A little boy went into a drug store, reached for a soda carton and pulled it over to the telephone. He climbed onto the carton so that he could reach the buttons on the phone and proceeded to punch in seven digits (phone numbers). The store-owner observed and listened to the conversation.
Boy: ‘Lady, Can you give me the job of cutting your lawn?
Woman: (at the other end of the phone line): ‘I already have someone to cut my lawn.’
Boy: ‘Lady, I will cut your lawn for half the price of the person who cuts your lawn now.’
Woman: I’m very satisfied with the person who is presently cutting my lawn.
Boy: (with more perseverance) : ‘Lady, I’ll even sweep your curb and your sidewalk, so on Sunday you will have the prettiest lawn in all of Palm beach , Florida.’
Woman: No, thank you.
With a smile on his face, the little boy replaced the receiver. The store-owner, who was listening to all this, walked over to the boy.
Store Owner: ‘Son… I like your attitude; I like that positive spirit and would like to offer you a job.’
Boy: ‘No thanks.’
Store Owner: But you were really pleading for one.
Boy: No Sir, I was just checking my performance at the Job I already have. I am the one who is working for that lady I was talking to!’
When it’s time for self-appraisal, speaking about my colleagues and me, the one who could brag the most about oneself, was requested to do the self appraisal form first. Then it was modified and pasted in our forms as well. There was this one question I always used to wonder –
Why all this self appraisal process? After all we can write just about anything in our self-appraisal forms. Isn’t it?
Let’s start from the start – Appraisal.
Appraisal is a full proof process to state – the employees’ performance. He or she may be good or bad, it records everything. Appraisal is said to be a motivational factor, based on which, people are given raises, awards and accolades. That’s the brighter side of the appraisal.
The other side of the coin is – there are employees who perform “Below Expectation”. Sometimes, their performance is consistently low. Based on the performance appraisal, those employees are trained, given more chances to perform and if still the performance is absolutely non-satisfactory, based on the performance appraisal report, they are given pink slips.
Now, Self Appraisal!
Self-appraisal’s biggest advantage is – employee’s familiarity with his or her work. Self Appraisal is nothing but a chance to justify one’s own performance – good or bad. Self Appraisal results in more employees’ accountability as they can set their own goals and get a clear idea what they want to achieve. Plus, self-appraisal also gives a chance to the respondent to pinpoint areas of weakness. They may seek for trainings for self improvement.
One may use self-appraisal as an opportunity to put forward a reason for a good appraisal, or a promotion or a fancy onsite opportunity, or he may use it for justifying his bad performance and gets the motivation to perform better with help of a few trainings.
Based on the records of self-appraisals and appraisals, you are either in a good frame or out of it completely. Self appraisal is far more serious and important part of our progressive carrier. It is a self-review which should be taken seriously, just like the little boy handles his self appraisal in the above mentioned story. The boy understands the competitive market. Irrespective of his age, he understands the fact that there are people who would do more work for less pay. He just wishes to be so good that even if ‘a lower wage and more work’ kind of person approaches for his job, the employer should not even give a second thought.
The world today is highly competitive, are you preparing a solid pillar for your own case?
