Everyone is talking about ditching the bell curve system and reinforcing appraisals on a continuous review basis, thereby contributing to employee productivity. At Never Grow Up, instead of asking organizations their views on appraisals for employees, we decided to understand what employees truly felt about the performance appraisal process being used in their organizations.
Keeping this in mind, we did a small-scale study using the medium of a survey to understand what employees really think about the employee appraisal system. Belonging to a wide range of organizations and sectors within the country, a range of views towards Appraisals were obtained by us.
An interesting point to note here is that at the time of data collection, we could sense a certain amount of hesitance and reluctance amongst the participants to talk about their opinions towards appraisals. This is when we realized that since appraisals are an integral part of our work-life and therefore, our work culture, it’s time to change the mind-set of the employees towards appraisals, as well as the face of a company in the context of employer branding.
The three parameters we focused on were:
Awareness
Participant’s understanding of an appraisal system being in place and what it really measures.
Fairness
How fair and just the participants perceive the appraisal system to be. Also, extent to which participants can seek clarifications post-appraisal and the openness with which this can be discussed at the workplace.
Relevance
Whether participants feel the feedback received is relevant to them. Also, the extent to which participant’s personal and professional goals are aligned to one another.
Our Study Findings suggested the following:
Open Communication
When a majority of participants are unsure of which appraisal system is in place, it is an indicator that organizations need to communicate with their employees about how they are being evaluated, calling for better staff engagement.
Transparency in System
In order for employees to take ownership of their areas of improvement, the appraisal system needs to be transparent by involving them at every stage.
Periodic Feedback
It is also is important for organizations to take the effort to conduct performance appraisals on a more regular and systematic basis. By giving periodic feedback to its participants, they will get a clearer idea of how they can improve, and therefore increase employee productivity.