Am I the chump here? Re: performance reviews

shouldbworkin

Last year, I swear, only me and our HR director had any humility when it came to doing our self evaluations for our perf reviews (we're friends, it came up).  Again, this year, I mark myself at 80-90% for my goals.  I think I did well, but there's always some room for improvement.  Some of my goals couldn't even be completed (projects on hold for reasons outside my control) so I didn't grade myself 100% or even close, although I did what I could for these projects.

I'm going over one of my subordinates self evals right now ... this guy thinks he's 100% to goal across the board.  WTF?!  NO ONE, not even the owner of the company, is *that* good. 

KathrynMD

why in the world would you be humble on your self-evaluation?  Your boss can critique you if needed.  Embrace your inner narcissist!!

juliettodd

EllaHella:

I refuse to be humble and admit my flaws for my HR files.  I would do 98% though and not 100%. 

It might also be a rebellion to having to critique myself.  I hate self evals.  Obviously I think I am doing a great job.

This.  I personally feel this is my bosses job, not mine.  I hate doing self evals as much as doing my resume.  It makes we want to throw up when I have to talk about all my wonderful qualities/accomplishments.  I do agree that 100% across the board it a bit much though.

sunflwra

I'm in HR as well and agree with some of the PP. If there is a project that you have a goal based on and it not getting completed is based on things outside of your control, I suggest you rate yourself based on what you had the control to contribute.

This is the tough thing with percentage based reviews- I tend to like the "Meets expectations"/"Exceeds expectations"/etc format because it allows for that kind of thing. For documentation purposes, I would evaluate yourself fairly and verbally discuss any "downfalls" such as things out of your control with your manager- they will ultimately be the ones to confirm or update your ratings and it's fair that they understand the reasoning behind your self-ratings.

SouthFloridaMommy

I would not be humble on a performance review - like the previous poster said, critic is your bosses job.  I would complete the evaluation based on what you have done and how well you have done it.

Pesky

EllaHella:

I refuse to be humble and admit my flaws for my HR files.  I would do 98% though and not 100%. 

It might also be a rebellion to having to critique myself.  I hate self evals.  Obviously I think I am doing a great job.

This.  Don't expect anyone else to trumpet your cause if you aren't willing to do so yourself.  I always think of a CW of mine -- nice guy but does hardly any work and isn't very responsive.  He thinks he walks on water.  If he walks on water, so do I in addition to multiplying loaves and fishes. 

SweetBaby2004

sunflwra:

I'm in HR as well and agree with some of the PP. If there is a project that you have a goal based on and it not getting completed is based on things outside of your control, I suggest you rate yourself based on what you had the control to contribute.

This is the tough thing with percentage based reviews- I tend to like the "Meets expectations"/"Exceeds expectations"/etc format because it allows for that kind of thing. For documentation purposes, I would evaluate yourself fairly and verbally discuss any "downfalls" such as things out of your control with your manager- they will ultimately be the ones to confirm or update your ratings and it's fair that they understand the reasoning behind your self-ratings.

I work in HR also and agree completely with this.

skipperkelly

As much as I HATE doing performance reviews, I know it's really important for me to sell myself and do it well. There's nothing wrong with bragging since it essentially ties into any raise or bonus that I might get. I do agree though that 100% might be a stretch. We also have the Meets/Exceeds ratings so it's easier to justify with those.

shouldbworkin

I think it comes down to what I do vs. what my employee does.  I could complete his tasks at 100% too.  My responsibilitiess are a little bit more involved.  I think it's also a function of our perf reviews, I think they're kind of weird.  We used to have meets/exceeds and I liked that a lot better.  It's much easier to justify meeting or exceeding.  Much harder to say you are 100% to goal when it took you a  year to complete something that should have taken 1 month. 

And, ours are not tied to raises/bonuses at all, at least not a self eval part. 

xmasbabymama

If you don't rate yourself well, how do you expect anyone else to?