First quarter of the year 2012 is almost over and the response of the appraisal of 2011 has arrived in most of the organizations. However employees are still unhappy as they feel their line managers have not done justice to their performance. They have the impression that they were under-rated. They deserved promotion or a better increment in the salary but they are not given what they were expecting or what they were committed.
On the other hand, people managers opine that organizations are going through worst economic crunch and the employers cannot accommodate their employees anymore. But as a matter of fact, they have promoted few employees to the next level and that has worsened the situation. And “favoritism” is the most common allegation the managers are facing.
The life of people managers is quite miserable now a days. They are right in most of the occasions but they do not know how to give feedback to their reportees. This whole exercise hurts overall productivity of the organization.
“Employees’ motivation is directly proportional to the reward they get at the end of the year”, they say. It is somehow true. And keeping the motivation level of an employee high is the biggest challenge of today’s people manager. Year 2011 could not bring any good news for the employees of corporate sector. It was not a different year for organizations however it turned out to be the toughest one for people managers. The only thing they need to focus on is; to provide feedback in such a way that employees accept their words and respect their actions.
Appraisal is not managers’ responsibility only, the reportee is equally responsible for the results he scores he get in the appraisal at the end of the year.
What the managers need to do;
1. Managers should guide the employees about the goals and objectives of the organization and of the department, especially their role in achieving these goals.
2. Managers should also give an insight of the business to the employees and should discuss future prospects of the business as well
3. While setting objectives, they must guide their employees about the expectations they have and about the results they expect from the employees at the end of the year
4. They should give feedback to the employees about their strengths and about the areas where employees needs to improve
5. The managers should not only talk about the areas of improvement but they must guide their employees as to how he can improve
6. FEEDBACK, FEEDBACK, FEEDBACK… Managers should give periodic feedback to the employees and should NOT wait for year-end appraisal to highlight the issues. This approach not only hurts manager’s credibility but it also harms overall business
7. JUSTICE should never be compromised. Accommodating good friends can be fatal for the organization and for the department. Carrot and Stick technique is very effective however it does not give results if justice is compromised
8. They should have a track record of employees’ performance, achievements and how quickly they improved their errors. They should regularly provide feedback without any delays
9. Managers should commit what they can offer and they should not offer that they cannot give at the end of the year
What the Reportees need to do;
1. They should keep a record of their achievements and overall performance so that the details could be presented during appraisal
2. They must not think of any favoritism or conspiracy theories. They should focus on their own performance which can earn them better position as they say, actions speak louder than words, so try it and get maximum results
3. Try to be Managers’ favorite with exceptional performance so that he could left with no other option but to satisfy you and to give what you really deserve
4. Reportees must learn the art of advertising themselves. Most of the people do well but they do not present it well. Whatever you do, you do for the organization, same should depict from your work and same should be presented to the management as to how your work will benefit the department and the organization
5. Quota system in promotions has been introduced to different organizations where only a specific number of employees can be promoted. You must know what it is and how possibly you can become a part of those who are given more monetary benefits.
6. Bell Curve is an extremely competitive system. One has to perform exceptionally well to be a consistent top performer. This system usually decides the future of the employee.
7. “You do not get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate”, they say. So, NEGOTIATE, NEGOTIATE, NEGOTIATE until you get satisfied but the negotiation should not hurt anyone’s benefits and it should not affect your relationship.
8. Follow the golden rule of “Convince or Get Convinced” during appraisal. This helps reach a satisfactory point and keeps the momentum of best performance accelerated.
Appraisal is all about meeting and exceeding organization’s expectations. Three quarters of the year are still to come. Year 2012 can be planned more effectively by keeping organizations objectives in mind as achieving the organization’s targets will benefit employees too, only if they perform exceptionally well and successfully negotiate.
