Criticize The Performance Appraisal System at HLC - Assignment Example

Table of Contents Table of Contents Analyze the practices of promotions at HLC by reviewing the examples given in the above case. Conclude your analysis with some individual and organizational implications. 2 Criticize the performance appraisal system at HLC 4 Relate promotion problems at HLC to the following aspects 4 Bibliography 7 Analyze the practices of promotions at HLC by reviewing the examples given in the above case. Conclude your analysis with some individual and organizational implications. The promotion polices which are followed in HLC involves inducting fresh graduates as trainees in the company. They are then kept in for a probation period of 6-12 months which is also extendable up to 18 months. After the successful completion of the probation period the trainees are promoted to the post of officers. And if the trainees have some prior experience then they start as Executive Trainees. The officers then will be evaluated for a period of 6 months before they are promoted to the post of Assistant Manager. During the probation period the trainees will be under the supervision of one’s immediate supervisor. Continuous feedback will help the newcomer in knowing about his progress in the job and ways of improvement and correction of mistakes. After the probation period the supervisor fills in the review form, according to which the decision of promoting the employee or discharging the new comer is taken. In the first example, Mr. Saleh was inducted in the organization as an executive trainee as per the company policies and after the probationary period was given the post of an officer. Whereas, the company policies show that he could be given a higher position. Many of his colleagues were promoted directly to the post of assistant managers. Nothing is said about the double promotions in the company’s promotion policies. Also, it is at the discretion of the supervisor on how they evaluate their sub ordinates performances. In the second example, Mr. Elnajar after 13 years of experience is still in the managerial level. Many of his colleagues with same education are holding posts at higher level in the organization. Also after complaining to the higher authorities about the matter, Mr. Elnajar is transferred to another department but shortly even his former supervisor was transferred to that department to be his current supervisor. So, again the evaluation techniques are based solely on the discretion of the immediate supervisor. The HR people at the higher level also have no consideration of the issues of its employees. The supervisors there emphasized more on the personal relationships with the employees. In the third example, Mr. Elajmy who was promoted twice in a single year based on the recommendation of his immediate superior and was approved by higher authorities. Consequently the GM also signed the promotion papers. To pace up the promotion process, the two promotions intentionally were not even sent to the Human Resource Department for approval. So again the power of immediate supervisor gets emphasized in the process of promotion in this company. Hence it can be well concluded that the promotion practices in the company is not transparent. The promotion is based on the sole discretion of the immediate supervisor, and it is not always necessary to perform to get promoted in the organization. One can rise on the ladders of the organizations by even emphasizing more on fostering good relationship with one’s immediate supervisor. Criticize the performance appraisal system at HLC The performance appraisal system followed at HLC is based on the principles of MBO. The objectives for the employees are set in during the beginning of the year and they are evaluated on those objectives at the end of the year. The objectives set for the employees are heavily guided by the objectives of the organization. But it is very difficult to break down the objectives of the organization into quantifiable measures. Also it triggers unethical behaviors on part of employee to achieve the set objectives. Again, it is very difficult to make objective for the jobs which are complex in nature. Jobs which require long term strategic planning cannot be judged by this principle of performance appraisal. Relate promotion problems at HLC to the following aspects Types of promotion at HLC: the two kinds of promotion at HLC are the job promotion and the grade promotion. The promotions depend upon the recommendations from the immediate supervisor. And the immediate supervisor in turn has to convince his superior and the General Manger. Now if the employee maintains a good relationship with one’s superior then there are chances that he will be getting more promotions than counterparts. So the employee will turn to these means than actually focusing on the main objective of the job to get promotions Probation system: the normal probation period is of 6-12 months which can be extended to a period of 18 months. During the probation period the trainees will be under the supervision of one’s immediate supervisor. After the probation period the supervisor fills in the review form, according to which the decision of promoting the employee or discharging the new comer is taken. So here again the supervisor can exert his power in deciding whether to induct a person or not. Also the newcomer in turn can also pay more attention to develop good relationship with one’s supervisor to get permanent. Structure of employees at HLC: the employees at HLC are divided into seven cadres depending upon their positions in the organization each cadre consists of four grades. There are no written rules for attainment of promotion but the basic criteria is to attain at least one year of seniority before going to the higher level, a good performance appraisal by the immediate supervisor, which again means superior can misuse one’s power to get a person promoted. Also a lot will depend upon the perception of the superior about one’s sub-ordinates. Nationalizing jobs: since various jobs demands various kind of dedication and motivation and approaches, it is very difficult to judge a job by nationalizing it. Nationalizing of jobs will work well for the jobs which can be quantified but for the jobs which needs more of strategic planning and direction it will need more liberalized approach. Job/ Salary structure of HLC: the job and salary structure of HLC has been divided into seven cadres. Each cadre is divided into 4 grades. The salary structure is such that one gets smaller incentives in the lower levels of the job title and as they rise higher they tend to get more incentives. Now incentives depend upon the promotions of the employee and which is only possible if the immediate supervisor recommends them to higher posts. So again the power of the supervisor gets highlighted Give some recommendations about how to remedy and redesign the following of HLC Promotion system: the promotion system can be redesigned in such a fashion that power of the supervisor gets lower. Performance and seniority should be the basis of promotion in any organization rather than maintaining good relationship with the supervisor. The HR people should have more power in the matters of promotions. No promotion decisions should happen without the prior notice of the HR department. Performance appraisal system: the performance appraisal system should basically focus on individual and development of his performances. Giving excessive power to sub ordinates can be harmful so a new method of performance appraisal should be designed where the poor performers should be identified and given a time limit during which they will have to show improvement in performances. Employee performance is linked with the organization’s performance, so performance should hold maximum importance in the performance appraisal system. Performance appraisal forms: the performance appraisal forms should also encompass the views of employees, colleagues along with the views of the superior. Multiple sources would mean that the performance ratings would encompass multiple perspectives instead of the single top to down approach which is being followed currently. Also the ratings in such a way will give better reflection of the performances of the individuals and will not be subjected bias. Bibliography Rao, Venkateswara T. Performance Management and Appraisal Systems: HR Tools for Global Competitiveness. SAGE 2004 Read More