Performance Evaluation Policy 2024

Achal Shah

Published in

McKinley & Rice

13 min readDec 28, 2023

Version 8.0 [Effective 1st Jan 2024]

McKinley Rice Performance Evaluation Policy 2024

1. Principles

We will implement our appraisal arrangements on the following principles:

Equality of Opportunity: All members should be encouraged and supported to achieve their potential through clarity of expectations and job roles, regular feedback, performance review, and provision of relevant development.
Consistency of Treatment and Fairness: We will take measures to ensure fairness and act accordingly to ensure our performance appraisal process is fair and non-discriminatory and that all members are treated with fairness.
High Standards: We believe by setting appropriate and challenging standards of performance and providing regular feedback and development opportunities, all members have the potential to continually improve their performance.
Work-life balance: All members are entitled to a satisfactory work-life balance and performance appraisal is an appropriate mechanism to facilitate this.
Pay and Rewards: Pay progression for members should reflect their overall contribution to the both community and employer as individuals and as team members.

2. Policy Description

The community would follow a yearly performance review cycle and appraisal cycle. These increments will be as per the approvals given by the employer. The team would be informed about their annual increments once they complete a year with Mckinley Rice Community, and the same would be reflected in the salary for the next/same month.

Intervention- Discretionary bonuses and re-designations based on the Employer’s recommendation can also be taken up after the close of the mid-year review. This mid-year re-designation and discretionary bonuses would not be mandatory in nature and would be subject to the performance of a member within the community and the current needs of the employer at that time. The above-mentioned intervention would only be made on the recommendation of the Employer and would need to be finally approved and sanctioned by the COO.

Note- A member would be eligible to participate in the appraisal process only after the completion of 1-year with the McKinley Rice Community. Some cases to define the process-

3. Appraisal Discussion

The appraisal discussion will allow an opportunity for both the appraisee and the appraiser to reflect and comment on the previous year’s achievements. The appraiser would be accountable for giving the members constructive, timely, and honest feedback on their performance, which should consider both the goals of the community and that of the individual. The discussion should be a positive dialogue and will focus on assisting the appraiser to acquire the relevant knowledge, skills, and competencies to perform his/her current role to the best of his/her abilities. The appropriate forms will be completed and signed by both parties

4. Performance Evaluation Methodology

The performance of each member would be measured under the following heads, i.e.-

Monthly Evaluation- A member’s performance would be reviewed by his Primary Manager as assigned on SumHR and Performance Evaluation Scores from the weekly/bi-weekly management report meetings shared by the GMCs every month.
The heads of evaluation and their contribution to the monthly score would be governed by the Monthly Point Review System Refer to the guide here. The overall contribution of these scores in the annual Performance Evaluation cycle would be 50%.

Additionally, to submit scores in the ambit of the “Above and Beyond” category in the monthly review scores every member has to fill out the document for the team lead to approve. The Company Lead will then be responsible for holding a one-on-one call with the team members and discussing the improvement areas before the final submission of scores. Click here to view the downloadable version of the Above and Beyond Submission Template.

The CLs need to complete the monthly evaluation review within 5 working days from the day the forms are released. Once submitted, the Department of Member Experience (DOME) will audit the scores given over the next 2 days, and confirm if any additional clarification is required.

It is mandatory for the CLs to have a 1-on-1 meeting with their team members before the scores and comments are finalized and submitted to the DOME. This is necessary to ensure proper communication and exchange of thoughts, sharing of both positive and negative feedback in a more constructive manner to provide performance improvements on a more regular basis.

Important Note: Scores can be rejected on the basis of merit by DOME and sent back for submission of validation and/or proof, in case it is missing or found inadequate. In case the Company Lead is unable to provide substantial proof for the same, the score for that individual member would fall to zero. Also, effective May 2022, the DOME releases the scores for the month and the total accumulated points thus far for the purpose of Member Reward Program (MRP) updates. Anyone on the team can request the DOME to receive their detailed scoring and comments. The same would be provided to the team member via email in a confidential manner. The monthly scores and the total accumulated points would be displayed in descending order, thereby creating a Leadership Board, to nudge positive and healthy competition within the team.

4. Reverse Feedback — The clause on reverse feedback underscores the commitment to fostering a culture of open communication and continuous improvement. This policy encourages team members to provide constructive feedback to their leads, creating a two-way dialogue for mutual growth and development. Team members are empowered to share insights, suggestions, and concerns with their leads, fostering transparency and collaboration. This approach recognizes that valuable perspectives can emerge at all levels of the organization, reinforcing a culture where both team members and leads contribute to the enhancement of work processes, team dynamics, and overall organizational effectiveness. The reverse feedback clause reflects the organization’s commitment to creating an inclusive and innovative workplace where feedback is a catalyst for positive change and professional development.

Reverse feedback contributes an overall 30% to your yearly performance evaluation scores. Every six months, the feedback will be collected and those will contribute 15% respectively.

5. Skill Enhancement Evaluation — Evaluation and scores in this parameter would be based on the Skill Enhancement Policy 2024. Link to the Skill Enhancement Policy: click here to read

6. Formal Disciplinary Procedure

During Probation Period

In case a member’s employment does not match the established standard set by the employer and termination needs to be actioned for a Member during or at the end of the Probation Period, the Employer may ask the Community to terminate the employment by serving a prior notice of 15 (fifteen) days. Upon such termination, the Community shall pay to the Member, the Compensation for such number of days the Member has worked for the Employer. During the Probation Period, in case the Member wishes to terminate this Agreement, they may do so by providing a prior notice of 30 (thirty) days to the Community.

Post-Probation Period-

Stage 1: Verbal warning for continued unsatisfactory performance or misconduct.

In case a member’s employment does not match the established standard set by the employer, the member will be given a verbal improvement note by the immediate supervisor or the Operations Manager setting out the problem, the improvement that is required, the timeline for showing improvement, and any capacity building or counselling that is required that may be given. The individual will be advised that it constitutes the first stage of the formal procedure. A record of the improvement note will be kept but will not form a part of the formal Annual Appraisal — subject to achievement of satisfactory performance. If a member’s conduct or performance does not meet acceptable standards set by the employer within the permissible time, the member will be given a written warning.

Stage 2: Written warning

If the offence is sufficiently severe or there is a failure to improve performance/ conduct during a warning, a written warning may be given to the member.

Keeping in mind the gravity of the matter, a written warning might also be given directly without the Stage-1 warning. The member would be monitored for his performance and his conduct following the written warning. It will also warn that failure to improve may lead to action under Stage 3 (dismissal or other action as appropriate). A copy of this written warning will be kept by the President of the Grievance Redressal Committee.

Stage 3: Dismissal or Other Action

If there is still a failure to improve or in case of gross misconduct, the final step in the procedure may be dismissal or some other action short of dismissal which will be approved by the employer.

The written note will be sent to the member setting out the allegation and the basis for it. The process must be initiated by the Immediate Supervisor and the GMCs with due consultation with HR.

The member will be given an opportunity to meet with the employer or the GMC to respond to the allegations and provide necessary supporting evidence.

Based on the decision, the final disciplinary action will be made by the employer along with the right to appeal will be communicated to the member in writing and the record will be maintained by the HR manager.

7. McKinley Rice Basket of Perks & Benefits

Member Reward Programme (MRP)

In any workplace, recognition, and appreciation play a key role in creating a positive organizational culture and strengthening Member — Employer relationships. The Member Reward Program aims to create a culture where a member’s hard work is recognized and rewarded.

The Member Reward Programme would be governed based on the monthly evaluation scores obtained by a member as mentioned above. The member’s monthly score would be recorded and managed by the Operations team and the rewards would unlock based on McKinley’s Reward Catalog as described below-

Points Redemption and Allocation Guidelines

Fewer points would redeem into smaller benefits whereas a large summation of points accumulated would result in bigger unlock features.

Points collected and not redeemed would expire by the end of the 13th Month of employment with the community. No request would be entertained to carry forward the point from that date onwards.
Members should be given a score of 1000 points per month only in case of exceptional performance and this has to be presented with substantial proof and reasoning.

Note:

Care leaves must be availed all at once.
The invoices submitted for reimbursement should be mandatorily in the name of the Community Member Only! Any request for reimbursement with invoices generated in names other than that of members will NOT be entertained.
You can redeem awards as per the points collected by contacting your Head of Finance and Company Compliance.

Also note:

In case of Resignation/Termination within the Probation Period, the points collection would stop immediately after releasing such notice. Also, the redemption of points would NOT be applicable under such cases.
In case of Resignation/Termination after the Probation Period, the points collection would stop immediately after releasing such notice. However, the redemption of already collected points would be possible in such cases.

B. McKinley CARES Program (MCP)

This section includes all measures that would be implemented community-wide starting the launch of this policy for the welfare of the members and creating a basket of enviable products that help the team experience a 21st-century employment experience. The following initiatives would be included under this category-

Category-1: The Wellness Program

a. The De-Stress Date- Under this initiative, members can schedule and part-take in 1–1 sessions with a certified/qualified professional to talk about anything personal or professional in complete secrecy. The sessions would be required to be pre-booked.

b. Fitness Reimbursement — McKinley Rice would reimburse gym/ any physical fitness expense of up to INR 33,000 annually based on the assigned expense policy on the HRMS portal. This amount can be availed monthly by providing an Invoice on the SumHR Portal.

c. Health insurance — McKinley Rice offers Health insurance effective from the day you join the McKinley Rice Community with benefits ranging from but not limited to Maternity benefits up to 50K, hospitalization coverage, and covering all pre-existing diseases.

Category-2: The In-House Benefits

a. Referral Bonus- A referral Bonus is offered to members who refer to job candidates who get hired & complete their probation period with the community.

To send a referral, one can use the “Helpdesk” feature on SumHR. Click on “HelpDesk” and then click on the category “Referrals” to send it to our recruiters.

b. Monthly Community Theme + Virtual Party- Every month is a celebration at McKinley. On the last working Friday of the month, the HR team would organize a month-end theme-based community-wide party to celebrate the successes of the team members and facilitate the exchange of thoughts and ideas. It would be during this party that the Member of the Month would be chosen.

c. The Member of the Month Nomination:

Any member of MnR can nominate themselves for the MOM. The applicants will be required to submit a video pitch describing why should they be selected and submit the same to the Operations Manager and C-Suit via email. The winner will ONLY be chosen based on C-Suit judgement and the winner will be awarded with a cash prize of INR 10,000 and a certificate of appreciation.

e. Employer Project Team Lunches- The CLs would have the liberty to host 1 team lunch for his team at the place of its choice or virtually every 3 months making him eligible to host 4 team lunches over the year. The budget per person would be capped at 1000 INR including taxes. The reimbursements would be granted based on the invoice shared. The same rule would apply to the HR/Product teams as a whole.

f. Expanded Leaves Basket- As per the Attendance and Leave policy, apart from the 20 leaves granted to each member every year, parents can now avail of maternity and paternity leaves. A member can also avail of 3 days of rejuvenation leaves based on the scores received in monthly evaluations.

g. Paid WIFI- McKinley Community will reimburse your WIFI expenses up to INR 18,000 annually based on your assigned expense policy on the HRMS portal. This can be availed monthly by providing an Invoice from your internet service provider on the SumHR Portal.

Category-3: Family Support Benefits

Maternity Leaves- Crosslink with Attendance & Leave Policy 2024
Paternity Leaves- Crosslink with Attendance & Leave Policy 2024
Day Care Allowance — McKinley understands that raising a child is not just the responsibility of the Mother but it is of both parents. We announce a “Day Care allowance” for your child up to INR 30,000 annually based on your assigned expense policy on the HRMS portal. This amount can be availed monthly by providing a fee receipt or subsequent proof of admission on the SumHR Portal.
Travel Reimbursement — In the last 3 Months of pregnancy, we provide travel reimbursements of up to INR 2000 per month for the days of WFO upon submission of invoices/bills for the claim.

Category-4: McKinley Retention Benefits

a. Bonuses under the MRP (As defined in McKinley Rice Basket of Perks & Benefits (a) )

b. Discretionary, performance-linked retention bonuses as part of the subsequent yearly appraisal.

c. Leave Travel Allowance Program: All members who have completed 3 years, for every block of 3 years of service with the community will be automatically eligible for receiving LTC Benefits as mentioned herein-

Leave Travel Concession benefits (or benefits in lieu of) as per the following guidelines-

To and fro rail fare or airfare- economy for the member +1 with a cap of 20,000 in total for 2.
A stay for up to 5 days with a cap of 30,000 additional for member +1 in total for 2.
Rejuvenation leaves of 3 days in addition to the 20 leaves allotted each year. The benefit is mandatory to be claimed within 6 months of the enabling of such a provision.

In case for a reason a member is unable to avail of the LTC benefit within 6 months i.e. “the benefits in lieu of not-availing the LTC Benefits” of the enabling of such provisions, the member can claim no more than 25% of the LTC amount as a reimbursement. In this case, no provisioning of additional leaves would be made for a member. The reasons under which such a request would be considered are as follows-

Inability to travel due to a prevailing medical condition such as pregnancy etc. as supported by the medical documents
Inability to travel due to the prevailing COVID situation in the country. Approval under this clause would be on a case-case basis and would depend upon the wisdom of community HR. No overriding claim benefits can be requested under this clause otherwise.

Please note:

The reimbursements would be made as per actuals on furnishing the proper tax invoices requested by community HR before the reimbursement is processed.
In case the expense exceeds the caps, the reimbursement would be limited to the capped amount.

C. McKinley Loan Program (MLP)

Everyone in their life requires certain financial support and we at McKinley Community understand this. To ease the burden of members who need liquidity at a certain phase of life, and as an extra benefit of not paying interest on a loan, we announce the McKinley Loan Program(MLP) which is an Interest-Free Loan Program for all confirmed members.

Loan Limits:

Members who have been confirmed and have been with us for a year can avail of up to 3 times the monthly in-hand salary. The approval will only be on a case-to-case basis and the management’s decision on this will be final.
Members who have completed more than 3 years with us are eligible for up to 5 times the monthly in-hand salary. The approval will only be on a case-to-case basis and the management’s decision will be final.

Procedure for applying for a loan under the MLP:

To apply for a loan, the member needs to generate a request here by filling out this Google form. The approval of the loan amount and the payback duration will be on a case-to-case basis.
The member will be asked to sign an existing Employee Loan Agreement and share it with the Operations Manager.
The approved amount will be credited to the member’s account.

Loan Repayment:

The loan repayment will occur by deducting the agreed amount from the individual’s in-hand salary each month. Please note that a minimum of 10% would be deducted from the member’s salary. The percentage can be increased if agreed upon which will decrease the repayment duration as well.

Please note that no resignations will be accepted before the loan is repaid. In case of a termination, the loan amount will be adjusted with the FNF amount. Only post the complete repayment of the loan in either case, the Full and Final Documents will be released.

“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” — Aristotle