As most of you who follow us on social have probably seen, we're in the midst of our #12DaysOfGiveaways on social media, where we give away a different product every day for 12 days. In order to win, our followers answer a question and the best answer is the winner for that day.

It's been really fun for me to read through all the comments every morning from the giveaway entrants the day before. So far, we've asked questions like:

-What's your favorite childhood holiday memory?

-What's your favorite Christmas Eve tradition?

-What's your most dreaded holiday family tradition? 

As you can imagine, there are some really good responses. The responses to the Day 1 question, in particular, really struck a cord with me. We asked people to tell us about their favorite childhood holiday memory and of the roughly 90 responses we got, there were a handful who talked about a favorite or unexpected gift, but by and large, most of the answers centered around family and shared experiences.

I don't want to sound too cheesy or cliche, but in the midst of the holiday season where the financial and gift-giving stress is at an all-time high, the research shows (yes, our giveaway questions qualify as research) that the lasting memory people will have years from now isn't the gift they got, but the experiences and the memories shared with loved ones. I love giving gifts, so that part will always be enjoyable to me, but at the end of the day, the most important part are the memories made. Just something to remember as we get closer to Christmas. Hope you all had a great weekend - let's make this week a good one!

Happy Friday, Everyone!

Announcement #1: Packing party from 2pm to 3pm today.

Announcement #2: It is that time of the year again… ANNUAL REVIEWS! Keep an eye out, everyone except for the PGSS’s should be receiving the self-assessment email in the next couple of days. For a couple of you, this might be your first time going through the annual review process with SlideBelts so here are some tips and an article that I posted a while back.

Tip #1: Think about your future. Consider your own strengths and weaknesses and where you want to be in the next year. The primary goal of the review process at SlideBelts is to check in with everyone on their career progress and talk about where you are and how to get you where you want to go. Keep this in mind as you are writing those self assessments.

Tip #2: Take your time. Do not attempt to do the entire self-assessment in one sitting. Start it and then go back to it a couple of times. This reduces the chances that you will forget to mention something that you want to go over.

Article:

The self-assessment is a critical tool for fostering conversation and improving communication with your managers and peers.

The self-assessment lets the employee discuss what important projects have been completed, share new skills and techniques acquired and remind employers of all the great work they have done since the last performance review. 

A self-assessment is also the perfect opportunity for employees to show their managers that they understand where they can improve. While no one likes to point out areas of weakness, some employers have more respect for their staff members who are able to honestly assess their shortcomings. Employees who think they are doing great in all areas of their job are often too shortsighted to understand that, in reality, they are not meeting expectations.

Writing a self-assessment

Writing a self-evaluation can be a difficult process for many employees. Despite knowing themselves and their work better than anyone, employees can struggle to summarize it in a way that comes off as objective. Here are a few tips to help you with your assessment.

Be proud. 

The main goal of the self-evaluation is to highlight your accomplishments. Employees need to ensure that the work they are most proud of is highlighted in their self-evaluation. When describing those accomplishments, employees should be sure to emphasize the impact each of those achievements had on the business as a whole.

Be concise. 

While employees might be inclined to write about each step of the successful project or task, it's best to be brief. The work should stand on its own. This is just a time to make sure the boss remembers that the employee did it.

Be honest. 

Honesty is another critical aspect of writing a self-review. It's more than likely that the boss knows when a good job was done, so trying to highlight a project or task that was just OK, rather than great, won't have much impact. In fact, it likely will show the people in charge that the employee doesn't truly have a grasp on his or her own performance or understand the difference between satisfactory performance and truly exceptional work.

Going further

Finally, if your performance review or self-assessment reveals weaknesses that may be holding you back, don't be afraid to ask for help. Like admitting your weaknesses, asking for constructive feedback from managers can help cultivate strong work relationships.

Thanks. Have a great weekend!

The most important part of a hikers gear is his shoes for more reasons than one. 

There is an old Buddhist saying that says, “Where would I find enough leather to cover the entire surface of the earth? But with leather soles beneath my feet, It’s as if the whole world has been covered.” This lesson is something I have carried along with me into every aspect of my life and recently I came across a similar metaphor, the Zoro Circle, in a book some of you may know: The Happiness Advantage.