I found the Employee Evaluation pre work that Regan, Caroline and Carly provided was pretty interesting, and the following quote was one that stood out to me the most.
"Self-evaluations are often critical to your good performance rating. Managers cannot possibly know everything you do every day. So a well-written self-evaluation with successes and complex projects listed can inform, or remind, your manager about the goals you've accomplished and the contributions you've made during the year.
By writing this up, you can influence your manager's final decision about your performance rating. If you've received praise from clients, either internal or external, include them in your self-evaluation to let your manager know that others appreciate your work."
I don't know if i totally agree with this statement. Yes, in a perfect world this would be true, but i would assume that if most employers cannot see the work that you say you are doing, or don't see the effects of it, they won't take it into consideration. Why would they reward you for something that wasn't making an impact on the organization or they weren't even totally sure you were doing? I'd venture to assume that most employers are focused on productivity and they're looking to reward behavior that produces positive results, not busy work.
At the level of the patient service rep (or equivalent), your manager will likely be sitting near you and observing much of your ongoing contributions. As you move up, performance measurement gets harder because the contributions are less easily measured. However, as you were pointing out, your manager should be aware of what you are contributing - the first time she hears about a big project or important contribution should not be on your self-evaluation you submit after the rating period. If that's happening, both the manager and employee are failing at communication. When I was a manager, I tried to sit down with all my direct reports at least monthly to keep track of their major projects and hear their concerns (in addition to weekly staff meetings - this was an opportunity for individual feedback and discussion). When it came time for their evaluation, I had a fairly extensive record of our conversations and what we had agreed were their priority projects. There were no surprises when it came to the actual evaluation.
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