Setting goals during self-performance reviews is crucial to ensure that you continue to grow and develop in your role.
The self performance review is a valuable opportunity for employees to demonstrate their accomplishments and set goals for professional growth. Unlike the annual performance review conducted by managers, this allows you to assess your own progress and present your perspective. With some preparation and strategic goal-setting, you can craft an effective self evaluation that accurately reflects your contributions over the past year.
In this comprehensive guide we will explain how to make the most of your self assessment by setting insightful performance goals and providing strong examples that highlight your achievements. Follow our tips and framework to complete an accurate, compelling self review poised to impress your managers.
Why Do a Self Assessment?
Completing a self assessment gives you several key advantages:
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Illustrate your perspective – Highlight achievements that your manager may have overlooked
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Demonstrate progress – Track growth on goals set in your previous review
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Showcase strengths – Reinforce aspects where you excel
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Improve weaknesses – Identify areas for growth and propose plans to address them
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Provide context – Share details behind your performance that may not be visible to your manager
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Influence evaluation – Manager reviews often reflect heavily on your self assessment
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Support career growth – Document capabilities and accomplishments for promotion consideration
With this additional context and ownership over your narrative, the self review gives you greater influence over how your performance is evaluated and perceived.
Setting Impactful Goals
One of the most important parts of the self evaluation is setting meaningful performance goals for the upcoming year. Well-crafted goals provide direction and benchmarks to strive towards in your professional development.
Types of Goals
There are three main categories of goals to consider:
1. Skill Development Goals
- Improve technical skills needed for your role
- Develop leadership, communication, or other soft skills
2. Project Goals
- Launch a new initiative or program
- Lead a specific project to completion
- Improve processes or procedures
3. Quantitative Goals
- Increase sales by a target percentage
- Cut costs by a specific amount
- Improve KPIs like customer satisfaction scores
Strong Goal Criteria
Follow these best practices when writing your goals:
- Specific – Clearly defined objectives and expectations
- Measurable – Includes numeric or data-driven elements to track progress
- Achievable – Within your control and ability to accomplish
- Relevant – Aligns with broader team and company goals
- Time-bound – Specifies a deadline or timeline for completion
Goal Examples
Here are some example self assessment goals across the different categories:
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Improve sales presentation skills by completing a public speaking course (Skill Development)
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Lead cross-functional team to launch redesigned customer onboarding process by Q2 (Project)
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Increase upsell revenue from existing customers by 15% over the next year (Quantitative)
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Take on mentoring new hires to help improve ramp up time by 30% (Project)
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Improve customer satisfaction scores from 4.1/5 to 4.5/5 by Q3 through new support protocols (Quantitative)
Describing Your Achievements
Providing convincing examples of your on-the-job accomplishments is equally important in demonstrating your value. When describing achievements, focus on highlighting specific contributions and impact rather than just listing daily job duties.
Follow this framework when structuring your achievement examples:
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Situation – Brief background describing the initial circumstances or challenges faced
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Action – The steps you personally took to address the situation, including any exceptional contributions
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Result – The measurable outcomes and impact from your actions
Here are some examples applying this situation-action-result framework:
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Situation – Our team was facing a sudden 15% increase in demand during peak season with no capacity to handle additional volume
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Action – I spearheaded cross-training employees from other departments, enabling us to temporarily staff up by 10% to meet demand
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Result – We successfully handled the volume increase, improving holiday season revenue by 18% over the prior year
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Situation – Our new product launch was delayed due to issues with our marketing agency failing to deliver assets on time
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Action – I led a cross-functional team that created an interim launch page and coordinated an employee advocacy event to build buzz ahead of launch
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Result – Despite the setback, we generated 50,000 leads through the employee event and interim launch page, putting us ahead of lead generation goals
Using this template ensures you succinctly explain the value of your contributions rather than just listing generic duties. Quantify your impact and results whenever possible for maximum effect.
Tips for a Superior Self Review
Keep these additional tips in mind to craft an authentic, compelling self evaluation:
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Be reflective – Candidly assess both strengths and areas for improvement
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Be objective – Fairly evaluate your actual performance vs. aspirations
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Be positive – Emphasize growth and achievements rather than just problems
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Be detailed – Provide ample examples and data demonstrating your impact
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Set future goals – Establish specific, measurable goals to continue progress
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Make it personal – Share your perspective and add insights your manager may lack
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Provide context – Explain circumstances, challenges, and constraints that impacted your work
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Highlight contributions – Quantify your value and impact whenever possible
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Ask for feedback – Seek input from colleagues familiar with your work
Self Review Template and Examples
Pulling everything together, here is a summary template you can follow for your self evaluation along with excerpts from sample self reviews:
Self Assessment Template
Introduction
Provide brief background on your role and department. Highlight major team accomplishments.
Key Achievements
Describe 3-5 major achievements using the situation-action-result framework. Quantify your impact.
Areas of Strength
Summarize 2-3 skills or competencies you demonstrated at a high level. Provide examples.
Areas for Growth
Identify 2-3 skills you can still improve. Explain any factors that constrained your progress.
Goals
Define 3-5 specific, measurable goals aligned to company objectives and your development needs.
Summary
Recap your key contributions. Express appreciation and enthusiasm for your professional growth and the upcoming year.
Excerpt Examples
Key Achievement:
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Situation: Our team’s satisfaction rating fell from 4.2 to 3.8 last year due to ticket delays
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Action: I proposed and led rollout of new CRM system integrating our email and helpdesk queues, reducing redundancies. Established new SLA policies to ensure 24 hr first response.
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Result: Our satisfaction rating jumped back to 4.5 over the past year. Average first response time decreased from 48 to 12 hours.
Area of Strength:
I collaborated extensively across departments this past year, enabling me to complete projects faster. For example, by working closely with Operations, I gained insight that allowed me to streamline the inventory reconciliation process by 45%.
Goal:
Improve sales team upsell revenue from existing customers by 20% by the end of Q3 through new cross-sell training program and incentives.
The Value of Your Perspective
The annual self review represents a chance to demonstrate your unique value and perspective to company leadership. By showing your achievements, progress, and development opportunities, you can gain influence over your career growth trajectory. With a thoughtful approach, specific examples, and defined goals, your self assessment can set you up for an outstanding performance cycle ahead.
The Importance of Setting SMART Goals in Self-Performance Reviews
There is an option to define goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART):
A specific goal is one that is clearly defined and unambiguous. It should answer the questions of who, what, where, when, why, and how. For instance, instead of saying “I want to improve my communication skills,” a specific goal would be “I want to improve my presentation skills by attending a public speaking course.”
Measurable goals are those that can be quantified. It is essential to have a metric to track progress and determine the success of the goal. For example, instead of saying “I want to increase sales,” a measurable goal would be “I want to increase sales by 20% within the next quarter.”
An achievable goal is one that is realistic and attainable. It is essential to consider the available resources and constraints when setting a goal. For example, instead of saying “I want to become a CEO within a year,” an achievable goal would be “I want to become a team leader within a year.”
A relevant goal is one that aligns with the individual’s overall objectives and the organization’s goals. It should be meaningful and have a positive impact on the individual and the organization. For example, instead of saying “I want to learn a new language,” a relevant goal would be “I want to learn Spanish to better communicate with our Spanish-speaking clients.”
A time-bound goal is one that has a deadline. It helps individuals to stay focused and motivated. For example, instead of saying “I want to learn a new skill,” a time-bound goal would be “I want to learn a new skill within six months.”
Preparing for Your Self-Performance Review
Before your self-performance review, it is important to conduct a self-assessment. This will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses and set development goals. Start by reviewing your job description, performance goals, and any feedback you have received throughout the year. Reflect on your accomplishments and challenges, and think about how you have contributed to your team and the organization.
Self Evaluation | Performance Review Tips to Slay Your Self Assessment At Work
What are the goals of a self-performance review?
37 Analytical Skills Self Evaluation Comments Examples One of the main goals of a self-performance review is to foster career growth. This can involve setting long-term career goals, identifying areas where you need to develop new skills, and seeking out opportunities to expand your knowledge and experience.
How do I write a good self-performance review?
Many employers conduct employee performance evaluations, which often include a section for a self-performance review. Setting goals is an important part of writing a great self-performance review.
What goals do employees set in self-evaluation?
There are many common goals that employees set in self-evaluations, including: Employees often choose to create productivity goals for their self-performance reviews. Productivity goals involve tasks and outcomes that you want to accomplish at your job.
What is an example of a performance review?
Example 1: “I achieved all the goals set in my last performance review, and I’m on track to meet my long-term career objectives, which include securing a leadership role within the next two years.”
