For many employees working in the organized sector, the term
appraisal process conjures images of hope and fear simultaneously. Hope
for a better grade and fear about potential downgrading or a bad rating.
The weeks leading up to the appraisal are filled with hectic activity
when the employees get down to evaluating themselves and prepare to
market their achievements during the time for which the appraisal is
being conducted. Before launching into the details of the appraisal
process and the theory and practice of the same, it is pertinent to
understand what the term appraisal process refers to and why it is
important for the firm as well as the employees.
What constitutes the Performance Appraisal process ?
The performance appraisal process, simply put, is the time of the year
when the employees are evaluated on their performance during the last
six months or one year depending upon the timeframe that is set for the
same. The performance appraisal process is conducted between the
employee and his or her manager for the first round and subsequently
between the manager and the manager’s manager before going into the
third round which involves the above peopleexcluding
the employee but involving the HR manager as well. The various rounds
that comprise the appraisal cycle correspond to the different stages of
the process culminating in the final grading of the employee.
Appraise and Appraiser
The most important round is the appraisal interview itself (we will
discuss more about this in a separate article) between the employee and
his or her manager. The employee who is being evaluated is called the
appraise and the person (usually the manager) who is doing the
evaluation is called the appraiser. The appraiser and appraise prepare
themselves for this round by doing a self evaluation (by the appraise)
and an objective evaluation (by the appraiser). This is the round in
which the most important achievements as well as glaring failures on the
part of the appraise are discussed threadbare and usually the
employee’s role in the process is limited to this round.
What is the outcome of the Appraisal Process ?
As outlined above, the outcome of the appraisal process is the grade
that is decided for the employee as well as the salary hike or the bonus
potential that is awarded to the employee. Typically, organizations
divide the year in which the employee’s performance is evaluated into
two cycles, one for deciding the salary hike and the other for deciding
how much bonus he or she gets for the cycle. In this way, organizations
ensure that there is no overlap in grading the employee and a fair and
balanced evaluation is the desired outcome though this does not always
happen in reality.
Shortcomings of the Appraisal Process
The successful completion of the appraisal process hinges on all the
participants approaching the same with an intention to contribute
positively instead of bringing personal biases and prejudices to the
table. Management experts usually prescribe a set of do’s and don’ts to
the participants in order to have an harmonious process. However, as has
been pointed out above, the process itself is not without its
shortcomings and the expecting the participants to be rational and
objective at all times is indeed difficult. Further, since most
organizations decide the grades in a way similar to the b-school
equivalent of Relative Grading instead of absolute ratings, an element
of competitive rivalry creeps into the process making some employees
unhappy.