Appraising and developing employee performance

AS A matter of survival in today's unrelenting competitive environment, companies and organisations must continually search for opportunities to improve both individual and organisational productivity and quality.

ADEP is a performance development system that helps accomplish these objectives by aligning each individual employee's roles and responsibilities with the organisational and team mission, values, and strategy. ADEP provides managers and employees with role clarity, periodic performance feedback and coaching, and meaningful performance reviews.

All managers and employees are put through a carefully evaluated and established training programme that uses video-based learning modules to maximise the effectiveness of the system. Participants are given the skills needed to implement this five-step performance management system. ADEP breaks the traditional appraisal paradigm by viewing performance management as development that is continuous from one appraisal period to the next.

Why the ADEP system is effective?

Appraisals and rewards are related to business and individual results to a greater extent versus the subjectivity of appraised performance in a traditional system.

Prioritises areas of responsibility critical to individual success.

Clarifies an individual's role even in the face of organisational change.

Aligns and rewards all individuals throughout the organisation with mission, values, and strategy.

Empowers and motivates employees to strive for quality and team- based performance.

Provides a means for engaging both employees and managers in identifying and finding solutions for improving both individual and organisational performance.

Helps organisations to adapt to the rapid pace of change in today's business environment.

Encourages self-management through employee involvement in all steps of the system.

Maximises an organisation's competitive advantage and drives organisational change.

Step 1 - Defining effective performance

All employees and managers meet formally to discuss, set, and agree upon the employee's major responsibilities and performance expectations for the upcoming appraisal period. A critical activity during this step is to align every individual with the organisation, its mission, values, and strategy. This provides role clarity, vital in today's rapidly changing organisations, by clarifying each employee's expected behaviour and results.

Step 2 - Observing and documenting employee performance

All individuals are instructed about the dos and don'ts of accurately observing and documenting employee behaviour patterns and results. The employee's part of this instruction involves learning the kind of judgement errors that can be committed when observing others, and the solutions for eliminating these errors.

Step 3 - Conducting periodic performance reviews

Managers and employees meet periodically to update and ensure alignment of the employee's major responsibilities and performance expectations. Another important aspect of this step is to discuss and agree upon the effectiveness of employee performance up to the minute.

Step 4 - Diagnostics and coaching

In order for employees to continually develop, managers and employees need to have coaching sessions on a routine basis. Managers give positive feedback to employees who deserve recognition for outstanding performance. Managers also identify performance problems, diagnose the cause of problems, and agree with employees on the steps to be taken to solve these problems. These coaching sessions help to increase and strengthen the communication between employees, their managers, and the organisation.

Step 5 - Review overall performance

Organisations across the board need to put more emphasis on the first four steps than is currently done. When these steps have received conscientious attention, this final step becomes more successful. It should contain no surprises for the participant, provided that the entire process has been faithfully followed. True organisational change can only come about if all individuals are not only clear on what is expected of them, but are also recognised and rewarded for their achievements.

While some organisations in the country have adopted some part of this programme, unless they begin to implement it in totality, there is bound to be functional hiccups at every stage where there is a lack of continuity. Companies need in fact to be wholly exposed to the benefits of the system before they can appreciate its effectiveness.

Abhimanyu Acharya