Chapter 4
Process Related Problems
4.1 Disconnected from rewards
Dr John Sullivan: In too many organizations, getting a merit raise, bonus, or promotion is completely disconnected from an employee’s performance appraisal scores. When there is a weak link, employees and managers are not likely to take the process seriously.
Employee‘s performance appraisal scores play a crucial role in suggesting the bonus or promotion for the employee. The confidence about their appraisal score being considered for merit raise, motivates employees to achieve their goals of the organisation.
Solution
In Synergita, the HR can enforce Merit raise or bonus depending on the employees overall appraisal score. HR has the provision to configure "Business Rule" to decide on the final promotion or salary change of an employee:
Managers can access the details of awards and appreciations received by an employee while providing rating.
Below is the screen shot of a Manager referring to the continuous feedback received by the employee throughout the year while providing the rating.
4.2 No integration
Dr John Sullivan: The process is not fully integrated with compensation, performance management, development, or staffing (internal movement). A lack of integration and coordination leads to duplication and missed opportunity.
Appraisal process is an input of activities such as compensation, talent planning, training, etc. If the inputs go seamlessly for such activities, it will make the appraisal process more meaningful.
Solution
Synergita has a strong link between the People and Performance management. It does not stop with just performance appraisal. It provides compensation management as an extension of the Appraisal cycle.
A best example for the statement that Synergita does not stop with just appraisals would be the Review Plans. Whenever a manager feels that an employee needs more training on certain areas, he/she can set up a training plan for a team member. As and when the training happens, team member can also update the training hours, which managers and HR will be able to see.
Synergita also helps in taking steps required for succession planning or staffing. It provides the 9 Quadrant report through the appraisal process to identify the Star performers or weak performers.
The HR can easily decide on the movement of next level and training or review. It is easy for HR people to manage the complete Employee information using Synergita and integrate it with the necessary systems such as the Medallia (used extensively in hospitality industry to know the customer satisfaction). It is also possible to integrate Synergita with any other HRIS systems easily.
4.3 Individual scores exceed team performance
Dr John Sullivan: Without controls, quite often the average score of team members exceeds the actual performance of the team (i.e. the team reached 80 percent of its goals but the average performance appraisal for its members was 95 percent).
It is important to have proper alignment between organization, department and individual goals. To achieve this, the goal management process should be well defined. The Organization Goal should be clearly communicated to all the Departments /Teams of the Department. Hence the Managers should be clear about the team‘s goal and accordingly set the goal of all his team members.
Solution
Synergita HR defines the first level of Appraisal form, the weightage split between competencies and goals. The Employee is allowed to set his/her own goals and finally the manager has an overview of both the competencies set by HR and the goals that are added by the employee. Manager can check if the employee goals align to the team‘s goal and make the necessary changes.
Synergita helps in reducing the mismatch between the individual employees score and the Team‘s score.
4.4 Each year stands alone
Dr John Sullivan: Each performance appraisal by definition covers a finite period of time. However, if the goal is to assess potential and identify patterns, an employee’s performance must be assessed over multiple years.
Solution
Synergita allows the goals of the previous year to be retained for rating in the next appraisals. The goals set for the current year are retained in the appraisal form until the manager explicitly clears them off. The manager can also add/edit the existing goals through the set goals process. Synergita provides the opportunity for both the Employee and Manager to view the appraisal form along with the goals set at any time during the year.
When manager rates the goal to be assessed for multiple years, he/she can view the rating given to that goal in the previous year and track the improvement in the current year.
4.5 No comprehensive team assessment
Dr John Sullivan: Although individuals on the team are assessed, there is no simultaneous overall assessment of the team. Often contingent workers on the team are not addressed at all.
Contingent workers are generally not added into the appraisal process for the following reasons:
However, as the performance appraisals move up in the value from salary revisions to a strategic tool for talent management, it is important to include contingent workers as well. Their work impacts the entire team‘s performance, depending on the role played and number of such workers in the team.
Solution
Synergita makes the administration of performance appraisal process very easy. HR will not have to spend additional time specifically for contingent workers. That way, it is easier to include them into the process.
As the goal is more around talent management and NOT salary revision, inclusivity will help to get better picture of entire team.
Synergita provides a report which compares the Competency and goals score and divides the employees of the organization into 9 quadrants identifying the top performers, average performers and non-performers. This helps the Management team or HR to easily understand the strength of any department or team in the organization.
The system also has various other reports which help the HR in understanding the performance of the team like the SWOT (Strength and Weakness analysis of the team) report, Recommendation report which gives the rating distribution details. Specific analysis on contingent workers highlights the following benefits:
4.6 A focus on the squeaky wheel
Dr John Sullivan: Most performance appraisal systems focus on weak performers. There is significantly less focus on top performers and thus there is no system to capture their best practices and then to share them with others.
Performance appraisal systems should be used to identify the potential of each individual in the organization be it a weak performer or a top performer. It should be easy for a management or HR
Solution
Synergita allows the HR and management team to focus both on the weak and top performers.
The system provides strength and weakness report based on the rating given by managers to their employees. The report is used:
From 9 Quadrant reports, it is easy to segregate the star performers, potential (but achieving less), etc. Once this information is set, the HR will be able to plan specific "Individual Development Plans" for stars/upcoming stars to maximize their potential.
4.7 Little legal support
Dr John Sullivan: Performance appraisals may be an executive’s worst enemy in grievances and legal proceedings. Even though the process may be flawless, poor execution by managers often results in performance appraisals that do not aid in a disciplinary action. Errors may include “unfettered discretion,” improper handwritten notes, generalizations about race, gender, or age, and appraisals that do not match the performance data. At my university, a study demonstrated that while Asians got the highest performance score, they somehow managed to get the lowest average pay raise. When the HR director was confronted, he was furious that anyone would calculate and expose the obvious discrimination.
Synergita greatly helps in decision making for the Managers and HR people. HR can view the feedback received by the employee as continuous feedback and find any mismatches with the appraisal feedback. HR can ensure that there is no manager bias for any employee.
Also, HR can bring in multiple approvals before a manager sends the feedback sheet for a team member. This way, approvers can make sure that the feedback language is appropriate before it reaches the employee.
Synergita helps the HR and Managers in following the principles of equity and fairness that should be upheld in any good employee evaluation process.
4.8 No second review
Dr John Sullivan: Even though the process may have impacts on salary, job security, and promotion, in many firms the assessment is done by a single manager. If there is a second review, it may be cursory, and therefore not ensure accuracy or fairness.
It is crucial for the managers to be more responsible while providing the rating since it impacts the career growth of their employees. To ensure this Synergita helps HR in few ways.
Solution
Synergita supports configurable workflows with one or multiple levels of approvals.
The organization can easily adopt changes in the flow of their appraisal by adding approvals to the feedback or rating given by the managers.
When the assessment is being reviewed by one or multiple person in the organization it will help in ensuring the accuracy and fairness of the appraisals conducted for employees.
The system also allows the HR to have a better perspective on the organization growth by comparing the performances year wise.
4.9 Not reliable or valid
Dr John Sullivan: most process managers do not regularly demonstrate with metrics that the process is consistently repeatable (reliable) and that it accurately assesses performance (valid).
The role of Managers is to understand and guide the team on their lacking. When corrective feedback are not given in an acceptable way, it results only in dissatisfaction. On the other hand when it is explained with sufficient metrics and proofs it helps the employees in accepting their mistakes/weaknesses.
Solution
Synergita helps in providing corrective feedback in an acceptable way. A comment box to describe managers rating and expectations is provided Mails/Evidence documents supporting the feedback can be attached for the employee‘s perusal. This helps the manager in assessing an accurate and reliable performance.
HR has an option of making this comment box to be mandatory when the Manager rates either of the extreme rating (1 – Poor or 5 – Excellent).
4.10 Cross-comparisons are not required
Dr John Sullivan: one of the goals of the process is often to compare the performance of employees in the same job. Unfortunately, most appraisal processes (with the exception of forced ranking) do not require managers to do a side-by-side comparison, comparing each member of the team with one another.
Synergita permits HR or managers to:
4.11 Assessments are kept secret
Dr John Sullivan: Although a salesperson’s performance ranking may be posted on a wall, performance appraisals are often kept secret. An overemphasis on privacy concerns might allow managers to play favourites, to discriminate, and to be extremely subjective. Keeping ratings secret allows managers to avoid open conversations about equity.
Though secrecy is a factor to be considered for appraisals, it is the responsibility of the HR to define the proper level of secrecy. For instance, the ratings and comments given to the employee can be made visible to the Management people, Department Heads, etc. and can be kept a secret for the peers of the employee. Managers and department heads will be able to compare the scores of people.
Solution
Synergita is flexible in allowing the HR to define the right degree of privacy. All the features available in Synergita right from the Employee Organization / Profile Details, the Performance Ratings, the salary details of the employees etc. can be configured with ease using privileges. HR can easily set the visibility and control of details in the system.
4.12 Process manager is not powerful
Dr John Sullivan: Often the process is managed by lower-level HR administrators without a complete understanding of performance and productivity.
Effectiveness of the process always lies in the hands of the executor and the clarity he/she has in the process. It is difficult for the lower level HR people to run the appraisal process a successful one. As rightly said by Dr John Sullivan, they may not have a complete understanding of the processes and productivity. It is therefore important in such organizations to choose the right Performance Management software.
Solution
Synergita proves helpful for lower level HR executives handling appraisal process, as it is well defined tool for conducting Annual or Half Yearly appraisal cycles.
All that is required for a successful appraisal is readily available in Synergita - easily configurable Workflow and Appraisal forms to be loaded based on various criteria‘s, remainder mails for pending tasks, escalations on overdue, etc. HR can track the status of completion using widgets and reports
It is also possible to have process related Help documents available for both HR and Employees in the system always for their reference. Configuring the notifications for completion of rating or approval intimation to the HR is also possible. Synergita also provides many reports which assist in analysing the performance improvement or the rating distribution across the organization to understand the productivity.
4.13 No process goals
Dr John Sullivan: the overall process operates without clear and measurable goals, and as a result there is little focus.
In many organizations, Appraisal cycles are completed merely for name sake. Any work done without a proper goal is never complete. Identifying the Goal and understanding the purpose of Appraisal cycles are equivalently important as conducting it.
Solution
Analysing the satisfaction of Employees is easily done in Synergita through a report which gives information about the Employee acceptance and comments.
At the end of the appraisal cycle, Synergita allows to get the process feedback from employee.. Based on the inputs received, HR can analyse if their goals of conducting the cycles are met or need to improve the process.
It is also possible for the HR head or Management people to review the feedback given by the Employees on the process and take necessary steps. Process Feedback form is easily customizable and more questions corresponding to the organizations can be added to get information on all aspects of the Organization.
4.14 Not global
Dr John Sullivan: Most processes and forms are “headquarters centric,” failing to address cultural, language, and legal differences.
Although it is difficult to have appraisal processes and forms to address the different cultural and language differences, It is essential to have a process that suits all employees in the organization to get the full benefit of conducting appraisals.
Solution
Synergita provides the option to have multiple appraisal forms (Templates) based on various criteria‘s like department, function, location, etc. This appraisal form is defined by the HR and there is a provision for the Manager to review the form and make any customizations suit a particular employee, if needed.
The appraisal process as such is defined with the help of work flow which is also easily configurable in Synergita. It is possible for an organization to have multiple appraisal workflows and create different cycles for employees in different location etc.
4.15 Forced ranking issues
Dr John Sullivan: Although forced ranking has some advantages, using it may result in significant morale and PR issues.
Forced ranking is a form of identifying the company‘s best and worst performing employees using comparisons. Managers rank workers into three categories: The top 20 percent, the middle 70 percent and the bottom 10 percent. The long-run impact of Forced ranking should ideally be increased productivity, profitability, and shareholder value. T
Synergita facilitates the people of HR and Management team to analyse the performance of each individual and place them in a 9 quadrant report, based on their performance. This comparison can be made in the organization as whole, or within a department, or a team.
This report allows the manager to
4.16 No ROI calculation
Dr John Sullivan: HR fails to do a periodic business case justifying the value added compared to the time and the cost of the process.
Synergita reports provide various measurable benefits to the Management and employees. For instance, conducting an appraisal review meeting and getting the feedback from employee would allow the HR to know the problems faced by the employee and his satisfaction level. This helps in reducing the attrition rate and reduces the cost of conducting interviews to appoint new employees. The attrition rate of the organization is always available to the HR in form of Widget and Report.
Other benefits include Strength and Weakness Report (which gives the top 5 Strengths and weakness), Feedback report which can be seen for every cycle that is conducted, etc.