As an employee, I thought work evalutions were just a moment in time. They usually seemed to be the perceptions of the boss from just the most recent months. So I found it helpful to ask how I have been doing compared to the last evaluation.

As a manager, I learned to use that longer perspective when I gave evaluations to my own employees.

Good employees grow over time. They don’t remain static. Teaching them to think about long-term growth is good for the employee and good for the company.