Chapter 7
Employee / Subject problems
7.1 High anxiety
Dr John Sullivan: Because the process is so subjective and no benchmark performance numbers are set in advance, uncertainty can cause many employees high levels of anxiety weeks before the process. Managers may also be anxious because of the uncertainty related to an employee’s reaction. I know one employee who sincerely thought she was going to be fired prior to her assessment but ended up being the highest rated employee on the team. Employees should have an accurate idea of their assessment long before any meeting is scheduled.
Solution
This usually happens in a Performance Appraisal Management Process where both the employee and the manager will be finding it tough to take the performance appraisal forward based on oral confirmation.
Setting Goals is the best way to make sure both the employees and the managers are in the same line. Before the start of the appraisal period, there should be a consultative discussion between the employee and the manager on what the expectations are from both and this should be mutually agreed upon during the start of the year.
This will motivate the employee to attain goals set at the beginning so that he can plan his work accordingly in the future.
7.2 One-way communication
Dr John Sullivan: some managers simply give the employee the form to quickly sign and they don’t even solicit feedback. Many employees are intimidated by managers and the process, and as a result, they say nothing during or after the appraisal.
Appraisals should be a two way process where the manager lets the employee know about his expectations and the employee also lets his expectation be known to the manager. There should a high level of confidence, trust and mutual respect that both will gain in the process which will increase the rate of retention in the organization. Employees are the face of the organization and they are the best brand partners and understanding them is the best way to lead a healthy organization.
An appraisal room cannot be considered as a War Room, where an employee vents out his feelings in the appraisal process, so they can be systemized by making the employee walk along with the appraisal process and keep the employee informed of the same.
Synergita Performance Appraisal Process has the extensive feature of addressing both the employee needs and the Organizations needs put together at ease
There is a Meeting Summary as a part of the employee work flow where once the feedback is given then there is a meeting summary which focuses on the areas that the employee needs to focus on and the same has been captured.
This can be taken as a reference at any point of time and see the improvements that the employee has made based on the mutual agreement made by the Manager and the Employee
Training Needs of the employee can also be addressed or the future course of action can also be mentioned.
7.3 Self-assessment is not possible
Dr John Sullivan: if an ambitious employee wanted to self-assess their performance midstream (in order to improve), most processes do not provide access to the instrument. Providing each employee with a virtual assessment scoreboard and performance management process would be an ideal solution.
Solution
Synergita has a review plan called the Periodic Feedback where the manager can enter the feedback about the particular employee for a reference in between the review period.
The Privileges for the Periodic Feedback is generally provided to the managers so as to have a control over the performance of his subordinates, on the core areas which the employees has to be rated.
7.4 No alerts
Dr John Sullivan: most processes do not allow an employee to be notified midstream should their performance change to the point where it was suddenly dramatically below standards.
The main aim of the Performance Appraisal is to constantly monitor the employee performance over a period of time and provide required inputs.
The main reason for the failure of appraisal process is that the employees are not informed on their performance requirements. The Managers wait for the appraisal time and list out the mistakes which will not go well with the employee.
Solution
Synergita offers a Continuous Feedback where the managers can help the employee to make sure that his/her performances are as per the goals setup during the discussion.
Continuous Feedback is a direct and instant feedback tool that can be used to communicate to the employee his or her performance highlights on a day to day basis
7.5 No choice of reviewers
Dr John Sullivan: although there are a few exceptions, in most cases, unlike with 360 reviews, employees are not allowed input into who does their assessment.
Reviewers play an important role in the appraisal process. They truly bring out the work qualities of the employee who is a part of their team and who is going to be apprised. Most of the organizations started having the 360 Degree Feedback which will help the managers understand the employee.
Solution
Synergita provides the option of letting the employee select the list of people who can apprise him in the appraisal cycle. This transparency in the system will help the employee to find the right people to evaluate him.
Once the List of Reviewers is selected then the list has to be approved by the Manager. The Reason being that the Manager will have a better knowledge on the relationship details and also approve the same taking into consideration of other factors such as favouritism, biased nature etc.
(An employee can refer his friend as a reviewer in order to get a good feedback, these can be checked by the primary manager before approving and hence the final approval is provided to the manager)
7.6 One-way process
Dr John Sullivan: in most cases, employees also have no input into the factors that they are assessed on, how often they are assessed, and what type of feedback they can receive. It is unfortunately even rare for a process manager to routinely survey their users for suggestions on how to improve it.
Appraisals without the consent of the employee on his career aspirations, what is expected from him and what he expects from the organization will always fail because this one way process will create a negative impact among the employees. Appraisals should always be a win-win situation where the requirements, expectations are put forward on the table both by the employee and the organization.
Solution
In Synergita the Competencies and KRA‘s though set at the organizational level can be modified according to the individual in the organization. This can be done based on the discussion and the expectation from both the employee and the manager. The competencies (1 – 3 Years‘ Experience) can be set differently for a 1 Year old experienced employee and totally a different one for a 3 year old experienced employee.
The Rating Guidelines Option provided in the Feedback will help the managers to rate the employee effectively.
Employees will also be able to receive continuous feedback at any point of time instead of waiting for the appraisal time and they can make the necessary improvement during the course of the year rather than waiting for the appraisal time.
The Action Review Plan also help the managers to keep a constant tab on the performance of the employee considered underperforming and provide ways to build up his career.
7.7 No appeal process
Dr John Sullivan: employees who disagree with her appraisal are seldom given the opportunity to challenge the results with a neutral party.
Employee Appraisals always comes with a Tagline "My Signature on the acceptance of performance appraisal doesn‘t imply that I agree with the above said ". This is the common problem faced in the Performance Appraisal Process across industries, sectors. The main reason being when both the employee and the manager come to the appraisal table there is a chance of either not accepting the views, scores given or the feedback generated. At this instance the very first thing that would cross our mind why not challenges the appraisal with the neutral party.
Solution
Synergita provides with a good notification options, The workflow in the appraisal process can be set such that if the employee is not satisfied with the outcome of the appraisal process then there can be a mail trigger which will notify the senior management on the employee‘s dissatisfaction in the appraisal process and the meeting can be arranged with the Human Resource Manager, Senior Management and the employee himself to sort out the difference.
7.8 Retention issues
Dr John Sullivan: the ultimate cost of an “unfair” assessment may be that it actually drives your top employees away because, for example, there was no differential in recognition and rewards for their superior performance.
In most of the appraisal scenarios the top performers in the organization are taken on the same scale as others and a basic rating is given with a similar percentage of hikes which does not go well with the employee. When they have been identified as top performers in their previous appraisal they would have given more effort to keep the momentum going and also wanted to be in the elite list of top performers.
When they feel that their hard work is not being recognized they tend to look out for other opportunities and thereby create a void space in the team and in the organization which will take some considerable amount of time for the organization to find the correct employee or make an internal employee grow up to that level in that organization. The amount of time and money invested to find a right fit can be utilized to make the employee stay in the organization and get his concerns clarified and also by giving him an assurance on how things will be going forward.
Solution
If an average employee and excellent employee receive same score at the end of appraisal cycle, it will not go well with an excellent performer. It will basically indicate that the rating is not done in fair way and there is no differentiation (or) manager does not want to differentiate.
Synergita will help in clearly defining the rating criteria and managers will be forced to provide higher score to excellent employee compared to average employee. The score can be linked to the bucketing system through a business rule where the average performers and the excellent performers are distinguished separately.
Synergita also has a feature called Interim Feedback where the employee can have a discussion with his/her manager on what has to be continuously assessed so as to move to the next level of the organization and when both of them have finalized then this review feedback can be put in place. The employee and the Manager can have a look at this and keep working towards the goal.
7.9 Many possible emotional consequences
Dr John Sullivan: if performance appraisal is blotched, you can expect a decrease in employee engagement, trust, employer brand strength, teamwork, and innovation contribution. Employee referrals from disgruntled employees will probably also drop.
As observed in many organizations, the maximum rate of attrition happens in the month of June-August. Why does attrition happen, how does the organization cope up with the level of attrition predominantly higher with the experienced people and who had also put in good amount of years in the same organization.
The main drawback is that they are not able to understand how their performance is evaluated from the organizational point of view and what the organization expect from them. Employees are always considered the Brand Ambassador of the Organization and there is a saying Employers don‘t build the business they build the employees and the employees build the business. The Relationship between the Employer and the Employee needs to be on a good track since the employees will always want to be felt recognized by the employer and this would build up their confidence levels, leadership spirit, and team handling skills and give a positive image about the organization that will be helpful for the organization
Synergita Performance Management Software helps in addressing these queries by providing the best in class appraisal software customized according to the organization needs and thereby helping in:
Synergita helps the Managers and the employees walk the same track in the appraisal process providing them with more transparency and what is expected from everyone involved in the appraisal process.