I just reached my sixth anniversary with the company that
currently employs me. Every year on my
anniversary, I get a Happy Anniversary card from the human resources department
and a review from my boss. The review
process starts with a self-evaluation form that I must complete, but which I
absolutely hate doing. The rest of the
review does not really bother me much. I
can handle reading the critique my boss completes, and I really do not mind
sitting through the meeting where we go over it all. I am good at my job, my boss really likes me,
and communication is fairly open between us.
Therefore, I am rarely surprised by anything that comes up in the review
process in terms of my current performance.
The self-evaluation portion of the review though fills me with anxiety. It
involves three simple sections to fill out, but they still fill me with dread
every year.
The first section is a straight-forward list of my tasks and
responsibilities. I have my job
description and a department task list that I can use to help me complete this
section. Plus, I am familiar with what I
do on a day to day basis at work. So
this section is usually not that bad.
This year it caused me more stress than normal, because this is the
first time I have done an evaluation since being promoted to the accounting
supervisor position almost a year ago.
The past four years have mostly been a copy and paste process from the
prior year with maybe a few updates to reflect changes in responsibility around
the department. This year, I have a few
tasks that I am still doing from my old job because they have not been
transitioned yet, but the rest is all new.
I do know which journal entries and reconciliations I am reviewing on a
regular basis, so that was easy enough. However,
I was a little stressed out about what management responsibilities I should be
including in this section. I really do
not feel like I do a good job at the supervision portion of the position, and I
am a little lost sometimes on the boundaries between my responsibilities and my
boss’ responsibilities. I am worried that
I either missed something big that they think I should be doing or that I came
across as too arrogant about what my role actually entails.
The second section is my list of significant accomplishments
for the year. This is my least favorite
section to fill out. No matter what I
put in here, it always seems sparse. I
go to work every day and I do my job to the best of my ability, which I think
is a pretty good accomplishment.
However, I do not really work on big projects or unusual
assignments. I am an accountant. We have a list of routine tasks that we do
each month and each quarter, and it does not really change much. I have been relying on my MBA program to
provide some bulk to this section for the last two years. This year I had the promotion from last fall
to include. Most years, I feel like I
include a couple random trainings I took during the year and a couple new
reconciliations I learned how to do. The
list always seems so pathetic once I have completed it. I worry they are going to be disappointed
when they see how little I have accomplished during the year.
The final section is a list of goals, broken out into
short-term and long-term. Most of the
time, I feel like this section is practically fiction. I have an idea of the career path they expect
from me within the company, and so I cater my goals to make it look like I am
on that path. I also include vague goals
like “continue to strengthen my accounting knowledge and leadership skills to
grow professionally in the future”. This
year was actually better than most on the short-term section because I do have
some ideas about how to improve some of the department tasks that my staff
completes and some things I should learn in order to take on some
responsibilities that my boss currently does while I am learning my new role. The long-term section was still vague and
somewhat fictional though. I kept the
generic “continue to strengthen my accounting knowledge and leadership skills
to grow professionally in the future” items that have been on there for six
years. I also added some that make it
look like I intend to get my CPA (Certified Public Accountant) license and
continue on a management path.
Truthfully, I do not want to move up in management at my current company
because none of my bosses have jobs that seem like they are worth the stress
that come with them. I also am not sure
that I want the type of job where I really need a CPA license. I feel like I cannot say this though, because
the department has expectations of what its supervisors and managers will
do. Plus, I do not want the lectures
about wasting my potential and sabotaging my career if I do not get my license
or continue on the management path.
Right or wrong, good or bad, I filled out the sections and
sent it to my boss yesterday. Now I have
to wait for her to do her section, and then for it to go through the channels
of review (at least two more levels of management and human resources have to
sign off on it). Eventually, I will have
a meeting with her to go over it all. I
guess we will see if what I wrote is in line with what they expect from me.
What about you? Do
you have to do self-evaluations? Do you
like them? Do you see them as open
communication tools to further your careers?
Or do you feel the same pressure I do to fill them out according to the
company’s plan and not your own plan for the future?
See you next week!
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