HR APPRAISALS FORMS / CRITERIAS

Alright, lets see, can any one out there tell me he / she does not have an opinion on his/her own performance at the work they are handling. Now imagine this opinion clashes or is in conflict with their superiors / supervisors / managers. What do you think will happen?

Lets have a show of hands those that feel that their appraisal forms are very objective and that their performances have been properly measured. How many of you think that these forms are very objective and that the set criteria are truly measurable objectively without any chance of interference from personal emotions?

KPIs, this is the commonly used measurements that purportedly allows qualitative items to be measured quantitatively. Work done would be quantified and broken into major areas that are important and measured.

A little on the flaws that arises would be, how can the person control external factors affecting his or her work. Another more major one will be, as mentioned above the emotional factor of the person doing the appraisal. Lets say we have two staff, Ms A and Mr. B. Both of them reports to the Manager who is the sole person responsible for them.

All the while the Manager likes Ms A because they have similar character as well as interests / hobbies. Both likes to have their place very tidy and does their work without using short cuts. Both also are very outgoing and loves to chat and have fun shopping or dining. However, on the other hand Mr. B is a totally different person, he is basically and introvert who likes to be alone and would thus normally keep to himself.

Normally at work Ms A will be late because she says she needs her beauty sleep and because she never cuts corner, her work is normally produced slowly and will normally exceed deadlines given. This is further aggravated by the fact that she likes to chat with her colleagues to catch on latest fashions and gossips. She is also not a very careful person and more often then not would make substantial amounts of mistakes in her work.

In contrast, Mr B is a very punctual person and have never once been late. He is also very thorough in checking that his work is without errors. Efficiency is also one his principal, he does not always follow the rules (conventional way) of completing something when he sees a better way of doing it.

Sometimes when the Manager have functions, he would invite both of them along but generally Mr B would decline as he feels it better to sit home and relax rather than to entertain people with empty talks. Ms A on the other hand would jump at every opportunity to have fun and socialize.

Now its appraisal time and these are the results as appraised by the Manager:-

Ms A - Outgoing, sociable, systematic, friendly, enthusiastic - Very good 90%
Mr B - Introverted, not sociable, haphazard, unfriendly, dull - Below Average 45%

So how, with all her faults hidden or simply ignored, she gets a big bonus and increment, while all Mr A's so called weaknesses (depending on how you judge) are highlighted resulting in no bonuses or increments.

Was the appraisal fair? Are we at the work place to socialize or complete our work? Must we please our bosses or concentrate on our work?