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Manager’s desk: performance assessment

Fair review

One of the trickiest requirements of the job profiles of a manager is to regularly review and communicate about the performance of his subordinates.

Fair review


Kavita Nigam

One of the trickiest requirements of the job profiles of a manager is to regularly review and communicate about the performance of his subordinates. A lot of doubts have surfaced over the years, questioning whether or not yearly assessments are the right way to go about, and whether or not the current system of performance management is effective. Some companies have even done away with written systems of performance assessment, and are shifting their focus more towards informal and regular meetings to enhance communication between the supervisor and his team members.

While the essence of performance assessment lies in effective interaction between the assesse and the assessor, there are nevertheless some important aspects that need consideration. These considerations come from putting the larger interest of the organisation in perspective, and not take performance assessment as a one off administrative procedure.

However, preparedness of the manager is the most important aspect of this assessment. This preparedness is not limited to being ready for the one-on-one at the end of a period, or on the conclusion of the task. It involves high levels of clarity of thought on part of the manager, at all stages of execution of the job, or job responsibilities through a period.

Begin with chalking out your expectations  

Whether it is at the beginning of a new financial year, or the beginning of a new project, it is extremely important for the team members to clearly understand what exactly, according to the manager, is expected from them. For this, the Supervisor should analyse and be eloquent in benchmarking the output levels - whether they are performance based or behavior related. The employees should have a clear understanding of what is work well done. The manager should lucidly explain and justify why his demands are such, for which it is extremely important for him to have clear thought-out, specific and achievable goals. Once the expectations are laid, it is easy for the employee and for the Manager to keep a tab on the progress, and work on shortcomings wherever necessary.

Marry job with competency If competency is lacking, performance will be poor. But then, in the interest of your organisation why wait for poor performance to surface? Define and delegate a job as per the capabilities of the employee. Once the competency is defined, it is  important to move ahead with the employee as he goes about his responsibilities, guiding him at intervals so that he proceeds in the right direction.

Understand and provide the necessary support system This needs to be done at the beginning, and even along the way. Your subordinate should get the feeling that you are there to help him achieve the necessary targets, rather than just make comments over the execution. The help can be in the form of an additional hand, or perhaps pushing any interdepartmental dependency, or even providing technical support, if required. Your endeavor will find a positive breakthrough in your leadership skills, and ease the way for you to voice critical comments to your employees to better their performance.

Set measurable milestones: This perhaps is one of the more complicated needs, because it requires extensive thinking on the part of the manager. But keeping vague milestones like work half done, or partly done can create confusion in the minds of both the manager and the employee. But specific milestones like- achieving “7 outlined points out of 12” gives a fair sense of direction to the employee and is a good pointer for the manager to make further suggestions for improvement.

In my experience, a manager who has the clarity of thought is constantly looked up for regular guidance. And once his preparedness is thorough, it goes without saying that any amount of his interaction with the employee or team member will only yield fruitful results. Such a manager need not be caught in the administrative system of Performance Assessment. And neither will he ever have to worry about how he can deliver the unpleasant news to an employee; he makes the best Performance Assessor- at all times!

— The writer is General Manager, HR, Publicity, and Promotion, KARAM Industries

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