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Nandkumar from Popkorn wins hamper |
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May 28, 2007
Nandkumar Pudhari, Project Manager at Popkorn Infotainment has won a gift hamper from Zee TV for posting his views on the Essel Newsletter Discussion Board.
The Essel Newsletter had sought views from associates on the preferred system of performance appraisals. The choice provided was a system based on constant feedback on the employee’s performance and one that is restricted to one or two days a year to apprise employees on their performance.
Here is Nandkumar’s response:
The performance appraisal of an employee is akin to an examination of a school student. A student, who is successful in his exam, is promoted to the next level. Similarly, a good performance appraisal decides an employees future benefits - monetary (like increments, incentives, perks, etc.) and non-monetary (such as promotions, higher responsibilities, growth, etc).
Educational institutions all over the world are migrating to the continuous assessment system and are doing away with annual assessments. It may be noted that only the evaluation methodology has changed; promotions to next level still happen only once a year. The periodic feedback given to the student helps him overcome shortfalls and improve his performance. The focus thus, shifts from punishing a student for not knowing something to making him know and understand that something.
Likewise, a constant feedback system of performance appraisal would help the employees understand their shortcomings and take steps to overcome the same. The focus here would be ‘let us do the job this way rather than this is what you have done and this is what you get’.
As in case of students, promotions (and increments) of employees can happen once or twice a year, as per the company’s policy. But the periodic feedback would enable the employees to know how their performance has been rated at regular intervals and what more needs to be done.
An attempt has been made to record some of the merits and demerits of the continuous assessment system:
Merits
* The ratings that have been recorded during the course of the year would help the management assess the consistency of performance.
*Any error on account of human nature would get minimized. For example: If an employee has performed consistently but has not been up to the mark just ahead of the performance appraisal (due to some reason or otherwise), his ratings would not get adversely affected. Similarly, a sly employee performing exceptionally well with an eye on the appraisal, cannot get away with it, as he would be made accountable for the entire year.
* Periodic review would keep the employees on their toes. They would be motivated to perform continuously.
De-merits
• Continuous assessment involves a lot of time and human resources, and consequently, be an expensive proposition.
• It tends to be a tedious task as it drags all through the year and may appear to be a trivial exercise.
• It tends to be a hindrance in the day-to-day functioning of the team/ department. It may disrupt routine activities at regular intervals.
Solution
The constant feedback scheme for performance appraisal should be devised considering the time factor, as this would determine costs. The forms should be designed such that it should take about 20-30 minutes for the employee to fill in the details. Introducing an e-system could help ensuring transparency, minimizing paperwork, and automate computation and analysis of periodic scores.
The performance appraisal discussion between the employee and the assessor should not exceed 10 minutes. The discussion during the annual appraisal may, however, be of longer duration.
To start with, the organisation could introduce a mid-yearly appraisal system. Depending on its efficacy, a quarterly assessment scheme could be introduced. A quarterly system would help the management in measuring the consistency of the employees’ performance. The employee, on the other hand, would get enough time and feedback to excel. And, that is what the organisation wants.
Isn’t it a win-win situation?
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