Four tips for making your self-assessment serve you

The support staff annual review season has kicked off starting with self-assessments — a point to pause and reflect on your professional year. Find time in your calendar to give the practice of self-assessment adequate thought and make the most out of this opportunity to share your successes and set yourself up for future growth.

Before you dig in, check out these four suggestions from Human Resources about how to get the most out of the self-assessment experience.

1. Be honest, not modest

This is not the time to downplay your achievements. Everyone likes a success story, so be detailed about what you did right and take credit where it’s due. That doesn’t mean omitting the bad stuff, though — be honest about your mistakes so you can learn from them and set yourself up to be stronger in the future.

2. Be mindful of measurement

Remember the goals and expectations you set at the beginning of the performance year? Be sure you address them in your self-assessment. If you met your goals, talk about how you pulled it off. If you didn’t, include your thoughts about why you missed the mark — focus on how to grow from your experiences rather than trying to justify your actions or make excuses.

3. Pick three points of pride

Sure, it’s important to circle back to your goals and expectations, but self-assessments should accurately reflect the aspects of your professional year that make you most proud. Think of three accomplishments that required great effort or made a great impact and document them even if they weren’t part of your formal goals — all great work deserves recognition.

4. Look at learning

Reflect on the new skill you picked up over the last year, the project that took you into new territory, or the unfamiliar problem that you solved. Try to include one or two significant learnings in your self-assessment, along with a consideration for future growth. What can you do to serve your learning and career goals in the next 12 months? Now is a great time to talk with your manager about navigating your career.

Learn more about Connect to Perform, UCalgary’s collaborative approach to performance management.
Support staff self-assessments are due on Feb. 29.