Black Friday Sale! 50% Off All Access

'It Doesn't Matter': Leadership Coach Sounds Off on How to Hack Employee Performance Reviews Leadership coach Kara Kirby is going viral for advising viewers to rate themselves highly when faced with employee performance reviews.

By Emily Rella

Entrepreneur+ Black Friday Sale

Our biggest sale — Get unlimited access to Entrepreneur.com at an unbeatable price. Use code SAVE50 at checkout.*

Claim Offer

*Offer only available to new subscribers

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Getty Images
Getty Images

At one point or another in a corporate job, employees will be asked to complete a performance review where they'll rate themselves in certain areas (often on a numeric scale of 1-5) in order to self-evaluate their work at the company.

And while many are unsure whether or not to rate their performance realistically or undersell themselves in an effort to appear more honest, one leadership coach is doling out the opposite advice: Put the highest number available.

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

"The whole system is bullsh*t, so put some bullsh*t in there," 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 it "doesn't matter" what employees rate themselves, garnering a slew of comments from viewers that both disagreed and agreed with her sentiments.

"Always give yourself 5s," someone reiterated. "When managers ask you why you gave that kind of response just say it's as high as the scale would go."

"Took me years to learn this, all I was doing was selling myself short," another chimed in. "Realized my male counterpart never was. Get what you deserve ladies!!"

Others opened up about how earning a 5 from a manager was more of a challenge than originally anticipated.

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

In a follow-up video, Kirby elaborated on what she perceives as the flaws in the corporate system, especially managers who use the reviews as leverage to talk about wage increases.

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

"If it's an actual performance management, where you're trying to get people feedback to get better at their jobs, philosophically, it should never be paired with pay increases, so should be two separate conversations," she told viewers. "The great managers out there we'll have a conversation with you of how to give you as many points as possible inside of this process. The mediocre managers don't really know what the hell is going on and they're just checking boxes, and the bad managers you need to fight to get as high of a score as you possibly can."

Kirby did not disclose where she has previously been employed.

Emily Rella

Senior News Writer

Emily Rella is a Senior News Writer at Entrepreneur.com. Previously, she was an editor at Verizon Media. Her coverage spans features, business, lifestyle, tech, entertainment, and lifestyle. She is a 2015 graduate of Boston College and a Ridgefield, CT native. Find her on Twitter at @EmilyKRella.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Business News

Barbara Corcoran Says This Is the Interest Rate Magic Number That Will Make the Market 'Go Ballistic'

Corcoran said she praying for lower interest rates and people are "tired of waiting."

Money & Finance

Why Donald Trump's Business-First Policies Trump Harris' Consumer-Centric Approach

President Donald Trump's pro-business agenda is packed with policy moves encouraging investment to drive economic growth. The next Congress has a unique opportunity to support entrepreneurship and innovation, improving U.S. competitiveness with the rest of the world.

Business News

DOGE Leaders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy Say Mandating In-Person Work Would Make 'a Wave' of Federal Employees Quit

The two published an op-ed outlining their goals for their new department, including workforce reductions.

Growing a Business

Build a Business That Will Sell: From Valuations to a Successful Exit

Join us for this free webinar and learn how to develop a business that buyers will find irresistible.

Business News

The Two Richest People in the World Are Fighting on Social Media Again

Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk had a new, contentious exchange on X.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.