The Hindu Business Line : Appraisal 2006 — let's do it differently!

The organisation is expected to "uphold the values of transparency, fairness and performance orientation". Managers are expected to "say it as it is". Employees are expected to "be open and receptive to feedback". The Human Resource Department is expected to "get it all out on time but also be facilitative in the process".

Yet, year after year, there is more disappointment and heart-burn around performance reviews and appraisals as all the surveys will point out.

Isn't it strange that more and more "system" sophistication has not necessarily led to perceived satisfaction? It is my belief that what we need is more "people maturity and ownership" and not necessarily better systems.

Therefore, here is an earnest appeal to employees, supervising and HR managers to try and do it differently this year. Having relied on the system too long, it is time for the human side to take charge.

APPEAL TO EMPLOYEES

Dear employee, I admire your ability to take charge of your life. You chose your career, made the job changes, learnt to negotiate your pay, acquired valuable job skills, solved your customer problems, gave you manager 360 degree feedback and even told your organisation what it needs to do to improve engagement levels.

How about putting all these abilities to work in your ensuing performance appraisal? Why wait for and depend on your Manager and the HR department to make the system work? Do you realise that your manager gets quite worried at the prospect of having to give you feedback? While he has a lot to say, he is not sure if you will take it. How about proving him wrong?

For a start, take an honest hard look at your performance.

Take the initiative to pick up a form, do a self-assessment and even schedule the appraisal session with your manager.

Share with him your accomplishments in an objective manner.

Give him your analysis of why some things did not work.

Tell him your assessment of your strengths and development needs.

Tell him how you plan to improve on things for yourself and the department.

Even tell him how you rate yourself in relation to others in the department.

Ken Blanchard and S. Johnson once said: "Feedback is the breakfast of champions". David McClelland maintained that people with high achievement motivation actively solicited feedback. So you see, welcoming feedback will actually sets you apart as a true leader.

TO SUPERVISING MANAGERS

I understand your challenge. You are evaluated on your work unit results, held accountable for attrition and also expected to "say it as it is". Quite often you find it hard to balance these varied expectations. In fact, these expectations weigh so heavily on your mind that you do not really enjoy the entire process.

How about doing it differently this year? To begin with, unburden yourself from the pressures of your role and just be your natural self. Think of yourself as a coach trying to help the person beside you to discover himself rather than as a manager who has to persuade and make a point. Resolve to enjoy the process this year.

Good appraisers focus a lot on the future and far less talking about all the "wrongs" that the employee committed. So try spending a lot of your valuable time this year talking about what your employee can do in the coming year, instead of what he did not do last year.

Tell him about the new behaviour you would like to see more of instead of all that is wrong today.

For years you have been led to believe that the best appraisals are those that can be finally converted into a mathematical number. You have been preoccupied with making it all "objective" and "measurable". While it is important to avoid bias and prejudice, this year, try and trust your ability and good judgments to deal with the "how" aspects of performance which is all to do with human behaviour. Respect this dimension of your intelligence and use it with responsibility.

TO HR MANAGERS

Managing the PMS process is obviously an important part of your job. It is also a stress filled activity, what with all the varied expectations, time pressures and budgetary constraints to manage. Most importantly, after all the effort you are seldom appreciated.

I have only one piece of advice for you: This year, treat your managers as adults and empower them to play a meaningful role in the process. It's really a self-fulfilling prophecy — people act in whys which are consistent with your expectations.

Do not bemoan the fact that managers are not taking charge of the process. Help them see the whole picture. Educate them about the increase budgets. Let them know the overall reward strategy. Give them the skills to work with the processes and systems. Involve them in the design. Respect their special needs and give them the flexibility. Don't apply a one-size fits all approach.

Prevent the "bell curve" from becoming a mill-stone around his neck. What was meant to be a guideline has now become the villain. Did you know that many organisations are moving away from mandating it and are actively clarifying and communicating that it is merely a guideline? They are leaving it to their managers to apply good judgment on its usage.

Performance objectives and measures, competency frameworks, on-line systems and so on were all meant to remove the pain from the system and free up time for managers and employees to engage more actively with one another. Let us not hide behind these mechanisms and dehumanise what is essentially a human process. I do hope we will do it differently this year!

(The author is the founder and CEO of totus consulting, a strategic HR consulting firm that designs and implements HR systems and process for organisations across diverse industries. He can be reached at ganesh@totusconsulting.com)

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