#own your performance.The“old-new"debate

Performance Appraisal—These two words bring forth a plethora of emotions. You will have employees across different organizations’ giving their perception for or against the very concept. You will have HR team members vociferously defend the appraisal process in their organization or the need to transition into a “better” performance management system. Then we have the various consulting organizations’ researching on & touting their own version of the fairest, most inclusive performance management system. This ecosystem cannot be complete without the HR Startups that promise to digitize, quantify, draw insights from every aspect of the appraisal process. Everyone is right in their own way except now we need to stop refining concepts for HR that were designed for the world of today and yesterday. The world of tomorrow is going to be so much different, that current concepts (that very often are not effective today) will be misaligned in the world of tomorrow. For the sake of this article, let’s focus on Today.

In order to make a company function, we have created “vertically distributed” power systems. There is a manager who ultimately has the final call; there are Reportees with whom information is shared in waterfall communications. Performance is managed & training is provided. Competency profiles complement this, including competency-based interview guides. To manage succession, systems exist to “control” this supply of talent through high potential identification, succession planning, 9-boxes, leadership development programs… sounds like a familiar pitch. The current state of Performance Appraisals in many organizations’ still draws upon the traditional “Command & Control” structure where employees are largely supposed to adhere to an ideal path identified by the organization.

The Future of Work may still be a few years away but how can we still make our performance appraisal count, irrespective of the way of measuring it. Here are a few practical pointers.

• It is cliched but please collaborate with your manager to ensure that your goals for the year are discussed and documented on whichever performance management tool your organization uses. If not on a tool, at have a documented plan that both of you agree on.
• Block that one hour with yourself every 2 weeks or once a month to deliberate on what you have achieved against each goal. This self-realization gives you discussion points in your one on one with your manager.
• People managers also benefit from these regular & recurring discussions. In the end, the final performance discussion transforms into a no-surprises positive culmination of what has already been discussed through the year.
• In the mid-year as well as end-year performance appraisal/evaluation, use these monthly notes to draw up a comprehensive appraisal documentation. Quantification of your goals obviously helps. As we mature in our roles, we need to understand how our goals are linked with the business outcomes. Do not fall for the adage “Nothing matters. Everything is pre-decided”.
• You actually have honest clarity on your performance when you have invested time in documenting & discussing your work. This serves as talking points in your appraisal discussions. Remember that it is as much yours as well as your manager’s responsibility to have these meaningful appraisal discussions.
• Every appraisal system has a built-in feedback mechanism that is triggered at the end of the cycle. Please ensure that you put in the feedback about your discussion. This is a valuable tool for HR to gauge the effectiveness of the process. Unfortunately, this does not always throw up enough insights. A person who gets a good appraisal rating either does not give or just gives politically correct feedback, as he/she does not want to upset the “apple cart”. That is true even when they may have had a very cursory appraisal discussion. The same logic applies to other employees who may feel it will not make a difference.

So what do we have in the end? The Influencers (the HR team, the Leadership teams) surmise that it has been an acceptable appraisal due to lack of proper feedback on the process. Many Managers may just continue believing that those twice a year discussions are enough to convince an employee of his/her performance, strengths & opportunity areas. Many employees may still feel that nothing will change and do not invest time in documenting/ quantifying their work. We just let the cycle continue.

As employees, as people managers, as an organization… Is it not time that we take a step back and rethink on how much more beneficial it would have been if we had invested more time in understanding rather than discussing the performance measures? An appraisal may not always have the expected outcome but it is far easier for both the employee and the manager if they have valid discussion points to refer to.

Yes, there are organizations now that are adapting performance management as a continuous exercise instead of a once/twice a year activity. Even there, the potential of these regular documented discussions is undeniable.

Let’s invest in that extra hour every month to make that difference and move one step closer to a better employee experience. After all, we own our performance.