'It doesn't matter': Leadership coach explains how to hack employee performance reviews

At some point in a corporate job, employees will be asked to complete a performance review in which they will rate themselves in certain areas (often on a numerical scale of 1-5) in order to self-evaluate their work. to the company.

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And while many are unsure whether or not to realistically assess their performance or underestimate themselves in an effort to appear more honest, one coach offers the opposite advice: put the largest number available.

In a video that has been viewed over 273,800 times, leadership expert Kara Kirby encourages viewers to give themselves all 5 when filling out their performance review forms.

"The whole system is bullshit, so put some bullshit in it," Kirby tells viewers alongside a caption that reads "Don't you dare give yourself a 3."

@insightsleadershipkara Don't you dare give yourself a 3. #performancereview #performancemanagement #selfpromotion #hrtiktok ♬ original sound - Kara Kirby

Kirby insisted that what employees rate themselves "doesn't matter", garnering a slew of comments from viewers who both disagreed and agreed with his sentiments.< /p>

“Always give yourself 5 seconds,” someone reiterated. "When officials ask you why you gave that kind of answer, just say it's as high as you can get."

“It took me years to learn this, all I did was underestimate myself,” added another. "I realized my male counterpart never was. Get what you deserve ladies!"

Others commented that getting a 5 from a manager was more difficult than originally expected.

"My old job was toxic and they told me 'they just don't give a 5' and a 4 is 'exceeds expectations'," one said.

In a follow-up video, Kirby explained what she perceives to be flaws in the corporate system, particularly managers who use reviews as leverage to talk about pay raises.

@insightsleadershipkara Replying to @emilyschweiss ♬ original sound - Kara Kirby

"If it's real performance management, where you're trying to get feedback from people to improve at their job, philosophically that should never be associated with raises salary, so there should be two separate conversations," she told viewers. "Great managers, we'll have a conversation with you about how to give you as many points as possible through this process. Poor managers don't really know what's going on and they just tick boxes. and the bad managers you have to fight to get the highest possible score."

Kirby has not revealed where she previously worked.