In a short essay of two or three paragraph, share the results of a job evaluatio
ID: 369131 • Letter: I
Question
In a short essay of two or three paragraph, share the results of a job evaluation you were the subject of. Did the supervisor give you adequate notice and invite your opinions, including a self-evaluation? Did you feel the experience was a valid one or just “checking off the boxes” and getting it over with? Share what you learned from that experience, and what you would like to do differently if you were the evaluator in a similar session.
As always, no names please, and be sure your writing is college level!
Explanation / Answer
At my previous job at a retail department store, the job evaluation that the company used was the Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) to evaluate an employee performance. Depending on how well an employee overall evaluation score was, would determine whether or not they would receive the maximum 25 cent raise. The job evaluation rated my performance in areas such as: attendance and punctuality, communication, cooperation, initiative, customer satisfaction, job knowledge, teamwork skills, etc. BARS performance ratings were as follows: outstanding (5), exceeds expectations (4), meets expectations (3), below expectations (2), and unsatisfactory (1). Although I was rated below expectations in communication and customer satisfaction, my overall score averaged to that I exceeds expectations.
At the time, I didn’t think the experience was a valid one. I’m aware that companies do evaluations regularly to rate their employee’s work performance, but my company never gave us notice of when that would happen. One day, the manager decided to call me in the office and stated that it was time for an evaluation of my work performance to determine if I qualify for the maximum raise. The paperwork was already filled out and he gave me a copy and went over each section and expressed why I received the rating I did. In the beginning, I was ecstatic to know I was receiving points of 5 and 4, but by the end I became disappointed when I started receiving 2’s. To have a low score in communication and customer satisfaction didn’t make any sense to me. I worked as an overnight receiving associate, meaning the store was closed when I came in to work my shift, so there were no interactions with customers. His comments suggested that I kept to myself and had little to no interactions with other employees. He discussed with me how the evaluation was done a couple of months ago and my communication with others slightly increased and maybe deserved a slightly higher rating. I expressed that I was there to do my job and not make friends and the only communication I believed was necessary was information about work tasks. He explained that it was more to that and that people were afraid to approach me because I didn’t come off as friendly. I was giving advice on how to improve my weaknesses and what steps I should take. The evaluation concluded with me receiving a 20 cent raise.
I have always been the type of person who is more reserved and kept to myself, but didn’t realize that it was an issue until during my job evaluation. Although I disagree with the managers scoring on customer satisfaction, I believe some of his reason for giving me a low rating in communication were justified. There are two things I would do differently if I was the evaluator in a similar situation. First, I would give employees notice that an evaluation would take place. It is better to know what to expect, than not have a clue. Second, the customer satisfaction section would not be applicable to an employee who have no contact with customers. Overall, the manager allowed me to express myself and gave me feedback on how to improve my work performance. Many people I came in contact with have told me that the look on my face made them feel like I was unapproachable, but once they get to know me I’m a cool person. From this experience, I learned to not look so mean and smile more. I learned to greet all employees, even employees from other departments. No one likes working with someone that they are afraid to approach or doesn’t acknowledged them. Isolating myself from others on my team, didn’t necessarily make me feel like I was a team player. Not only did these changes increase my work performance but I became close friends with some of my previous co-workers. My communication skills increased in both the workplace and my daily life. This job evaluation made me a better person by being able to communicate effectively with others.