The Officer Evaluation System Basics
No matter your rank, you are subject to being evaluated by your
chain of command. This evaluation process begins the day you check
in, and can make or break your career and promotion opportunities.
The Coast Guard Officer Evaluation System (OES) has been designed
to:
Provide information for important personnel management decisions.
Especially significant among these decisions are promotions, assignments,
and career development.
Set performance and character standards to evaluate each officer.
Prescribe organizational values by which each Coast Guard officer
can be described.
Provide a means of feedback to determine how well an officer
is measuring up to the standards.
The evaluation systems focus on performance.
To accomplish these purposes, the evaluation systems focus on performance.
This reflects the fact that how well you do your job, and the qualities
you bring to the job, are of paramount importance to the Coast Guard.
Performance is most important for successful mission accomplishment.
It is also important for development of skills and leadership abilities
and in determining who will be selected for advancement through assignments,
promotions, and so on.
Coast Guard evaluation systems emphasize the importance of performance
in several ways, using periodic performance feedback, as the basis
for formal evaluation reports, and, for officers, through performance-based
promotion recommendations.
5 Steps to improving Your OER"SCORE"
Although the Coast Guard Performance Evaluation system is designed
to observe and report your performance, there are 5 steps you can
take that are virtually guaranteed to improve your evaluations.
Step 1.Start out by reading Coast
Guard Personnel Manual Chpt. 10A. Understanding how the process
works is key to making it work for you. Pay particular attention to
appropriate evaluation form for your rank.
Step 2.Communicate. Talk with your supervisor about
your performance report. You should go over the form line by line
to determine their expectations. Ask your supervisor for their advice
on how to improve your OER and get the highest score possible.
Step 3. Be Opportunistic. Take every opportunity you
can to demonstrate the level of performance that your supervisor suggested.
Be sure to take the initiative and show that you're committed to performing
at the highest level.
Step 4.Record your personal performance. Keep a performance
diary, noting the times and situations when you demonstrated the skills,
initiative, leadership, and performance your supervisor suggested.
Step 5.Evaluate yourself. Complete your own evaluation
report on an Officer
Support Form (OSF) CG-5308 or Officer Evaluation Report CG-5310,
include documentation and support information. After all it is your
career, and you are the only one who knows exactly what you have accomplished
during the evaluation period. Submit your OER or OSF and documentation
to your supervisor.
Your supervisor has a rough job, he or she has to monitor you and
your coworkers performance throughout the entire evaluation period.
It is nearly impossible for a supervisor to remember every detail
about your performance. In fact supervisors tend to remember negative
situations more often than the positive ones. By following these 5
steps you will make your supervisors job easier, and when you make
their job easier it can't help but to increase your OER SCORE.
Tips to writing a winning Officer Evaluation Report(OER)
The key to a well-written OER is the quality of your input. Here are some tips for writing a quality OER:
Keep a weekly or daily log to document accomplishments—Not only what
you did, but also its value or impact on unit mission or career development.
Establish short, intermediate, and long-term performance goals; share
them with your supervisor.
Request specific recommendations in the Potential block. Examples
may include promotion, graduate school, command, or a recommendation
to chief warrant officer to lieutenant program.
Be alert for signals from superiors. If signals are confusing, ask
for clarification. Ensure issues raised in previous OERs are brought
to closure. Read and understand Personnel Manual, Article 10.A.
Gain a thorough understanding of your written job description. If
it is out of date, rewrite it. If there isn't one, write it. Provide
input to your supervisor in preparing Section 2 of the OER.
Clearly
understand the relationship between your job and your unit's mission.
Contact CGPC-opm-3/rpm in writing if you have not received your
OER receipt copy after 90 days after the end of the reporting period.
Ensure all OERs are in your record before boards and panels
convene.
Ensure you have no pending OERs when you request retirement.
Maintain a complete personal OER file.
CG Officer Evaluation Report (OER) Forms
Use the following CG Forms to report your performance:
CG-5308
- OSF Optional Worksheet CG-5310A
- OER (W2 TO 02)
CG-5310B
- OER (03 TO -05)
CG-5310C
- OER (CAPTAIN)
The Officer Evaluation System Basics 