Talent Acquisitionists look forward to the performance of a new joinee and have a certain level of performance expectation from the individual on-board. That said it’s obvious why they are constantly looking for a way to measure the Employees performance from an individual and an organisational level.

In view of that, our Pune group member Karnika suggested to have a discussion on, “Bell Curve Performance Management System a boon or bane?” with an attempt to find out how we can tackle the situation. Thus, @SourcingAdda we conducted our popular Wednesday discussion on the same and these are the insights we received…

Based on the discussion above, I’m sure you’d agree with us when we state that this was quite a discussion with many perspectives and aspects to look at. How great is that? If you’ve come this far, then you’ve certainly added to your knowledge. That being said, I’m certain that you’d like to grab the takeaways as a refresher to what you’ve learnt. So let’s not disappoint you anymore, hence here goes…

Bell Curve Performance Management

Bell Curve Performance Management as a Boon

• But real-time performance is better for companies
• From the POV of a Manager the bell curve system can help identify low performance Employees
• Managers can help low performance Employees with training to improve their performance

Bell Curve Performance Management as a Bane

• The bell curve model may be considered a rigid approach for rating employees
• Managers sometimes need to put employees in specific gradients due to the bell curve requirements; especially with small teams
• It creates doubts in the mind of both managers and employees such as the possibility of an exit during tough job market conditions
• Doubts lead to loss of morale and further deterioration of job performance
• It’s not suitable for small companies with less than 300 employees, the categorization isn’t done properly with mostly erroneous results
• Indian companies have either given up completely or increasingly moved away from the ‘Bell Curve System of Appraisal Model’
• The Bell Curve segregates all Employees into distinct baskets i.e. top, average (comprising of the vast majority) and bottom performers
• Compensation or hikes are also based on the rating given for any financial year
• The Categorization of the performance is done on annual basis
• Digitalised evaluations give better results in comparison to the Bell Curve System
• Most IT companies have several Projects & deliveries to cater to and it need not be that each project will have people to fit in the bell curve.
• A small project with 10 people where the Manager had a team with all top performers is forced to push people to the bottom during the appraisal process
• It’s neither a boon nor a bane; as it’s an old method that is specific for large organisations where every performance appraisal is an increasing CTC
• For the overall performance of the company and to balance the CTC the Employees are bucketed into various buckets called low performers, average performers and super performers
• A specific appraisal % is pre-defined for all buckets
• Bell curve forces someone to be put in a lower rating through laddering
• The operating costs increase for the company and many super performers leave during this period due to lack of recognition
• To prevent the loss of talent; organisations are doing away with this model thus the trend inclines towards doing away with this system altogether
• Research shows that this statistical model, while easy to understand, doesn’t accurately reflect performance

Bell Curve VS Real Time Feedbacks

• Both Bell Curve and Real – Time feedbacks have pitfalls highlighted below

Bell Curve Feedbacks

• Bell curve can be applied only once
• One may not perform at the same consistency throughout  the year
• You only see the average work done

Real Time Feedbacks

• If you are inconsistent then it gives an immediate reason to put a person in pip and it’s therefore a question of POV thus given below are the 2 types of POV expressed –

Company’s POV

• Real-Time is a better system

Employee’s POV

• Bell Curve is ideally better
• Bell Curves give more freedom
• It’s harder for Supervisors to punish someone in the bell curve system for small indifferences that are usual in a work-life scenario

Bell Curve Performance Management a General perspective

• The Bell Curve Model has a vital element to it – called relative ranking where the onus is on the People Managers and the HRs to drive it positively
• These individuals are responsible to draw as much objectivity as possible
• To gain objectivity; evaluating people in context to the market dynamics, organisation stage, capability built up over the year etc. is important
• The most important goal is to increase the overall performance of the company and Teamwork plays a vital role in achieving it
• Calibration plays a role in order to mitigate and evaluate people fairly
• It’s important to have good relation with Managers, if that’s established then which system a company follows doesn’t matter

Bell Curve Performance Management Possible Solutions / Improvements

• A simplistic approach by giving the manager more power and authority
• An old method which must be tweaked to accommodate new age demands
• Tools to judge the performance of individuals as well as the team as a whole is essential
• A holistic appraisal process based on individual performances is necessary
• Feedback should be systematic and periodic while considering individual contributions towards the team’s success is required
• A 360 degree feedback survey with monthly feedback sessions to be considered while evaluating Associates is essential
• More emphasis to be given to the sense of belongingness, loyalty, collaboration and teamwork
• Companies now follow monthly & quarterly evaluations as a precaution to avoid shocking situations with the individual and organization at the end of the year
• Technology has effectively improved ones performance
• A rise in the use of technology can be seen hence digitalizing the evaluations is required
• Digitalized evaluations help align the individual and organizational performance in real time
• Evaluations that are digitalized create a win-win situation where both sides are happy; yet  clear about the expectations
• Employees should be evaluated on the basis of achievements / benchmarks and without the threat of forced ranking i.e. doesn’t have transparency
• Top Management is required to think beyond bias and emotions which are rare instances in the industry
• Any rating system should emphasize on the scope for building capabilities that are built over a specified period of time, goals that are set vs achievement/s, reach the next level as a professional and on a key team player
• Post rating is discussed with the resource
• People don’t wanna change when they are used to a system
• Decision makers should depend on a candidate’s performance and then decide if the Employee deserves the appraisal
• Appropriate feedback is definitely needed to improve the employee performance
• A generalised approach that conveys the message that they are doing better than what we expect from them might send a wrong message to the Employees

Well this brings us to the end of an insightful and enlightening experience that we’re constantly on the look – out for, isn’t this great? You can gain different perspectives, add to your learning while staying updated with the current trends followed; live at our popular Wednesday discussions.

Want to get these perspectives and more in real – time then you absolutely need to join these insightful conversations. You can do this by following us @SourcingAdda; hence, leave your views or requests to be added to the various WhatsApp groups in our comments section.

The Talent Acquisition profession is evolving rapidly due to the Digital Marketing Age.  We are slowly moving from performing full cycle Recruitment processes alone to Employee & Employer Branding as well. Given this scenario it’s obvious to question what aspects are involved in a Recruitment Professionals Role.

That being said our popular Wednesday discussions addressed the query, “Are Recruiter’s going above their role when they counsel ideal or not ideal candidates on how to improve their job hunt strategy?” As suggested by our Mumbai group member Joel and here’s what we uncovered…

Well based on the discussion above we can conclude that Counselling Candidates about better ways of Job hunting and giving career advice is partially part and parcel of a Recruiters role as that indirectly improved their network. But don’t go just yet; we’ll be giving you the key take aways of this discussion below…

• Good Recruiters always guide and have a consultative approach towards Candidates
• Networking is another name of Recruiting and while networking we also advise our network for the different opportunities, processes, career growth, etc.
• Recruiters now step into an advocacy role but after gathering information about industries and trends, challenges, roadblocks, job specifications, etc.
• Talent Acquisitionist’s have always been at some level Counsellors and Career Advisors and it’s more evident due to digitalization and personal interaction with Candidates

If you’ve enjoyed this and found it enlightening then you’d enjoy it more once you’re a part of such discussions by joining in. If you’d wish to join the Talent Acquisition community of Sourcing ADDA (@SourcingAdda) and its WhatsApp groups be sure to leave your views or request’s in the comments section.

The Talent Acquisition profession is evolving rapidly due to the Digital Marketing Age.  We are slowly moving from performing full cycle Recruitment processes alone to Employee & Employer Branding as well. Given this scenario it’s obvious to question what aspects are involved in a Recruitment Professionals Role.

That being said our popular Wednesday discussions addressed the query, “Are Recruiter’s going above their role when they counsel ideal or not ideal candidates on how to improve their job hunt strategy?” As suggested by our Mumbai group member Joel and here’s what we uncovered…

Well based on the discussion above we can conclude that Counselling Candidates about better ways of Job hunting and giving career advice is partially part and parcel of a Recruiters role as that indirectly improved their network. But don’t go just yet; we’ll be giving you the key take a ways of this discussion below…

• Good Recruiters always guide and have a consultative approach towards Candidates
• Networking is another name of Recruiting and while networking we also advice our network for the different opportunities, process, career growth etc.
• Recruiters now step into an advocacy role but after gather information about industries and trends, challenges, road blocks, job specifications etc.
• Talent Acquisitionist’s have always been at some level Counsellors and Career Advisors and it’s more evident due to digitalisation and personal interaction with Candidates

If you’ve enjoyed this and found it enlightening then you’d enjoy it more once you’re a part of such discussions by joining in. If you’d wish to join the Talent Acquisition community of Sourcing ADDA (@SourcingAdda) and its WhatsApp groups be sure to leave your views or request’s in the comments section.

Appraisals are common knowledge to Talent Acquisitionists and similar fields in the Recruitment Sphere. We’ve all had our appraisals for the present year. Ever wondered what happens during the appraisals and when the performers are rewarded for their hard work via promotions and what processes are followed by organizations?

This seems a lot to take in at the beginning, well don’t get overwhelmed just yet, as our popular Wednesday discussions just got better. The discussion topic was on, “What are the Employee Promotion Processes Organisations follow based on the pointers i.e. timeframes, eligibility frequency, and performance management?” and was suggested by our Pune group member Karnika. If you’ve been wondering the same things as us then you’ve come to the right place and here’s what we’ve come across…

If you’re looking for guidelines as to how does one go about promoting an Employee then you’re in luck as we’ll be highlighting just that based on the discussion above. So be sure to have a pen and paper handy, therefore here we go…

Definition and Meaning of Promotion Plan

Promotion plan is also called a succession plan, meaning to recruit, train and upskill existing employees. Promotions take place for 2 reasons; one is to encourage talent and the other is to retain talent. Promotions are a combination of performance, potential, and attitude. E.g. A person might have had a great year in terms of performance, but may not have the potential to take up a larger role thus he will not get a promotion. But we need to ensure that we don’t lose out on Talent with the right caliber.

Points to keep in mind when deciding to promote an Employee

Performance has various parameters, employee contribution to the target, SLA adherence, value add inputs by the employee, team attributes. After considering multiple factors an employee should be given an appraisal, sometimes in a growing organization it’s about the potential of the individual, their hunger appetite to achieve targets, overall does that person add to the average of the company. Hence, first…

• Identify the purpose of a promotion
• What is the long term business goal of the company?
• Current skills and profiles of employees
• New skills required and trends outside
• Impact of not promoting capable employees
• Overhead of training and hiring new skills from outside the company
• Performance, seniority or merit
• Focus on what the individual contributes to the overall team’s success is very important than just individual growth.
• A time-bound promotion with preference given to performance management or appraisal process application.

Criteria by which to promote an Employee

Promoting by giving more opportunities to use individual skills like on-site opportunity technical knowledge expansion is preferred. Most company’s focus is behind cost reduction, so there can be different criteria set at different levels, namely 3 levels…

Lower Level

If it’s a lower-level profile it should be based on the value-add brought in but at an organization level

Middle Level

If at a middle level it should be more in line with the roles performed and challenges met in the respective roles which can lead to organizational change.

Higher Level

At a higher level, it should focus more on succession planning.

The common criteria for a promotion can be based on –

1. Performance
2. Length of service
3. Merit & Ability
4. Educational & Technical Qualifications
5. Assessment of Potential
6. The spacing of the Promotion & the Career
7. A span of the individual and training
8. Based on the Employees Talent and their Achievement they should be promoted via internal and external sources

Well, there you have it all the information you’ll need to help you make an informed decision. Use this information to streamline the procedure while formulating a promotion plan that your organization will benefit from by promoting the deserved candidate.

If you’ve found this information helpful then you’ll probably find our other Wednesday discussions and events quite enlightening and informative. So why wait to read when you can join in and get first – hand information by being a part of these discussions and get your queries resolved instantly? Be sure to follow us @SourcingAdda to get updates to our upcoming events and activities and don’t forget to leave your views in the comments section.

Appraisals are common knowledge to Talent Acquisitionists and the similar fields in the Recruitment Sphere. We’ve all had our appraisals for the present year. Ever wondered what happens during the appraisals and when the performers are rewarded for their hard work via promotions and what processes are followed by organisations?

This seems a lot to take in at the beginning, well don’t get overwhelmed just yet, as our popular Wednesday discussions just got better. The discussion topic was on, “What are the Employee Promotion Processes Organisations follow based on the pointers i.e. timeframes, eligibility frequency and performance management?” and was suggested by our Pune group member Karnika. If you’ve been wondering the same things as us then you’ve come to the right place and here’s what we’ve come across…

If you’re looking for guidelines as to how does one go about promoting an Employee then you’re in luck as we’ll be highlighting just that based on the discussion above. So be sure to have a pen and paper handy, therefore here we go…

Definition and Meaning of Promotion Plan

Promotion plan is also called succession plan, meaning to recruit, train and up skill existing employees. Promotions take place for 2 reasons; one is to encourage talent and the other is to retain talent. Promotions are a combination of performance, potential and attitude. E.g. A person might have had a great year in terms of performance, but may not have the potential to take up a larger role thus he will not get a promotion. But we need to ensure that we don’t lose out on Talent with the right calibre.

Points to keep in mind when deciding to promote an Employee

Performance has various parameters, employee contribution to the target, SLA adherence, value add inputs by the employee, team attributes. After considering multiple factors an employee should be given an appraisal, sometimes in a growing organisation it’s about the potential of the individual, their hunger appetite to achieve targets, overall does that person add to the average of the company. Hence, first…

• Identify the purpose of a promotion
• What is the long term business goal of the company?
• Current skills and profiles of employees
• New skills required and trends outside
• Impact of not promoting capable employees
• Overhead of training and hiring new skills from outside the company
• Performance, seniority or merit
• Focus on what the individual contributes to the overall team’s success is very important than just individual growth.
• A time bound promotion with preference given to performance management or appraisal process application.

Criteria by which to promote an Employee

Promoting by giving more opportunities to use individual skills like on-site opportunity technical knowledge expansion is preferred. Most company’s focus is behind cost reduction, so there can be different criteria’s set at different levels, namely 3 levels…

Lower Level

If it’s a lower level profile it should be based on the value-add brought in but at an organisation level

Middle Level

If at a middle level it should be more in line with the roles performed and challenges met in the respective roles which can lead to organisational change.

Higher Level

At a higher level it should focus more on succession planning.

The common criteria for a promotion can be based on –

1. Performance
2. Length of service
3. Merit & Ability
4. Educational & Technical Qualifications
5. Assessment of Potential
6. Spacing of the Promotion & the Career
7. Span of the individual and training
8. Based on the Employees Talent and their Achievement they should be promoted via internal and external sources

Well there you have it all the information you’ll need to help you make an informed decision. Use this information to streamline the procedure while formulating a promotion plan that your organisation will benefit from by promoting the deserved candidate.

If you’ve found this information helpful then you’ll probably find our other Wednesday discussions and events quite enlightening and informative. So why wait to read when you can join in and get first – hand information by being a part of these discussions and get your queries resolved instantly? Be sure to follow us @SourcingAdda to get updates to our upcoming events and activities and don’t forget to leave your views in the comments section.