I had been working at Best Buy for a few years before the “self-review” portion of the annual appraisal was implemented. It gives employees the opportunity to share what they’ve accomplished over the course of the year.
As a worker and as a manager, I have always thought that this was a great idea, but not everyone who worked for me saw the need for it. In one breath people would say, “They’re the boss, they should know what I do!” Then after they received a less than stellar review, I would hear, “They only focused on _________.
What about all the other things I did this year?” There are many reasons why employees should make an effort to keep the boss informed of what they do on a regular basis. Most supervisors have several employees, so it’s difficult to keep up with every single thing for every single person. Yes, they should be paying attention and put themselves in a position to notice, but they can’t be everywhere. People, in general, have short memories.
When sitting down to write an employee appraisal, most managers likely remember only the last 3-4 months of the employee’s performance. If the worker made outstanding accomplishments toward the beginning of the year and leveled off toward the end of the year, they may not receive the deserved feedback. Most supervisors know what their employees are or should be doing based on the job description, which is usually what the appraisal is based upon.
But there are times when people end up doing additional tasks or projects that were not originally required of the position. Those things should not be forgotten during review time. The bottom line is, managers and supervisors are human. Even the best of them are not going to remember everything over the course of the year. What’s wrong with jogging their memory if it’ll help you obtain a more favorable review and possibly larger pay increase?