Co-worker Performance Evaluations in a Corporation

You may wonder what the purpose is for co-worker performance evaluations in a corporation, or how to fill them out if you're asked to do so.

The purpose for co-worker performance evaluations is to get an understanding of how well employees perform in a team environment.  Many corporations use these when evaluating employee merit increases and/or setting performance goals.

Co-worker evaluations help managers understand how well an employee relates to his or her peers, and the perception of coworkers about an employee's performance.  It also provides managers great insight into the overall cohesiveness of a team, and where some team building efforts may be needed.  An employee might work great as an individual, but have a tough time working with peers.  By conducting coworker evaluations, managers can determine where weaknesses are and help the employee create objectives to overcoming these weaknesses.

If you're asked to complete a co-worker performance evaluation, consider the following:

  • Be objective - even if you and your coworker would never go to lunch together, make sure you're truthful and honest in your evaluation.  Stick to facts.  Likewise, if the coworker is your best friend, don't just write a glowing review.  If the person truly has some weak areas, it is in their best interest to know what those are.
  • If you were your co-worker, how would you improve? Imagine you can take your thoughts and perceptions about a coworker and become your coworker for a day.  What things would you work on?  It's difficult for people to know how others perceive them unless others tell them what they think.  Help your coworker understand how others perceive him or her.
  • Provide constructive criticism - don't just state what others need to work on, help identify a solution.  For example, if a coworker doesn't communicate well, you could state something like "Kristen doesn't communicate order changes very well.  It would be helpful to the team if she notified the project managers about any changes.
  • Provide specific examples where possible - state specific events and times when a coworker performed particularly well or displayed some performance challenges.

By objectively completing co-worker performance evaluations in a corporation, you're helping your team grow as both a team, and each person as individuals.  Providing constructive feedback to your co-workers will help them understand what they need to work on, as well as improve overall team performance.


Return to Co-worker Relations Page