A performance appraisal is a process that determines how an employee has been performing - usually over a time period. The idea is that the company’s standards and the requirements of the role have been communicated to the employee and that an appraisal is to assess whether the employee is falling short, meeting expectations or exceeding them. Improvement and recognition of performance with its consequent benefit to the functioning of the company are at the heart of the reason why performance appraisals are conducted.

GlobalLinker caught up with HR experts Andre Lobo, Shweta Ojha, Geet Jalota and Gopalkrishnan Subramanian and asked what they thought were the best parameters for a performance appraisal in the modern day.

Shweta Ojha, Client Service, Saksham Universal, opines, “Parameters for performance appraisal have to be linked to individual and organisational goals. Best parameters are the ones which are as objective as possible and can be comprehended by both appraisee and appraiser on similar lines. HR/Management should spend considerable time to define and discuss these parameters.”

Geet Jalota, Director, Askgeet HRD Solutions OPC Pvt Ltd., said, “Performance appraisal is now an outdated concept. Performance Management is the defining HR process. I would prefer to use both hard and soft parameters - besides the results at the end of the month, incorporating customer satisfaction also makes sense.” Incorporating customer satisfaction as a measure, quantitatively or qualitatively, ensures that you include the feedback of the people most crucial to your enterprise - the customers who ensure whether your company will grow and if the brand will remain strong.

Andre Lobo, CEO of WorkPro Technologies, is in favour of a new technique in Performance Management called the ‘Year Long Feedback System’. He says, “There is a new concept in performance management called ‘Year Long Feedback System’. As a result, anytime you achieve something noteworthy, it is recorded as feedback or a comment by your manager and can be viewed by everyone on your team. It is not restricted to just an end-of-year process and encourages informal recognition as another performance management tool.” This process makes the feedback loop encouraging and continuous as opposed to quarterly or annual system which was the way it was done traditionally.

Gopalkrishnan Subramanian of The-Enablers too believes Performance Management is the way of the future. He says, “I feel the parameters and the proficiency levels depend on the roles. What is required is a competency framework with parameters across categories - citizenship competencies - These are organisational values. If employees don't demonstrate they are out. Competencies for existing roles, competencies for next/leadership roles, technical competencies.. It is more of performance management and starts right from entry into the organisation.”

The experts have different takes on how appraisals should be conducted but all agree on one thing - the traditional mode of performance appraisal is outdated and entrepreneurs should invest on revamping the system for better outcomes for their companies and employees.

Network with SMEs mentioned in this article by clicking on the 'Invite' button on their profile. Andre Lobo, Shweta Ojha, Geet Jalota and Gopalkrishnan Subramanian

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views, official policy or position of GlobalLinker.