IT’S NOT PUNISHMENT, IT’S FOR YOUR BETTERMENT

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Sarang woke up at his usual time. He wasn’t in good mood. He was feeling low and dejected.

His wife, Sunidhi sensed the mood of her husband. She put on his favourite songs on the music system and gave him a mug full of hot coffee. She also sat beside him for a long time to give him comfort and reassurance.

Sunidhi started talking about the weekend picnic but Sarang was not in a mood to talk about it. According to her judgement, he seemed really nervous. She asked him the cause of his off-mood.

Initially, he refused to tell but after Sunidhi’s persistence, he commented that today was his appraisal day.

Sunidhi had worked in the HR department for a sizeable large company. Since she conceived, her doctor had advised her to avoid travelling as much as possible.

She had taken part in a few appraisal meetings along with her boss. Seeing Sarang upset, she decided to explain the processes to him.

She asked him “Do you know why appraisals are necessary, are you aware of its importance?”

“Appraisals are conducted basically to recognize the accomplishments of a person to be appraised. Sarang, have you sent your accomplishments in writing?” Sarang nodded positively.

“Then your boss must have gone through that. That is his homework. Now he is aware of the good work done by you. It may be possible that you might have missed some deadlines or have fallen short of your targets mutually agreed between you and your boss.”

“For that, he will scold me,” Sarang murmured.

“Not necessary. I know you are passionate about your work and your boss also expressed it to me during your company’s last party. He would like to find out the reasons for the shortfalls. Being your boss, he is also responsible for the so-called failures. He needs reasons to take care of in the future.

While reviewing your performance; he will identify the problems and will guide you to improve your performance.

He may add to your present goals or he may set new goals for the coming financial year.

He will motivate you to stretch a little more to meet new targets. I am confident that you are capable of accepting more responsibility. This may be your heading for better career development.

Your boss, Mr Balkrishnan is a good leader. He may recommend you for suitable training. It will ease you to climb the thorny ladder of management.

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Sarang, an appraisal, or a performance review will clarify what is expected from you and will point out the lacunas, and will suggest improvements.

All appraisal meetings are for giving and receiving feedback which leads to better engagement relating to your performance and development.

Now, Sarang, in your organization this is an annual affair, but in many companies, it is semi-annually or quarterly or even monthly also. It depends on the necessity of the situation.”

Sarang was feeling much better after hearing his wife’s explanation. However, he still had a couple of doubts. He said, “Can I appraise my subordinates?”

“Yes, Sarang. You can and you should! Appraisals are normally done on three levels. One is self-appraisal, the second is by immediate supervisor or even by one layer below, third is by the second layer above or below.

Your boss, Mr Balkrishnan is a gem of a person. He is properly trained for his position. He knows how to conduct appraisals.

In a few rare cases, bosses may commit Halo or Horn error.”

“What is that?” asked Sarang.

“In Halo error, if a boss is happy with one positive performance feature or even an incident, he gives a good rating to an employee. On the other hand, if he has noticed one negative performance feature of an employee, he gives a lower rating to him. But don’t worry; this does not happen in professionally run units.

Now let me go and prepare your breakfast. Please get ready. I wish you the best of luck.”

In the evening when Sarang was back from his office he was relaxed and looked very happy. Sunidhi asked him about his appraisal. Sarang told her to get ready to go out for dinner where he would like to tell her everything.

Both of them went to a good restaurant and selected a table by the poolside.

Now it was Sarang’s turn to narrate his appraisal story. At the beginning of the appraisal, Mr Balkrishnan told him that he doesn’t want to be a judge but a coach. As a coach, he will help the employees to recognize and celebrate their achievements. During the appraisal meeting, both of them worked as a team to build strengths that will enable the unit to achieve higher targets.

Sarang thanked Sunidhi for her morning briefing which helped him to overcome the day. The food was excellent and they returned home feeling very happy and contented with how the day had turned out.