Unusually, my inbox was flooded with "alert" (spam) emails from the Performance Appraisal system. The system demands that I fill up my objectives of the year before I start the year and get it reviewed with my Appraiser at the closure of the year and assess where I stand. Decent logic. Does it work? It hasn't worked for me. And I am sure lots of my colleagues would agree with me. So, what is the problem? One of the cases where a theorem failed to deliver a concrete proof, but was still awarded a Nobel prize. I will explain it in detail.
The theorem is "Penning down your goals at the start of the year/project and assessing at the end of the year/project makes your company understand your performance better and helps you grow in the corporate ladder". Decent theorem, though I am not fully convinced.
The proof is "Use a system which keeps alerting (scaring) you saying that you dont fill up, your increments/hikes are screwed". The solution is paralyzing. What you end up doing is copy some default objectives from somewhere, customize it to what you know you can do or did (rather than what you want to do) and at the end of the year/project, proudly claim that you have done it. The appraiser appraises you, gives you a rating and the system normalizes and then you get your increment. You step up in the corporate ladder.
Isnt it scary? Did your Mom ever use such a system to bring you up? But still she knew exactly what you wanted to do, what you did and what she wanted you to do. There wouldnt be any formal session where you would sit and review your progress at the end of the year. Argument could be my mom never had 10,000 kids. Counter argument is "Then design one, which solves, not scares". Design a system which mimics a Mom's nurturing mechanism.
The theorem is "Penning down your goals at the start of the year/project and assessing at the end of the year/project makes your company understand your performance better and helps you grow in the corporate ladder". Decent theorem, though I am not fully convinced.
The proof is "Use a system which keeps alerting (scaring) you saying that you dont fill up, your increments/hikes are screwed". The solution is paralyzing. What you end up doing is copy some default objectives from somewhere, customize it to what you know you can do or did (rather than what you want to do) and at the end of the year/project, proudly claim that you have done it. The appraiser appraises you, gives you a rating and the system normalizes and then you get your increment. You step up in the corporate ladder.
Isnt it scary? Did your Mom ever use such a system to bring you up? But still she knew exactly what you wanted to do, what you did and what she wanted you to do. There wouldnt be any formal session where you would sit and review your progress at the end of the year. Argument could be my mom never had 10,000 kids. Counter argument is "Then design one, which solves, not scares". Design a system which mimics a Mom's nurturing mechanism.
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