Effective Appraisals – A Foundation for Stable Teams

Abstract

Heading can also be read differently “Appraisal – Fuel for an Attrition”

If there is No proper Measurement, Data and Validation with respect to Market forces, we always will have unhappy souls cribbing about not getting appreciation for their Talent & Hard work. Now the critical part is talent, very seldom, they work hard, actually, they work smart. Therefore, the system needs to identify what is adding value in Business direction and growth. Who are such contributors for which Customer and Competitor are seeing great value in their talent and ready to hire them.

Growth of Organization, Technology / Domain focus, Talent development and knowledge building is typically in hands of Business Team, RMG, Architect & HR. Team has to identify players and ensure each has a Road map aligned to Company Goal. And of course getting appreciated well. This is the real Fuel for an Organization.

This paper focuses on identifying, engaging and ensuring an appreciation of such talents.

For every company the Focus, Parameters, needs will be / could be different, it needs to be realised. 

Preamble

Right from our childhood we always experience that, we are awarded a chocolate or a small present for doing a good job (from eyes/perspective of parents, teachers or mentors), known in enterprise terms as XY theory. So our psychology is to expect such appreciation from time to time, we feel better. In addition, if we are appreciated publicly in front of friends, relatives or even colleagues, we feel proud. However, due to the lack of adequate data, such decisions are challenged due to different perspective and opinion on the situation and there is always an aspect of personal touch.

This creates a situation, which forces an employee to move on towards jobs of their expectation. One of the root cause of attrition today is mainly unsatisfactory Appraisals.

While personal touch is important and should be there, the decision needs to be Data-driven and transparent to all.

360-Degree appraisal does take care of many parameters including appraisal by higher up, peers and subordinates. However, most of the software implemented are quite useful but designed for large Conglomerate.

As I see, an appraisal is a combination of – Clarity to expected Role, Independence and authority to perform the Role, Dependencies are well identified and communicated well at all level. All type of Resources are made available at right time for performing Role / Task, Measurement of Timesheet & relevant data to validate and Periodic Reporting and not just acid check on day of appraisal meeting, Clarity on Role growth- Roadmap - How and what extra initiatives needed.

Growth is natural, expected and supported by nature too. If we look at Tree, Its Characteristic and role are defined, Its Resources are made available and it grows. When all of this is synchronous, Tree is deep-rooted, stable, Healthy and in one place.

Now when we see IT skills in comparison to other Industry, the speed at which Work / Project / Technology skills, opportunity window changes in IT is much faster than other industry. One can see Stability in other industry but IT is volatile and also large wear and tear.

Challenge of Attrition

This is a monster every IT services (more) and product development company faces. You lose a team member in the middle of the project and ships rocks like anything. Speed, Target dates, Quality, No. of errors, understanding of Bigger pictures, practically everything is shaken up.

Exit interview answers are quite standard and stereophonic – For better opportunity but deep down reason is Less appraisal, more ever someone else who I think is incompetent gets better and that’s it.

Therefore, we are focused on fundamentals – Role definition, setting KRA in consultation, RACI Matrix (Understand dependency), Measure Project Criticality Index & Stability Index (New I will talk separately). Define and publish the calendar for Appraisal, Making mandatory to put up Timesheet in ERP to figure out where the time is going (Is it in Key KRA or somewhere else), Pushing HR to schedule on time. Involving Architects involved in planning Roadmap for carrier, Asking HR to make desired Training session available Online or Classroom, self-learning of Tools as the case may be, Certifications encouragement and publishing, Quarterly identifying toppers and leaders, exceptional contributors, but ensuring that issued letters and Salary numbers are confidential.

Contributing Departments

We realised that the following Departments directly or indirectly contribute to the outcome of Satisfaction on the floor.

 A. RMG (this is Core group who are Technical at the same time focus on Rp=Rj this concept was introduced by our previous MD. Right People for Right Job. Logically correct and will give a big success especially for a long product development project, but challenging is to practice in real-world especially for services organization where project size, Technology stack and domain knowledge demand continuously varies). Especially when Projects are small, Customer is Start-up then team required is with exact Rp=Rj which is in real-world is impossible considering rates one can get from startup.

B. The second Contributing factor is Talent Development – It is highly involved department, one needs people who have worked in delivery have done PMP & CSM and then MBA. Just an administrative participation is of no use. People who have gone on-site, worked abroad, seen multiple project, stack, and can interact closely with BD to know the pipe are required. Then they can put a Calendar, which is exciting to Developer or a leader and in synchronization with Business opportunity and growth of the organization. Then they can shortlist and get Training / Learning options along with certifications.

C. Third Contributing Character is – Immediate Reporting Boss. He should know the pulse of his resource, Get a good job done at the same time guide, help to acquire better skills and get ready for future growth.

D. And, Of course, fourth but obvious is HR, they have to work closely with RMG and know their people well. They need to have a personal touch. An individual HR representative can only handle a handful of people but then they know ins and outs of an individual. These day people have started calling this role as an HR Partner for a Project.

KRA, Role Clarity and Dependency

As mentioned RACI Matrix will help to get Role Clarity and dependency on another role. Attached herewith RACI framework snapshot...

Besides, KRA needs to be set at all level & a measurement by collecting correct data via Timesheet or tools like Sapience is required. More ever when one works remotely or from Home, this clarity and measurement framework is mandatory to fulfil the correct appraisal cycle.

Knowing your Team & Proactively predicting surprises

This is very important especially for Product development or long term ODC with European Clients. Here one can start monitoring Criticality and Stability Index of a Team member and periodically update the same.

In this we created 5 sections 

Critical Factors ( Mostly Technical – Basic skills, Tools exposure, Kind of Project plus Role Exposure and currently what will he or she play in this Project)

Personal Factors – These are parameters which are attributing to me, close family, My parents, Home-town, etc…

Motivational Factors – These are parameters which relate to my excitement in the profession – Remuneration, Role, Tech skill I would like to acquire, the exposure I would like to take to the field

External Factors – These parameters talk about Pull from Market & comparison

Finally periodic personal Interactions – Selected question every time 

This Entire Data has 92 pointers & has 3 attributes – Weightage of each parameter in the entire framework, Grading assessing team would give and Net result

This Fetches us two graphs

Criticality Index – How much technically he or she is having weightage in percentage

Stability Index – How much stable the person is in Organization

So hire criticality and lower stability – we have to address well below is Sample Architect Level resource – 11Yrs – Genius 92% Critical in Project bnly 52% stable in Organization such Projects are in always danger

My Career Road Map

The stability is directionally proportional to the main points

 1. How much you keep he or she engages in Knowledge up-gradation and how you keep them excited about its utilization in future with Popular Trends

 2. How appropriately you value skills in comparison to market value

Counselling sessions - It is extremely important that allocated mentor spend adequate time, understand inspiration and capability to learn and set a reasonable Road map for 6 months to achieve in terms of learning and certifications.

Then it is the responsibility of RMG to map him or her inappropriate Projects

Now for HR - During appraisal find the market value of that skills and experience, capability, limitations and put at the value which is at par.

So it is a Combination of Mentor, RMG & HR who contribute to ensure Stability.

How to build Leaders in you!

HR Department – Who need to put up Org-Level Appraisal Roadmap

1.   Talent Management

A.  Input

RMG has to track trends and status of Business opportunity Logged in CMS, how frequently they are updated and what maturity timeline and the probability they keep. They need to segregate technology trends and skill set and come up with Month wise Demand of Skills. The skills set needs to be segregated in 4 Layers – 1. High Demand, 2. Niche but trending in Future 3. Possible Onsite requirements (here in addition to Technical skills one need Onsite Communication skills) 4. Low demand, exception & obsolete but large business opportunities.

B. Planning

Now we have to map Current availability of skills, and when they are getting free Or it is an additional resource requirement.

This is Org level Demand – Needs to be Periodically Updated every 4 Wks.

Now with input from RMG, HR has to do Planning session with Talent development Team & Recruitment Team

Following type of Data is required for strong planning

Then HR puts additionally – Details on Table – Attrition Insight of Company, Attrition Report in details with Analysis, Probable list of Reasons why people left or were asked to Go and Future Retention Strategy.

Note – I have purposefully put old reports – they are place holder and each Company HR team has to collect data relevant to their Industry.

C.  Road Map

Having Known the Business Requirement, at different level different skill up-gradation needs to be planned in conjunction with RMG report, Architect. Various Training options – Online Portals (subscription), In-house developed sessions, Visiting Consultant, Self-learning with Material, Certifications & external onsite full-time skill up-gradation.

The Mentor and Councillors need to be Updated on Organization focus Business Need and Roadmap and available Training

Appraisal Framework

A. Organization Level Numbers

This is majority Contributed by Finance Department & RMG & CEO Sales

Management takes Input from all looks at Last year Performance (P&L) , Opportunity Pipe, Probability %, Trends in the Market & Projected growth and Projected Balance sheet. It allows them to decide benefit to all stakeholders – which include Shareholders (What dividend), Customers (What satisfaction level & improvement and investment in Customer experience) And of course Employee (Monitory Growth & Benefits offerings).

Taking this Org. Level Target Numbers, Depending on Management input on area and weightage for – Infrastructure or Capital (tools), Sales, Employee (Direct remuneration & Facilities)

 B. HR has a tough target that they need to get ready with Framework, Level categorization & bracket direct rise and facility offering and Motivational skill development road map at each level.

Mentor, Execution and Appraisal meeting Team follow the guideline and come up with Suggestion on recommendations for each

C. Then Exceptions are highlighted, Justifications are discussed at HR, RMG and Management Team and a decision is reached on Final roll out.

Assessment – Sr. Developer – Sample

2.  Anything which is measured gets Corrected and evolves effectively

One of our ISO Auditor – from ISOQR – Mr.Shivdas, use to hammer on our measurement and doing Risk Analysis & closing the loop by corrective measures. Not just for HR activity but also for Customer Satisfaction includes defect tracking at floor level.

This is really true, an assessment needs to be differently plus an open forum in responsible limited staff needs to be conducted, The collected Data needs to be formulated in a Concise presentation and action to improve or resolve it.

The presentation of this data needs to be in the management Team (includes ground-level Leaders) and Top management has to participate get a reaction by the floor (knowing ground realities)

Sample Graph

This framework is Just to Bring Transparency in the whole process and reduce unsatisfied souls, Leaving organization or stepping back from taking initiatives and leading role. When dealing with an Intellectual Team, Continious Improvement works out as a better model.   

Disclaimer

The Logo, Tool Names, are owned by individual companies. If I have referred any name or Tool, it is because I have used and has a positive experience. Situation mentioned either personal experience or are openly shown or available in media. Their mention in this white paper is just demonstrating long time realization of the need of framework and No negative input about any individual or organization. Giant organizations have already put up a lot of efforts to establish a 360-degree Appraisal framework, but it is tool-driven data collection and cost investment.