In the recent years, there has been a lot of attention that is being given to employee feedback, performance reviews and evaluation as a part of the whole performance management system. 

While a major focus has been to prepare managers to give feedback in a constructive and effective manner, paying attention to employee self evaluation is equally important. Knowing what self appraisal comments to use can play a major role in helping employees to effectively reflect and evaluate their performance and convey it effectively to the rest of the team. 

Purpose of self appraisal

The purposes of employee evaluation and performance review in general have been talked about time and again. However, self appraisal takes the process of evaluation at a very personal and individual level, leading to a more pronounced understanding of an employee’s performance. Some of the top benefits of employee self assessment include:

• Getting a true reflection of the contribution an employee perceives he/she has made to the organization
• Ensuring that the employee formally makes an effort to evaluate their developmental areas
• Facilitating self awareness for employees to ensure they are able to see the true picture
• Helping the employees navigate their next steps in the professional journey

Read: Employee self assessment: How to write a great one 

Benefits of self appraisal for the team and manager

In the section above, we have talked about the purpose or the need of self evaluation mostly from the perspective of the employee. However, self appraisal, when done correctly, has equally compelling benefits for the team as well as managers. A quick snapshot is captured below:

1. Higher engagement

With self appraisal, employees become active participants in their review and appraisal process, rather than simply being passive recipients. Consequently, they feel valued, motivated and the level of engagement increases. Furthermore, with greater engagement, levels of commitment, retention and productivity go up. 

2. Greater alignment

When employees take a step back to reflect on their performance with self appraisal, they become more receptive to diverse ideas. Put simply, in the absence of self reflection, they will have a hard time gauging where they need to improve. Consequently, they will be defensive when a manager or the team gives them feedback on the same. However, self evaluation will help them accept the gaps and be open to learning and growing. 

3. Development of a problem solving mindset

When employees reflect on their performance and identify the development areas, they will don a problem solving hat on to accelerate their professional journey. Through the course of time, this problem solving attribute will become a part of their skill set which will benefit the team and the manager greatly. 

4. Higher accountability

As a result of greater alignment due to self reflection on the strengths and areas of development, teams will see a greater sense of accountability to bridge the gaps identified. Under conventional circumstances, performance improvement might be seen as just a tick in the box by employees. However, after self appraisal, employees truly acknowledge and accept the need to bridge those gaps and take greater ownership and accountability. 

Download the printable Self Assessment Template and take the best practices to where you work. Click Here

100+ self appraisal comments 

Now that you have an understanding of why self appraisal matters, let’s quickly look at how to make it most effective. If you are experimenting with self evaluation for the first time, it can be an overwhelming activity for your employees. It is human nature to feel uneasy when you’re expected to evaluate your own performance. However, if you provide your employees with some comments they can use for self evaluation as a starting point, you can make the journey easier for them. 

Put simply, self appraisal comments are common statements that can be customized by your employees during the self evaluation process, especially, if they find themselves at a loss of words to describe their performance

These phrases are available for both strengths and areas of development to help employees paint a realistic picture of their performance. Here are the top 100 self appraisal phrases that you can use for different performance parameters.

1. Communication phrases

Use these self phrases to reflect on your clarity of communication, willingness to listen to others, etc. 

Positive self appraisal comments

1. I am able to clearly share my ideas and opinions with the team 
2. I keep my team members duly informed about my work and progress
3. I ensure that I respond to all emails in a timely and professional manner
4. I actively listen to and comprehend what others have to say
5. I excel at storytelling and presenting my ideas in front of a large audience

Phrases that indicate need for improvement

6. I find it difficult to get the right words to express my views
7. I am able to write down my thoughts well, but struggle to communicate them verbally
8. I hesitate in communicating my ideas to the top leadership
9. I get overwhelmed when I have to present to a large group
10. I need to work more on my email writing skills

2. Reliability phrases

These self evaluation phrases reflect how reliable or dependable you are for your team members, especially under special circumstances.

Positive self appraisal comments

11. I diligently follow up on the work allotted to me
12. I have been able to meet 80% of the deadlines and have proactively informed about delays with the reason for all other times
13. I promptly respond to emails 
14. I have an organized to-do list to ensure no work falls through the cracks
15. I ensure high quality of work consistently

Phrases that indicate need for improvement

16. I struggle to meet the deadlines more than 60% of the times
17. I find it hard to deal with multiple tasks at once
18. I get overwhelmed when the entire project depends upon me
19. My goal is to deliver at least 70% of the projects on time
20. I seek to be more proactive in communicating any delays to the leadership team

3. Ownership and initiative phrases

Using these self appraisal phrases can help indicate how invested or engaged you are in taking ownership of work without being asked to at times. 

Positive self appraisal comments

21. I like to participate in activities beyond my KRAs
22. I have taken ownership of at least 40% new projects allocated to our team
23. I am the first person in the team to raise my hand for something new
24. I enjoy spending 15-20% of my time on projects that I manage end to end
25. I took the ownership of the biggest client last quarter and the sales went up by 10%

Phrases that indicate need for improvement

26. I often shy away from taking responsibility and ownership of any project
27. I restrain myself to being a contributor than taking ownership and managing projects
28. I intend to take ownership of at least 1 new project in the next quarter
29. I find it difficult to take part in activities beyond my defined work
30. I intend to seek support from my manager to help me in getting over the phobia of underperforming when given the ownership 

4. Attendance phrases

The following self appraisal comments are important to help review your performance on the basis of how punctual and attentive you are.

Positive self appraisal comments

31. I always arrive office on time
32. I attend all meetings and inform in advance in case I am not able to attend any
33. I respect other people’s time and ensure that all my meetings start and end on time
34. I plan my time off in advance and inform my team members about the same
35. I do not take unnecessary breaks during office hours

Phrases that indicate need for improvement

36. I seek to be on work every time, and bridge the occasional gap that exists right now
37. I intend to plan all my vacation days in advance
38. I will ensure that I plan my meetings in advance with a clear agenda to ensure they don’t last longer than intended
39. I sometimes get carried away during breaks, I will ensure that I adhere to the break schedules
40. I will account for different factors and leave house early to reach office on time

If you forgot to download the template, here’s the link for you again: Self Appraisal Template & Form

5. Teamwork phrases

Use these self evaluation phrases when you want to highlight your strengths/ areas of improvement of working with the team, your collaboration skills, etc.

Positive self appraisal comments

41. I go out of the way to ensure that my team members are able to deliver their best
42. I actively seek inputs from all team members on every project
43. I actively participate in brainstorming sessions and team discussions
44. I encourage other team members to share their perspectives
45. I get along with almost everyone in the team

Phrases that indicate need for improvement

46. I find it a little difficult to mix up with all the team members
47. I will work on my confidence to share my ideas with the team
48. Occasionally, I tend to overlook the ideas shared by others, which I will work towards
49. I will focus on delegating work correctly to ensure maximum impact
50. I will attend most of the team meetings and participate actively

6. Creativity phrases

Creativity self appraisal comments can help you in reflecting on how effectively you are able to come up with novel and innovative solutions to challenges and new ideas to augment the impact and value created.

Positive self appraisal comments

51. I am able to pivot my priorities and come up with new ideas based on changes in a project requirement
52. I like to experiment with new ways of addressing a problem 
53. In the last quarter, I came up with a new marketing solution that increased our organic traffic by 15%
54. I am able to think out of the box even in pressure situations
55. While I rely on standard processes, I am not afraid of taking the risk to try something unique that can lead to better results

Phrases that indicate need for improvement

56. Occasionally, I find it difficult to break free from the established process for any task
57. I feel that at times, I restrain my creativity in the face of practicality
58. In the next quarter, I will focus on accepting new ideas and ways of work
59. Sometimes I make the situation more complex by adding too much creativity, when only a simple solution is needed
60. I tend to shy away from sharing my innovative solutions, preventing higher impact

Similar Read: 150+ performance review phrases for managers

7. Attention to detail phrases

The following phrase can create a picture of your quality of work and how much attention you pay while undertaking a particular task during your self reflection process. 

Positive self appraisal comments

61. I check all my work at least 3 times before submitting
62. I have a detailed to do list to ensure nothing falls through the cracks
63. Most of the work I deliver has negligible errors
64. I am extremely patient with each project I work on to deliver the best
65. I ensure delivering consistent quality of work in at least 90% of the projects

Phrases that indicate need for improvement

66. When I am working on multiple projects, I tend to miss out on attention to detail
67. Occasionally, when I am in a hurry, I tend to overlook minor errors
68. I miss proofreading my work at times
69. I find it hard to prioritize work, leading to some inaccuracies at times
70. I aspire to become more organized in the near future to ensure all requirements are taken care of

8. Job knowledge phrases

You can use these self appraisal comments to illustrate how well you understand what is expected out of you and how well you are able to deliver on the same. 

Positive self appraisal comments

71. I have a clear understanding of what I am expected to do as a part of my role
72. I understand the value my work is able to contribute to the overall organizational success
73. I was able to meet 80% of my OKRs in the last quarter
74. I stay updated on the latest trends and insights in my field
75. I take up training and upskilling every quarter to stay relevant for my role

Phrases that indicate need for improvement

76. Due to a multifunctional role, I find it difficult at times to understand the expectations
77. I sometimes struggle to explain to others what I do
78. I am not sure how I am able to create an impact for the organization
79. I seek to increase meeting my job expectations by meeting at least 70% OKRs in the next quarter
80. Occasionally, I find myself unprepared for the role, and plan to take up courses to address the same

9. Customer satisfaction phrases

Customer satisfaction self evaluation performance phrases help gauge how effectively you are able to address customer requests or complaints that leads to a higher Net Promoter Score, brand credibility, etc. 

Positive self appraisal comments

81. I respond to all customer queries within 24 hours
82. I have been constantly receiving high remarks on customer satisfaction surveys 
83. I am always calm and patient when dealing with customer complaints
84. I have been able to increase the customer lifetime value for my customers by 15% in the last year
85. I am able to answer difficult questions for customers in a professional manner

Phrases that indicate need for improvement

86. At times, I find it difficult to respond to customers in a timely manner
87. I intend to ensure that I become more patient while dealing with customer complaints
88. I sometimes get overwhelmed when a customer raises an objection, which I seek to overcome
89. While I am able to handle customer service over phone/email, I intend to achieve the same for in-person customers
90. I intend to improve my score on customer satisfaction surveys by at least 10% in this quarter

10. Growth and development phrases

Finally, these self-appraisal comments can help you highlight your growth plans towards your professional development and impact on the organization.

Positive self appraisal comments

91. I set personal growth plans every month to ensure a healthy balance
92. I have taken 2 trainings in the past quarter
93. I have a clear 5 year vision for my career and am taking ‘abc’ steps towards it
94. By the end of the year, I plan to complete 5 trainings in my domain
95. I believe learning and development is integral to success

Phrases that indicate need for improvement

96. I sometimes find it difficult to make time to upskill myself
97. In this quarter, I will try to take up at least two courses on technical skills
98. I struggle to identify the right courses for my skill set
99. I tend to leave trainings in between occasionally
100. In this quarter, I will focus on creating a professional development plan for myself

Self appraisal template 

With a broad understanding of the more than 100+ self appraisal comments that you can use as a part of your self evaluation process, let’s move to this concluding section. Here, we will focus on sharing a few templates that employees can use to articulate their performance in an effective manner. 

The self evaluation phrases mentioned above can be added at the right places in these templates to give a holistic picture of one’s performance. A few things to focus on include:

• What you did
• What was the result
• What was the overall impact
• What were your learnings
• What are some areas of improvement

You can download this in PDF here:  Customizable Self Evaluation Template

Template 1: Positive impact

In the last <performance period>, I have successfully <activity/ initiative undertaken> which led to <tangible impact (metrics)> for the organization. 

My focus was on <a detailed view of everything that was done> which resulted in <accomplishments>. 

Overall, I believe that I have been able to create an impact by achieving <top 3 achievements> and seek to amplify the same in the future. 

Template 2: Areas of improvement

I believe that the last <performance period> has been full of learning and development for me. 

While I was able to <quick snapshot of achievements>, I acknowledge that I need to pay attention to <areas of improvement>. 

I believe that this focus will help me <intended outcome for improvement>. 

Towards this, I will ensure that I consistently work towards <improvement plan (courses, behavioral changes)> to achieve <SMART goal>. 

Wrapping Up

That said, self appraisal is an extremely crucial step of performance review. As a manager you must encourage your team members to provide honest reflection on their performance without being afraid of any negative consequences. Apart from providing the self appraisal comments mentioned above, you can also use assessment tools to make self appraisal a common practice within the organization. 

Custom Pulse Surveys by SuperBeings can help you with understanding their needs and help you support them better. If interested, book a free demo today.

Suggested Reading

Employee Self Assessment: How to write a great one

150+ performance review phrases for managers

How to use custom pulse surveys to enhance employee experience

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