'Employees Expect Their Growth Performance To Be Rewarded'

Organisations are all set to review their employee’s performance. It is a crucial time for the companies to award the right talent with right recognition and organisations are all set to review their employee’s performance. 

Zubin Zack, Managing Director, O. C. Tanner India sheds some light on the topic highlighting the points to ask for appraisal, performance measuring parameters and expectations for employees.  

How much can junior, mid-level and senior level employees expect during the appraisal season?

The outcome of an appraisal is based on a combination of industry, company, department and individual employee performance. It is imperative that all the four grow over the past year due to the actions of the year. The expectation of the employees is to get rewarded for their effort that leads to growth in the performance of their company. Another set of expectation is performance feedback and improvement required to perform better.

The appraisal system is an appreciation and improvement opportunity that acts as an identifier for the employee. It also helps the employee to form strategies to achieve new goals for the coming year & make development plans to improve their performance.

How should an employee ask for a raise in salary?

In the appraisal process, the reward and recognition part is about the employee proving his capabilities to achieve the given objectives. This achievement can better influence the process of getting a raise in the salary. However, there is no fixed formula for this as there are other parameters like overall company or industry performance that can limit the expected raise. If financial incentive is what an employee is expecting than keep it part of the discussion with a reason for justification.

What factors should drive the appraisal? How to measure the performance of the employee?

The goal sheet is the most important document to drive an appraisal process. The performance of an employee should be measured by quantifying theory and a rating mechanism of all the key performance indication (KPI) of the goal sheet.

The KPI should include all the major activities done by the employee to achieve the desired business goals.

What are the trends in employee appraisals?

Lately, the trend seen in employee appraisals is moving away from a top down setting to a more participative setting.

A participative setting is an appraisal process that involves a detailed discussion with managers not only on the achievement of goals but also on recognising the employee’s talent & discussing developmental plans for improvement areas.

Another trend observed is the movement from a rating & bell curved fitment to a reason & mechanism one that helps understanding employee aspiration and mapping out development plans. This is most important as this helps in retaining the employee by aligning his aspirations to the aspirations of the company.

What skills can lead to maximum appraisal for employees?

The most important skill for maximum appraisal is the ability to understand expectations and convince management on the achievement of the goal. The next important skill set is good communication and how effectively the employee can get his message across. Thirdly, articulating your success to the success of the company. Finally, his command over his area of expertise & technical capabilities firms the last parameters of a good appraisal.