What do you do if your peer support career requires effective performance evaluations?

1 Understand the purpose

The first step is to understand why performance evaluations are important and what they are intended to measure. Performance evaluations are usually designed to provide feedback, recognition, and guidance for your professional growth. They can also help you identify your strengths, areas for improvement, and goals for the future. However, performance evaluations may also have other purposes, such as ensuring compliance, accountability, and quality standards. Therefore, it is helpful to know the expectations, criteria, and methods that your employer or supervisor uses to evaluate your work. You can ask questions, review the evaluation forms, and seek clarification before the evaluation takes place.

2 Gather evidence

The next step is to gather evidence of your work and achievements that you can use to support your self-evaluation and demonstrate your impact. Evidence can include quantitative data, such as the number of clients you served, the hours you spent, and the outcomes you helped achieve. It can also include qualitative data, such as testimonials, feedback, and stories from your clients, peers, and colleagues. You can also use your own reflections, journals, and portfolios to document your learning, challenges, and successes. Try to collect evidence throughout the year, not just before the evaluation, and organize it in a way that is easy to access and present.

3 Highlight your skills

The third step is to highlight your skills and competencies that make you an effective peer support specialist. These may include communication, empathy, advocacy, recovery orientation, cultural competence, and ethical practice. You can use the evidence you gathered to show how you applied these skills in different situations and contexts. You can also explain how you developed and enhanced these skills through training, supervision, mentoring, and self-care. Be specific, honest, and confident about your skills and achievements, but also acknowledge your limitations and challenges.

4 Align with the values

The fourth step is to align your work and goals with the values and mission of your organization and the peer support profession. Performance evaluations are not only about what you do, but also why and how you do it. You can demonstrate your alignment by showing how you follow the principles, standards, and best practices of peer support. You can also show how you contribute to the vision, objectives, and culture of your organization and team. You can also express your passion, motivation, and commitment to peer support and the people you serve.

6 Plan for the future

The final step is to plan for the future and set realistic and achievable goals for your professional development. You can use the performance evaluation as a tool to identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. You can also use it to explore your interests, aspirations, and needs. You can then create a plan that outlines your short-term and long-term goals, the actions you will take, the resources you will need, and the indicators you will use to measure your progress. You can also review and update your plan periodically and share it with your supervisor and mentors.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?