Performance Appraisal, is a key activity that supports the Performance Management Process and Initiatives for any organization. This is an assessment of employee’s performance vis-a-vis expectations of the organization.
For most companies Performance Appraisal is an annual event – and one of the most religious ones. Considering the impact that an annual assessment has on the short term and long term careers of the employees – the period from March – May, usually is full of hushed discussions on Appraisal & Ratings. The time frame could be Dec – Jan, as well for companies following the Jan – December year. Some typical thoughts – ” I hope i am in the top two brackets..”, “I hope the performance incentive is a decent one”, ” i hope my boss does not screw my happiness”, “I really need a promotion – have slogged for last 2 years “. Lots of hope, and expectations. I am sure, for most of you – some of the above or similar thoughts would be applicable.
Need to Understand Some Issues:
Objectivity of the Performance Appraisal process:
Any performance assessment process cannot be truly objective for most job positions. There is bound to be elements of subjectivity and discretionary judgment calls by the managers etc., which are bound to bring down the objectivity of the whole process. Even if it is a sales and number or metrics driven job – most organization would not limit the assessment to achievements on the Metrics. A certain part of the assessment would definitely revolve around the “How” part. The question that may be asked is – What enabled the attainment of the desired targets ? Is the “How’ in line with organization expectations? For example – A Sales Manager, who is able to consistently achieve his targets and exceed the targets – would look forward to a perfect rating. However, when an investigation is done on the “How” part, there may be instances of “being too rough and rude” with the team members, making false promises to customers on product delivery and performance. Therefore, we can see that there can be on lots of dimensions for assessing “true” performance. The need for a human judgment, would render the process far from being 100 % objective. Focus for most organization, however continues to be on bringing the objectivity aspect to the best possible level.
Process Gaps in the PMS process from the very onset:
As it has been mentioned above, the Performance Appraisal part of a PMS process decides the achievement vis-a-vis the expectations. One of the key challenges that surfaces is, the inadequate understanding of “Expectations” by the employees. For most organization, the process of setting the KRA and finalizing the deliverable, is an exercise that goes missing – and is probably done just before the actual appraisal. This may be because of – poor adherence of process, or may be because the organization is evolving fast and the business targets and expectations keep on changing. However, for employees – absence of a KRA proves to be an absolute lack of direction.
Another key process gaps turns out to be the lack of formal and informal review of employees by the managers. A periodic review is always advised as a part of any PMS process, to enable a system of checks and balance to see the achievement of an employee for a short period and align expectations if needed. Since, this review and feedback session keeps on waiting for the end of year. people who are understood to fare badly, never get a chance to correct their mistakes and work better – thus creating a negative scenario for them at the end. Lack of periodic review along with absence of a documented KRA, also leads to an absence of a tracking mechanism for performance – since at the end of the year most of the employees miss out documenting their achievements etc in their own self-appraisal / or are unable to represent adequately their achievement to their Managers.
Some suggestions for Employees – to handle Performance Appraisal better:
- Please understand, that once you are in a job, someday someone will question you on your achievements and deliverables. You need to have an answer for the same. Start building your answers from today itself.
- Document and keep a record of, all that’s being done by you – any activities, or projects – they may be as per your KRA or may be something different. They may be something random as allocated by your supervisor. At the end of the year, if you are unable to highlight you achievements – it’s you who will be at a loss.
- In case you have a feeling that you are not getting adequate work – or you are not getting an opportunity to deliver – immediately flag off your boss. It makes sense to inform your seniors rather than get sidelined. Even after informing your supervisor , if no new work is assigned to you, talk to your boss again – be assertive, it makes sense if you can identify any specific project or work you would want to do or may be be a part of some existing project. This would also reflect on your ability to take an initiative.
- It’s not just your job performance that matters, it’s also the behavioral competencies that add up to your good appraisal. In case your organization has outlined the expectations on behavioral competency front – go through the document and see if you are up the expectations as mentioned in it. In case you don’t have an idea on the same – keep yourself up to the following generic competencies – Initiative & Drive, Effective Communication, Working with and thru people, working and delivering under pressure, ability to handle stretch targets, team work etc. These are some aspects that you can work upon – and an effective display of the above would definitely help you at the end. These are especially meaningful for managerial roles.
- People & Relationships matter – Talk to people, Communicate with people, see if you can pitch in with your expertise on some project / cross functional initiative. It pays to be in lime light – you need to be visible.
- Let the world know that you are good – you are effective and you have the potential . These can either be demonstrated through actions or through “self-glorification.”. Talk to people and communicate to them – highlight your achievement at all possible opportunities. Once there is a positive image about you, in nearby cubicles – over the period of time – they sure will travel to your boss or HOD. It might get you a positive bias at the end of the year. BTW, you have to support all this through high level of delivery, else all fails.
All the best for your next appraisals.
Praveen is the Founder & Principal Consultant of KHEdge, a boutique HR & Business Process Advisory firm. Over last 15 years he has advised & worked with promoters, founders, business leaders, HR leaders in areas of - Business Strategy, HR Strategy, Organisation Design etc.