CEB Corporate Leadership Council
Employee Guide: Self
Assessing Your Performance
March 2013
How to use this guidebook:
Audience:
Self Reviews are an integral part of the performance review process. This guide helps
employees understand how to be effective at self assessments by providing them a logical
framework to identify their strengths and development areas.
How to Use:
This guidebook is written to benefit employees at all levels and jobs functions. It explains why
self reviews are valuable and how both they and their employer can get the most value out of
the self review process.
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Self assessments
SELF ASSESSMENTS ALLOW YOU TO
help you and your
manager identify
IDENTIFY YOUR STRENGTHS
Why should you put effort into your self assessment?
your strengths as
well as
opportunities for
skill improvement. Self assessments, as part of your formal review process, are used to
inform talent decisions such as promotions and pay increases.
Your feedback gives managers visibility into your professional aspirations,
of which they might otherwise be unaware.
Self reviews are an opportunity for you to showcase to your managers
what you believe are your greatest successes and contributions to the
organization.
Your insight helps managers identify where they can allocate more
resources to improve your skills and performance.
A well thought out self assessment, identifying how you could contribute
more if certain skills were improved, in addition to highlighting your assets,
is a way for you to express a commitment to your organization.
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Self Assessment Do’s and Don’ts
Don’t… Do…
✓ Be honest and objective about your skills, commitment
Provide unbalanced feedback; this is your
to work, and interaction with other employees
opportunity to play up your successes, but you
should also be candid about areas that need ✓ View the self assessment as a tool to identify
improvement development needs in order to improve them
Use generalized or ambiguous language when ✓ Be able to defend to your manager why you believe
describing your strengths and development areas your self ratings accurately reflect your performance by
offering specific examples that illustrate your viewpoint
Blame your company or manager for your
weaknesses ✓ Detail steps that you and your organization can take to
improve your performance in areas you believe need
Gloss over or ignore areas where you need to
improvement
improve your skills or performance; your manager is
likely aware of them and will appreciate your ✓ Highlight areas where you have exceeded expectations
candidness
✓ Frame your performance against your impact on
Be overly modest about your contribution to your organizational or divisional goals
organization; this is your opportunity to highlight
your successes ✓ Identify areas in your skill set where you need to
improve
Don’t worry about whether your self assessment will
be the same as your manager’s assessment of you
so long as you can defend your personal opinion of
your performance
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ACTION STEPS TO IMPROVE YOUR SELF ASSESSMENT
Follow the action steps below prior to your self assessment in order to write a well articulated self review.
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5
Consider Think about Consider how Provide at least List what steps
projects and the skills you well you one example you and your
tasks you need to demonstrate from your daily organization
worked on complete those skills; work which can take to
across the those divide your illustrates why a improve your
past year. projects or performance into skill is a strength performance
tasks well. strengths and or development across
development area for you. development
areas. areas.
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SELF ASSESSMENT WORKSHEET
Instructions: Use the tool below prior to taking your self assessment to ensure you have considered the major contributing factors to your
overall performance. Refer to the action steps on the previous page for additional guidance.
Part 1
Consider each of the major projects or tasks you worked on across the past year and consider the needed skills to perform those projects well. Then
identify whether those skills are currently one of your strengths or are development areas.
Project/Task: Project/Task: Project/Task:
Required Skill: __________ Required Skill: __________ Required Skill: __________
Strength Development area Strength Development area Strength Development area
Required Skill: __________ Required Skill: __________ Required Skill: __________
Strength Development area Strength Development area Strength Development area
Required Skill: __________ Required Skill: __________ Required Skill: __________
Strength Development area Strength Development area Strength Development area
Part 2
Strengths Development Areas
List each of your major strengths identified above and provide at least List each major development area identified above and provide a
one example of a time when you demonstrated each strength. concrete example of why you think it’s a development area. Also list
measures you and your organization can take to improve your
performance.
Strength: __________ Development Area: __________
Example: Example:
Steps for Improvement:
Strength: __________ Development Area: __________
Example: Example:
Steps for Improvement:
Strength: __________ Development Area: __________
Example: Example:
Steps for Improvement:
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