect of why self-appraisal is an important practice for every employee.
Reflects your growth and weaknesses
We often tend to overlook our progress or shortcomings when we get engrossed with daily work.
A self-appraisal helps you to understand and sync your career goals with your skills and also aids you in understanding where you need upskilling.
Opens up conversations
Although different organizations have different approaches to appraisal, self-appraisals are mostly conducted on a one-on-one basis between the employee and the Manager.
You can take this opportunity to discuss not just your achievements and how you tackled and overcame tough situations, but also what you expect to achieve in your career and get constructive feedback for the same.
Helps you to grow in your career
A thorough discussion with your Manager about your goals and how to achieve it can give you a clear perspective of where you stand.
A self-appraisal review can also help you to get better compensations or even additional responsibilities that can help you challenge yourself further.
Tips to writing a self-appraisal
Now that we have established the importance of a self-appraisal, let’s check out how to write a self-appraisal letter to ensure optimum effect.
Goals achieved
The first aspect to highlight is goals achieved. In this segment, you need to highlight key accomplishments to showcase your areas of improvement. You can divide the goals into personal and team goals for clarity.
A tip to remember, you should make a comparison from last year's performance. For example, you can highlight by how much percentage your productivity has increased from the previous year.
Areas of improvement
The correct way to justify your progress in your self-appraisal letter is to highlight a comparison between the current and previous years. This will not only give a clear idea of your growth trajectory but also set the tone for the upcoming year's challenges.
In addition, you can highlight the status of your projects and your involvement in them, and also how the projects benefited the company.
Plans about upskilling
The last part of the self-appraisal practice requires you to be honest about your areas of improvement.
It is extremely important to be aware of your shortcomings. You can take this opportunity to discuss your plans about what courses to pick up with your Manager to improve in your field.
Highlight your productivity
Next in the lineup is to highlight your improvement in productivity. List down what makes you tick and what disrupts your productivity.
For example, if you are a content writer, compare the number of blogs you have worked on in the previous year and compare it with the current year's numbers.
Next, take notes of what helped you to be the most productive and how did you manage your least productive days.
This showcases that you are aware of your strengths and weaknesses.
Here are a few questions you can ask yourself while working on this segment.
- Did I have any breakthroughs during the projects?
- When did I feel most productive and least productive?
- What hampered my productivity and how did I get over it?
- What excites me most about the projects?
- Did any of the teammates help you push your limits?
Self-appraisal review example
In this section, we will take a look at a self-appraisal sample to understand how the tips can be included to create an impressive self-appraisal letter.
Sample #1:
In my first year as a content writer in the organizations, I was presented with the goal of producing a monthly target of 5-6 blogs per month that will be unique, error-free, and in line with the target audience's demands. Along with this, the team was presented with the target to increase users to 2 million.
Starting with my personal targets, I have always managed to churn out 5-6 blogs a month in this Quarter, completely error-free and unique. Out of the 31 blogs published in the last quarter, 20 of them are ranking on the first page of Google search. I believe the reason the other 11 have not performed that well is due to high competition on the topics, so, I will check their week-on-week performances and will be revamping the blogs with better keywords.
Coming to the team objective, although we have not been able to attain 2 million users due to the ongoing pandemic, we have seen a 21% increase in the user graph in the last quarter.
I have enjoyed working as a content writer for the past year and have been improving on my skillset by picking up relevant courses and certifications that have helped me navigate my key responsibilities smoothly. However, I do realize I require a thorough knowledge of Google Analytics but am facing a slight hiccup in lining up the courses according to experience level.
I look forward to continuing working and growing in the coming years in the organization.
To conclude, appraisal season is the most awaited time of the year for every employee. It is a time that can help you present your case of progressing in your career by defending your achievements and showcasing the knowledge you have obtained over the year.
You can also take this opportunity of writing a self-appraisal to update your professional CV.
All the Best!
