Appraisals done right
At Technogise, we look at appraisals differently.
In a previous article, we have explained one aspect of this. In this article, we will outline how appraisals are done at Technogise, and why.
Anniversary appraisals:
All Technogisers get appraised on their respective joining anniversaries. This way, every Technogiser, no matter when she / he joins, gets evaluated over a uniform duration of 12 months before their appraisal. We’ve observed that 12 months is a good duration to comprehensively evaluate, and therefore appraise, a teammate’s performance
We don’t follow the April / October appraisal cycles followed in many other companies because it removes the uniformity in appraisal durations. As a result, some people get appraised in 8 months, some in 15 months.
Of course this means that we have to maintain funds for doing appraisals all year round. Thankfully, we’ve been able to do it so far 🙂
Appraisals as rehiring exercise
Most organisations look at appraisals like this:
- Person A has done just about OK, let’s give her 10% hike over her current salary.
- Person B has done well, let’s give him 15%
- Person C has done exceptionally well, let’s give her 18%
Those percentages may vary from organisation to organisation, but the theme remains the same.
On the other hand, Technogise looks at appraisals as a rehiring exercise.
We comprehensively review the individual’s performance and potential for growth and assess that if we had to rehire her today, what salary would we get her at.
This eliminates her current salary as a factor for deciding her revised salary.
And because we’ve factored in her performance & potential, we rehire her at a pretty good salary 🙂
Maintaining the appraisal hike — recruitment hike balance
We’ve often seen companies go very aggressive in terms of providing significant hikes to incoming hires in order to meet their hiring needs.
And at the same time, we’ve seen these companies go conservative when it comes to salary appraisals.
To us at Technogise, this doesn’t make much sense because recruitment, at the end of the day, is a speculative exercise (…no matter how thorough…).
We evaluate a candidate over the course of a few rounds in a couple of days and then, based on the impression she creates, we speculate that she might be good for us.
On the other hand, a performance appraisal is a comprehensive evaluation of a co-worker over the course of a year.
We’ve witnessed how our co-worker has:
- grown professionally,
- added value to her projects,
- benefited her teammates and clients, and
- contributed to the organisation’s growth and success.
There is no speculation here. We have concrete feedback and proof of her performance.
Therefore, it makes sense to reward someone’s year’s worth of concrete efforts more aggressively than someone’s performance in a short, speculative exercise.
Appraisals based on feedback all year round:
Our appraisals are based on the performance feedback we receive from our colleagues (project teammates, clients, support functions). However, this does not mean that we collect feedback solely for the purpose of our appraisals or only when our appraisals are near.
We’re striving to make the art of giving and receiving feedback part of our culture, our DNA. (We’re not 100% there yet, but we’re getting there 🙂)
This means that we seek feedback from each other, and give each other feedback proactively and regularly. Often, we take feedback from the same project teammates multiple times (..say, every 3 months or so..). This way, we come to know how we are progressing in the eyes of our teammates over the duration of a project. This allows us to course-correct.
We also emphasize that the feedback we receive and give is constructive & honest, NOT sugar-coated. Constructive feedback lets us know the areas we can become better in, or grow in. It helps our professional growth. Sugar-coated feedback on the other hand, could blind us to our shortcomings and therefore, hinder our growth. As they say, sugar is bad for health 😀
This comprehensive, constructive, honest feedback from all year round is an accurate reflection of our performance and is therefore, the right ingredient needed to validate the appraisal.
Appraisals based on potential for growth:
When we appraise Technogisers, we make sure that we’re not only rewarding their performance, but also their potential.
Since we’ve witnessed their professional growth in the last year, it gives us an indication of how they might potentially grow in the coming year. And we factor that potential in when deciding their appraisals. This way, Technogisers get that extra motivation to fully exploit their potential 🙂
Doing the right thing:
Our appraisals are a reflection of our culture and ethos of “doing the right thing”. While we strive to refine and evolve our appraisals further, we will always make sure that we do the right thing for our fellow Technogisers 🙂
