Acing the JPR!
JUST LIKE CPR (Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation) the JPR is as critical for a succesful working life. Careers have been made and broken because of the way a JPR was handled. So what is a JPR? It's not a medical condition - though it may often lead to one! It's a abbreviation for a Job Performance Review - an important part of any person's career. And remember, it is a two-way process - how you are performing and how the job is performing for you.
First: Is your present job leading anywhere? You really have to ask yourself this question before you get into a JPR. Is there a clear progressive path within the job? If you are doing your work very well, is there a certainty of a raise? Both in position and in salary? If there is nothing that excites you, or you are plodding up a blind alley, you really need to look around for something that's a tad more dynamic. If on the other hand it meets with all the expectations you have of it, it is important for you to ace the review so that you emerge from the process pristine and smelling of roses!
Second: When you accept the offer make sure you get your boss to tell you what he expects from you. Try not to trust it all to memory, write it down and show it to him to get his acquiescence. Find out at the same time the performance indicators, and know what the benchmarks for exceptional performance are. Confirm that there will be a healthy revision of your emoluments once you reach and cross those benchmarks. See if there are opportunities for movement upwards or laterally. Make up your mind what you want and go for it. But find out first. Doing your own thing is all very well, but if it does not match what your boss wants, you are in trouble; serious trouble
Third: It is important to make certain that your boss buys into your future. To do this, you must ensure that you know what he wants to see in your performance. Ask him to set your benchmarks in your area of performance and get him to list out what he wants to see from you in the coming year. If this was your first year and you have not already done this when you signed up, your JPR is going to be a touch-and-go affair. If you have, it is important that you measure yourself against what you have done and what you have actually achieved and walk in with a bounce if you have exceeded norms and slip in unobtrusively if you haven't
Fourth: I have noticed a deplorable tendency by people especially young first timers to argue the points made by their appraiser. In my experience, it never works. The point that everybody has to understand and understand well is that the appraisal is not an arena where the appraiser and the appraisee have to have a verbal duel. It is also not the venue that allows the appraiser carte blance to castigate the apraisee and tell him why he is not getting the expected raise. It is the time and place for the former to tell the latter how his performance has been rated according to organisational reckoning. If the company has rated you `x' very little is gained trying to convince the appraiser that the rating should have been "x" plus "y". If the company feels it is "x", "x" it is. You can ask how they arrived at a rating and it is the duty of the appraiser to justify a decision and that is why it is important for the appraisee to lay down the agreed performance indicators so that these interviews are not fraught with acrimony and angst that does no one any good. The ideal way to deal with the grey areas of disagreement is to quietly note down the points and query them at the end of the process when asked if you have any questions, ask about the areas where you do not see how they came to the conclusion they did. The idea is to give the impression that you are trying your best to understand the view the organisation has taken, no matter how unreasonable you feel it may have been
Finally: If you feel that the organisation or the appraiser is being rather unfair on several points, it is a good indication that you and your company are less than ideally compatible. This is a good time to try looking at the appointments pages in this supplement for something that you would really like to do and can do - well. Another suggestion would be to look at your own inclinations, and discover what it is that you would really excel in and for that you could try and take one of several aptitude tests to see where you will fit in best. Remember, in an appraisal, you can come out the winner, but only if the boss is a winner too. But reflect on the truism, `the boss may not always be right but boss is always boss!'
ABHIMANYU ACHARYA
abhimanyu@india.com
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