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John Wooden
Self-evaluation is a great tool to take the necessary steps back, assess the situation, reflect and improve ourselves. Furthermore, as John Wooden put it, it is a great way to avoid repeating failures.
Keep reading if you want to learn more about self-valuation, its purpose, and how you can effectively assess yourself.
Self-Evaluation Definition
What is the definition of self-evaluation? There is an apparent difference between evaluation and self-evaluation. An evaluation is usually operated by peers, someone higher in the hierarchy, or an expert in that field. Self-evaluation, in contrast, is performed by the person who did that specific task or work.
Evaluation is about analyzing and assessing a specific task, action, or work.
Self-evaluation is about analyzing and assessing a specific task, action, or work you did yourself.
When self-evaluating, you can examine your work and get a better look at what you did and how you can improve in the future.
Students often do self-evaluating exercises; it's an excellent opportunity to see firsthand their mistakes and performance on an exam or test. This process is also very popular with companies and organizations that encourage employees to evaluate themselves after a specific project, or for their work and contribution to the organization over a specific period.
Self-Evaluation Maintenance Theory
Abraham Tesser created a well-known self-evaluation maintenance theory in 1988 when he described his Self-Evaluation Model (SEM).
This model has two main assumptions:
- People try to maintain or increase their self-esteem because they want to feel good about themselves.
- People are influenced by their relationships. They will try to choose the types of people they want to be associated with and compare themselves to. Their self-esteem will improve if the people around them are successful, as they will also be associated with them.
These concepts can be helpful in the workplace as it can improve employees' self-esteem.
Suppose an organization is doing something great for the environment that is broadcasted worldwide. Their employees will be proud of their company and want to be associated with it; they will like that their peers recognize that they are part of this movement and associate it with them.
Let's take another example where one salesperson from a struggling company managed to sign a significant contract. Because of this accomplishment, the company is saved from bankruptcy, and everyone in the organization can keep their jobs. Although this accomplishment was single-handed, it is reflected in the entire sales team, and therefore everyone in the organization praises the sales team.
In both examples above, people who are part of a specific team or the organization feel better about themselves because they can be associated with those successes.
Suppose you are a team leader in a company and would like to apply this principle to your benefit. In that case, you can increase your employee's job satisfaction by promoting some of your team's success. People that are part of your team will be proud of it and will love to be associated with it. It can motivate them to continue their excellent work.
Purpose of Self-Evaluation
The primary purpose of self-evaluation is to improve and get better. It can help you become more self-aware of your strengths and weaknesses, which can help you tackle specific tasks. It's one thing if someone is telling you to improve on a particular area, but it is another if you can see it by yourself, as it can positively impact your performance over the long term.
There are many advantages to practicing self-valuation in an organization:
- People can feel more engaged as they have the opportunity to assess their work, progress, and the impact they have in their organization.
- Employees can improve their emotional intelligence as this exercise improves people's self-awareness of their strengths and weaknesses.
- Employees become more accountable for the mistakes they make.
- It can help managers and leaders better understand how employees perceive their work and results.
Check out our article on Emotional Intelligence for more information about self-awareness.
Employee Self-Evaluation
It has become increasingly popular for organizations to conduct self-evaluation exercises for their employees. Whether you have to complete a self-evaluation for a specific task or your working contribution during a particular period, you can use the following guidelines to help you conduct a good self-evaluation exercise.
Determine your purpose
The first step of your self-evaluation process is determining its purpose and what you would like people to think of yourself after reading it.
Are you trying to show what impact you had on the organization? Are you trying to determine what went well and wrong on a project? Given the situation and available resources, are you trying to prove that you did a great job? Are you trying to justify a decision you took?
Determining the purpose of your self-evaluation is crucial as it will define the content you will write in your self-evaluation.
Gather information & data
The second step of your self-evaluation is to gather data that will allow you to evaluate your performance.
Whatever the type of self-evaluation is, you will need to gather information about your successes and failures during the year, what went well and what didn't. During the self-evaluation process, you will need to highlight why it was a success or a failure. Then, you will have to come up with a concrete example and be ready to explain them.
Refer to your goals
During your self-evaluation process, it is also essential to determine if you have reached your goals. You need to explain why you have accomplished or failed your objective.
To help you create effective goals, you can use the SMART framework.
A SMART goal is an objective that has the following characteristics:
- Specific: it means that the goal is precise.
- Measurable: it means that your goal is measurable; therefore, you can determine when it will be accomplished.
- Achievable: You can achieve it with your available time and resources.
- Realistic: it has to be realistic.
- Time-bound: you need to set a time limit.
"I want to be rich": it's not a SMART goal. However, you can rephrase this goal using the SMART framework as follows:
"I want to own 1.000.000$ worth of real estate within ten years".
This goal is specific (we know the person wants to own real estate); Measurable (the person wants to own 1.000.000$ worth of real estate); Achievable and Realistic (this goal is both achievable and realistic); Time-bound (it has to be achieved within ten years).
Summarize your takeaways
Once you have completed your self-evaluation, you need to summarize your takeaways and what you have learned to ensure that you won't make the same mistakes again.
Self-Evaluation Examples
Let's take a concrete example of a self-evaluation process:
One salesperson has to make a self-evaluation regarding their annual performance.
Determine your purpose
This evaluation aims to show that the salesperson achieved their target but also outperformed their goal.
Gather information & data
The salesperson managed to secure 600.000$ in annual sales, being in the top 3 salespeople in the company.
The salesperson also managed to create promising new business relations with a new potential customer that could bring a new contract worth 200.000$.
Unfortunately, they also failed to finalize a contract worth 100.000$ during the year because their pricing wasn't competitive.
Refer to your goals
The sales target for the year was 500.000$. Therefore the salesperson managed to outperform this target by 20%.
Summarize your takeaways
The salesperson managed to outperform the yearly sales target by 20%.
The salesperson managed to create a promising new business partnership.
They must be careful in pricing as they could lose potential new customers.
A self-evaluation exercise is a great tool that can help people gain self-awareness of their strengths and weaknesses, but also improve their performance over time.
Self-Evaluation - Key takeaways
- Self-evaluation is about analyzing and assessing a specific task, action, or work you did yourself.
- Abraham Tesser Self-Evaluation Model (SEM) has two main assumptions:
- People try to maintain or increase their self-esteem because they want to feel good about themselves.
- People are influenced by their relationships.
- The primary purpose of self-evaluation is to improve and get better. It can help you become more self-aware of your strengths and weaknesses, which can help you tackle specific tasks.
You can use the following guidelines to help you write a good self-evaluation:
- Determine your purpose
- Gather information & data
- Refer to your goals
- Summarize your takeaways
References
- Quotefancy. https://quotefancy.com/quote/845172/John-Wooden-Without-proper-self-evaluation-failure-is-inevitable
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Frequently Asked Questions about Self-Evaluation
What does self-evaluation mean?
Self-valuation is about analyzing and assessing a specific task, action, or work you did yourself.
What is an example of self-evaluation?
Students often do self-evaluating exercises; it's an excellent opportunity to see firsthand their mistakes and performance on an exam or test. This process is also very popular with companies and organizations that encourage employees to evaluate themselves after a specific project or for their work and contribution to the organization over a specific period.
What is the main purpose of self-evaluation?
The primary purpose of self-evaluation is to improve and get better. It can help you become more self-aware of your strengths and weaknesses, which can help you tackle specific tasks.
What should I write for self-evaluation goals?
During your self-evaluation process, it is also essential to determine if you have reached your goals. You need to explain why you have accomplished or failed your objective. At the end of your self-evaluation process, you must also determine your goals for the next self-evaluation.
How do you write an honest self-evaluation?
You can use the following guidelines to help you write a good self-evaluation:
Determine your purpose: The first step of your self-evaluation process is determining its purpose and what you would like to think of yourself after reading it.
Gather information & data: The second step of your self-evaluation is to gather data that will allow you to evaluate your performance.
Refer to your goals: During your self-evaluation process, it is also essential to determine if you have reached your goals.
Summarize your takeaways: Once you have completed your self-evaluation, you need to summarize your takeaways and what you have learned to ensure that you won't make the same mistakes again.
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