The document discusses a case study of National Office Supplies, where the new HR advisor is reviewing the company's performance appraisal methods. It finds that the current graph rating scale method leads to inflated ratings that don't accurately reflect performance. The advisor recommends switching to a 360 degree feedback approach to get more objective inputs from managers, peers and direct reports, in order to make performance appraisals and compensation decisions more valid and meaningful.

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 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS OF
INDUSTRY EXPERTS
 NEW PMS SYSTEM
 CASE STUDY
 ENLIGHTINING
QUIZ
 OVERVIEW OF PMS
 HR UPDATES
FACULTY OF SOCIAL WORK
THE MAHARAJA SAYAJIRAO UNIVERSITY OF BARODA
VOLUME 5: ISSUE 5

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Dear Readers,
It is with a sense of great delight that we are presenting to you the 5th issue of the e-magazine
The HR Revista. As usual, the present issue of the magazine contains useful material relevant
to the contemporary HR world. It is our endeavor to equip you with the knowledge of what is
going on around in the field of HR in today’s fast paced world!
We always try to understand the demands and requirements of our readers, their suggestions
and changes in the contents of the magazine. We make all efforts to include them as far as
possible. It gives us great satisfaction to know that our readers take keen interest to better the
magazine.
In the present issue, a number of core articles, on Performance Appraisal, have been included.
The authors that we’ve invited have taken great efforts to cover various topics.
Hope you enjoy reading this new issue. “It’s Appraisal Time”.
Warm Regards,
The HR Revista Team
EDITOR’S NOTE

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EDITORIAL BOARD
Mr. Chintan Trivedi, HR-DEEPAK NITRITE LIMITED
Ms. Mansi Davda, L&T HAZIRA, SURAT
Ms. Setu Soni, FORD
Ms. Asha Jadav,
SENIOR MHRM, Faculty of Social Work

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Dr. Hemang Joshi,
SENOIR MHRM, Faculty of Social Work
Ms. Shivani Suttar,
SENIOR MHRM, Faculty of Social Work
Ms. Sweety Chauhan,
SENIOR MHRM, Faculty of Social Work
Mr. Khush Brahmbhatt,
SENIOR MHRM, Faculty of Social Work

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Ms. Karmana Kantharia,
SENIOR MHRM, Faculty of Social Work
Ms. Hetvi Chatufale,
SENIOR MHRM, Faculty of Social Work
Ms. Bhavika Parmar
SENIOR MHRM, Faculty of Social Work

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EDITOR’S NOTE
EDITORIAL BOARD
INTERVIEW – MR ROHAN LELE
PMS DOCUMENT
2015 PMS TRENDS
VALIDATION OF CURRENT PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
METHODS
CASE STUDY
ANSWERS OF LAST QUIZ
HR UPDATES

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1. What is your take on present performance appraisal methods?
Performance Management System (PMS) should be aligned to the goals and vision
of the organization. KRA’s of an individual should drive and make people accountable
and quantify the KRA’s. One should be as objective as possible and subjectivity
should be minimum. Performance is result + behavior (both are important). People
should follow core value of leadership as results matter but how you achieve result
is important.
2. What according to you is unique about the PA method carried out in your
organization?
Performance Appraisal Method carried out at Zydex is Leadership team - 360
degree Appraisal method. According to me, leaders are the back bone of the
organization. For effective performance appraisal feedback from peers and
subordinates should be taken.
3. Which PA method is your organization following? Since how many years?
There are some changes going which are going to take place at Zydex in PA
methods so this question is NA at present there.
Interview of Mr. Rohan Lele at Zydex

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4. Do you think your company’s PMS would help you to get competitive edge in the
market?
For competitive edge the PMS of an organization should be top driven. Seriousness
in the organization should be right from the CEO to make any task successful.
The assessment of PMS should be done more objectively and the flow should be
from vision to business goals.
Company’s PMS would help when employees KRA is aligned to CEO’s KRA. To define
and design KRA’s properly is very important for an organization. It should be
smart, achievable, time bound and realistic.
Training should be given to managers. Coaching should be given, a coaching in such
a way that how can he coach his subordinates where he / she is weak. So that
improvement can be done and feedback should be given which are candid and
constructive.
Diary should be given to the manager for performance management so that he can
note down points and areas of improvement (not negative).
5. How do you rectify errors (if any) in the present PA methods?
To rectify errors, always improve your process as no organization is perfect.
Informal level feedback should be taken from leaders (top). When any changes
are made, it should be discussed before making change so that leaders can
appreciate that and don’t feel like burden. To rectify errors in present PA method
one should ask for feedback from leaders.
6. How do you see the future of PMS?
According to me, in the near future, i.e. around 10 years, HR needs to focus
more. PMS directly impacts the bottom line i.e. performance of employees. If you
can invest your time and energy by giving right feedback and right assessment
(which is a crucial factor) then you can take your company to next level.

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7. What has been the general feedback of the appraises to this method? Have the
employees been easily able to adapt to this practice?
General feedback of the appraises to this method is that performance assessment
should be made effective. Leadership should be serious and training needs to be
given on goal setting, performance, dialogue, etc. It should not be only on paper.
Many times it happens that system is good but execution is weak. This won’t work
and hence the HR Department should look into this matter.
8. Major criteria on which employees are assessed. How it helps in career making
plan?
Assessment should be on the basis of results and behavior. Achieving result with
right kind of behavior is important. Example of this can be Integrity.
9. How do you link your appraisal results with your T & D, pay and rewards and other
HR systems?
If we talk about links, then, I would say career progression should be linked with
rating. Here, performance dialogue should be linked and timely feedback needs to
be given.
10. How do you take corrective actions for dissatisfied appraises?
I would say that employees should get a chance to improve their performance and
it should be seen that there should not be any compromise in core values of the
organization. At least one chance and time of three to four months should be
given to the employees. After giving a chance, performance dialogue should be
taken and if there is still no improvement, then the person should be asked to
leave and if necessary, guidance should be given to him. Also, there should be one
profile for employee who is not doing well and another profile for a star performer.
This may help the organization in long run.
INTERVIEW TAKEN BY: Mr. Khush Brahmbhatt and Ms. Asha Jadav

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People (popularly known as Human Capital) are considered to be the most crucial factor for
the Modern Business Organizations in this era. The Chairman of one of the leading business
conglomerates of a country once said “Our business today is sitting on a bag full of
opportunities & the only thing that can stop us from growing multi folds is the under-
utilization of our Human Capital”. If we compare the three primary resources for business
viz. Finance, Technology & Human Capital, we can realize that the simple reason of Human
Capital being the most important resource is its dynamic nature. You can easily predict the
kind of impact the introduction of a particular technology would make to your out puts, or
you can easily calculate the impact of a particular financial implication on your business, but
the only thing that is difficult for us is to predict the performance of an individual.
Having realized the importance of the Human Capital & their performance, the next big thing
for the organizations is to manage the performance of the employees. Often when performance
management is talked about, people think it to be just a performance appraisal or a mere
review done by the immediate manager. Performance management, in fact, involves much
more. “Performance management is a strategic and integrated approach to delivering
sustained success to organizations by improving the performance of the people who work in
them by developing the capabilities of the teams and the individual contributors” (Armstrong
and Baron, 1998).
As we say that the Key Result Areas (KRAs) of various individuals collectively rise up to
become the Organizational Goal, similarly the performance of all the individuals collectively
rolls up to be the performance of the organization. Hence it is necessary to have a robust
performance management system in the organizations. There a few citable points that justify
the fact that an effective Performance Management System helps in bridging the Gap between
the Employee and the Management.
How PMS can bridge a gap between
Management and Employees

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An effective performance management system acts as a connecting link between strategic
business objectives of the organization and day-to-day actions of each individual employee. It
is often said that employees many a times lack clarity about their job roles which in turn leads
to lower productivity. The performance management tool helps the employees to get clarity
on their roles & hence enables them to deliver accordingly. It also provides the employee with
visibility and clarifying accountability related to performance expectations by the
organization. This way it also helps the employees to be in better control of their result areas
& deliverables. Almost each and every individual hence becomes aware of his or her
contribution to the larger goal of the organization.
The Engagement level of the employees also gets an incremental impact due to the clarity in
their roles & also makes them more involved with the organization. Employees are easily able
to understand what is expected out of their roles & they can even judge as to what are the
effects of their own performance to the overall performance of the organization. Moreover an
effective performance management system also forms a strong base for the monetary rewards
& recognition to be given to the employees.
On the other hand, for the management & the Top Leadership, it is easy to analyze the
improvement areas & work on the same in a structured manner. It also gives the management
an insight to focus on the required skill development and learning & development programs.
To summarize, Clear visibility, regular individual analysis, and company-wide employee
performance management helps the individual employees to be more aligned with the
organizational goals & also helps the management to cater to the aspiring needs of the
employees. Therefore a set of effectively implemented performance management best
practices result in a wide range of benefits for Employees and Organizations.
Yogesh Thakur Ramdasani
Deputy Manager – Human Resources
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited Ahmedabad # 9913949582; 909900560

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Performance Management System is one of the most significant tools for managing the talent
in the organization. It is used to measure performance of the employees and aid the decision
around elevation and rewards for employees in the organization. Experts have also opined
that it would be prudent to infer that no PMS is free from Subjectivity and there are always
questions around the processes attached with PMS. However, things are shaping up differently
for PMS in the coming year. Based on my exposure of working with various HR organizations
and interacting with senior HR professionals, they key trends for 2015 and over next 2-3 years
for PMS are:
1. Initiatives and Projects are given importance: Traditionally PMS has captured KRA and
Attributes (Competencies); however, off late, few companies have also assigned special
weightage to Projects / Initiatives taken in the organization in PMS. E.g. Special
Product Launch in this year or Special cost optimization drives in the organization etc.
These projects are captured separately in PMS and assigned weightage while arriving
at the overall rating.
2. Breaking away from bell curves: 2014 witnessed some of the organizations do away with
Bell Curve. The key argument was why to restrict number of high performing
employees through bell curve in PMS. However, breaking away from bell curve needs
a different maturity of HR processes in the organization. Traditional organization
where there is a tendency to over-rate employees, doing away with Bell Curve is a
dangerous situation; however, matured organizations where HODs are sensitive
enough for differentiating performances of employees, it can work for the benefit of the
organization. However, in my personal view, largely, we are still away from the days of
breaking away from Bell Curve in 2015 and it will prevail for next 2-3 years in most
organizations.
2015: Trends related to PMS

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3. Even stronger relationships with other HR areas: Still in most organizations, PMS is only
about capturing performance, identification of Training Needs and linking the
performance with rewards and promotions. However, a linkage on employee Feedback
and Potential assessment is missing in this process. Performance Discussions will be
most important in the entire PMS process going forward and they will set the tone for
the initial discussion around future roles for the incumbents. PMS is not the toll to
assess the Potential of employees, but it surely given a hint in advance about the
potential of the employees.
4. Linkages with Risks / Failures: PMS will also have to understand the key risks that the
behaviour of employees is posing to the organization. E.g. a particular instance / action
have led to the disrepute of the organization and how PMS is addressing this. Further,
the questions that remained unanswered are how the organizations address challenges
of not meeting targets / goals. PMS only captures “How much” is achieved; but fails to
capture “How to achieve” and “How achieved” and this will be the key focus in next 2-
3 years. Organizations and employees will look at PMS to help them address concerns
about resolving skill gaps and building capabilities of organizations and individuals
and Feedback / Counselling will play key role in this.
Authored by Mehul Pandya,
Manager, Ernst & Young LLP
The author is currently heading the HR advisory practice of EY for Gujarat and the views
expressed by him are his individual view and not necessarily of the organization that he works
for. He can be reached on mehulbpandya@gmail.com for feedback.

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"Validation of current
Performance Appraisal
Methods"
If we have talk about in Indian contest, Performance appraisals is still new word except
midsize and large organizations. Still people have doubt about robust performance system
which has clear goal and objectives. According to me Performance Appraisal (PA), is a
method by which the job performance of an employee is documented and evaluated.
Performance appraisals are a part of career development and consist of regular reviews of
employee performance within organizations. Performance appraisal of Employees are
necessary to understand each employee’s abilities, competencies and relative merit and worth
for the organization. Performance appraisal rates the employees in terms of their
performance.
The latest mantra that is being followed across the world is -“Get paid according to what you
contribute”- the focus of the organization is turning specifically to individual performance.
Performance appraisal helps to rate the performance of the employees and evaluate their
contribution towards the organizational goals if the process of PA is formal and properly
structured, it helps the employees to clearly understand their roles and responsibilities and
give direction to the individual performance. PA helps to align the individual performance
with organizational goals.
Verities of Methods have been followed by different organizations like
• Critical Incident Method, Weighted Checklist, Graph rating scales, Performance
ranking method, Management by objectives and 3600 Performance Appraisal
Now the questions comes, which method has a more validity and more authenticity? Answer
is everyone and no one. It purely depends on organizations needs and culture of particular
organization... However for the purpose of awareness, following definitions can be learned
Critical Incidence Method: This is a method where in a manager writes regarding the
employee’s positive & negative performance behaviour throughout the performance period.
Graph Rating Scales: - This is the oldest and most widely method used for performance
appraisal. The scales may specify five points, so a factor such as job knowledge might be rated
1 (poorly informed about work duties) to 5 (has complete mastery of all phases of the job).
Most of the Indian conventional organizations use this methods to evaluate an employee.
Performance Ranking Method:-PRM is a method used to evaluate employee performance
from best to worst. Manager will compare an employee to another employee, rather than
comparing each one to a standard measurement.

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Management by objectives:-A process whereby the superior and subordinates of the
organization jointly identify its common objectives, define each individual’s major areas of
responsibility. They follow process of Establishment of Goals, Setting the performance
standard, Actual level of job attainment is compared with the goals agreed upon and
Establishing new goals and new strategies for goals not previously attained.
360 degree Performance appraisal:-360 Degree Feedback is a multi - rated feedback system
where an individual is assessed by a number of assessors including his boss, direct reports,
colleagues, internal customers and external customers.
Every organization has their own Performance appraisal system which is based on achieving
organizational goals. It’s purely depends on the management and Human Resources Manager
to follow which route and how it will be creating win win situations for an employee or
employer .
Article by Bhavesh Upadhyay, Sr Vice President –Human Resources, Intas Pharmaceuticals

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You have recently been appointed as HR advisor for National Office Supplies, a provider of
stationery and office furniture for businesses throughout India. Whilst based at their
headquarters in Mumbai, part of your role is to visit the regional sales offices and to audit their
HR processes and practices. The company has experienced sound levels of growth in recent
years and has experienced growth in turnover of one-third in the last three years. Prior to your
appointment, the HR manager worked alone, aside from an administrative assistant, involved
primarily in advising regional managers on recruitment and selection, conducting induction
and ensuring that the company’s policies (such as health and safety and equal opportunities)
complied with legislation. Typically, she would only visit regional offices to attend disciplinary
or grievance meetings. Whilst the company has broad guidelines on how each department is
managed, the general attitude among senior management at HQ has been that as long as each
office is performing adequately, they are happy not to intervene or get too involved at regional
level unless directly asked to do so. However following the recent growth of the firm from a
relatively small, tight-knit organisation to a larger, more bureaucratic company, the senior
managers are keen to introduce a ‘performance culture’ into the firm and to formalise and
standardise its key HR processes.
You have been asked to visit all the regional offices to observe their performance appraisals
being conducted as the basis for writing a set of guidelines that can be circulated to all regional
sales managers as ‘best practice’. The current guidelines simply state that performance
appraisals should be conducted at least annually. Regional managers are provided with a pro
forma which they are advised to use to prepare for and record the appraisal. This was
downloaded from the internet by the HR administrator.
Each year regional managers are given a sum of money to distribute to their teams in
recognition of performance but how managers do this is left to their discretion. Given the sound
financial performance of the firm in the previous year, each managers have been given Rs.
30,00,000 this year to pay as bonuses, although this can rise or fall depending on how well the
company as a whole has done over the previous year.
Case Study:
Conducting performance appraisals
At National Office Supplies

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The South region office
Ms. Nazia is the regional sales manager for the South, running from the foot of Chennai. She is
a gregarious, extrovert character who is very hard to dislike. She runs her office in a very
informal manner and is well-liked by her team. A chat with one of her team suggests that she is
very good at ‘putting an arm around your shoulder if things aren’t going so well’ and for being
fulsome with her praise when things go well. Like her management style, her appraisals are
best described as an informal chat. She encourages her team members to do much of the talking,
outlining things they think they’ve done well and that they excel at and ways they could improve
their sales. The mood is typically relaxed, upbeat and positive. Nazia doesn’t write anything
down and appears to have no paperwork to refer to during the appraisal Nazia takes the view
that appraisals are ‘no big deal’, downplaying their significance partly because she doesn’t want
them turned into a focus for criticism or praise. She views appraisals simply as an opportunity
to reinforce things that were down well and to ‘gear up’ the team. Although there are no formal
plans for future action agreed at the meeting, she takes the view that all other things being
equal, if people do better than the previous year then they’re performing well. Nazia tells you
that she makes decisions about bonuses based on gut instinct, not by referring to ‘facts and
figures which don’t show the full picture’. Mr. Anil, who the manager refers to as the most
natural salesman she’s ever come across (partly because, in Nazia’s words, he can ‘talk the
talk’) has scooped the lion’s share. Examining the way that the region is divided up between the
team, this salesman also happens to have the ‘patch’ that includes Bristol. She says of his
decision-making process that ‘usually most of the team are happy with their share, some are just
pleased to get anything. Anyway, even if they don’t like it, then it’ll just make them work harder
next time’.
The West region office
Mr. Janak is the regional sales manager in the West region. Janak is an altogether different
character to Nazia. He is reserved and fastidious in his work and well-respected among his
colleagues although one team member that ‘he keeps himself to himself’. Janak views the
appraisal process as the focal point on the HR calendar and plans meticulously for each
appraisal collecting and collating performance data that he has recorded and reviewing the
year’s performance against the agreed objectives set in the previous appraisal. Having sat in
on Janak’s appraisals (a process he was none too happy about) you note that in they largely
represent a series of questions fired by Janak at the appraisee, many of which require simply
a one word answer which the manager records by ticking a box on a pro forma that he has
prepared himself. The questions asked of the team members focus on areas for improvement,
typically by asking appraisees about why, for example, they failed to obtain or have lost a
particular contract. Janak takes the view that performance can only be improved if
previously-made mistakes are avoided in future. Reflective of the significance attached to
appraisals by Janak, appraisees seem to be nervous, uptight and defensive, frequently having
to justify their activities over the year. Janak makes his decision over the allocation of bonuses,
partly on the basis of the number of ticks in the ‘right’ box, along with a consideration of

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volumes of sales generated, although he is keen to stress that he seeks to reward his team not
only on the basis of total sales but also on the context and way that those sales have been
achieved. This year, the highest bonus was paid to the salesman who in the week running up
to his appraisal secured a large order for office furniture. The lowest bonus was paid to Rohini
who was on maternity leave for the last three months and who was unable to attend an
appraisal. Janak is keen to stress to you, however, that he makes a point of clearly
communicating his decision to employees so that they know he is being fair, but admits to
ensuring that everyone gets something just to keep morale up.
TASK
Before you visit the remaining regional offices, you have decided to set out some guidelines
based on what you have witnessed at the South region and West region offices, on the basis of
which to assess the way that appraisals are conducted. The intention is to develop these
guidelines so that they can be circulated to managers to help them conduct more effective
appraisals. You decide to start this process by identifying areas of good and bad practice in
the two offices.
Mr. CHINTAN TRIVEDI
HR- DEEPAK NITRITE LIMITED

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Who Am I ?
1. My surname is named on a “sauce” even though I contributed to Human Relation
Movement ?
Ans:- Elton Mayo
2. Even though I gave birth to the most organized movement in the search of a rational and
cohesive technical way of managing than also I am the most misunderstood man among all ?
Ans:- Fredrick Winslow Taylor
3.For me it was said that I used to Talk with Ghosts of revolutionary whose surname was given
the name to his theory?
Ans:-Max Webber ; and ghost is Karl Marx
4.I gave Four Teen age young Princy who were Pals of the men and his age and his ment?
Take the words you like and make my name ?
Ans :- Four teen principals- Four Teen Princy Pals of man-age-ment
“Henry Fayol”
5. I am also a Researcher but my surname can be boiled or stuffed or could be eaten by
everyone?
Ans:- A.K.Rice
QUIZ ANSWERS OF LAST ISSUE

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HR Fund plans to make 3 investments this fiscal
The HRFund, a human resources focused private investment company, is planning to invest
in up to three firms, operating in HR technology and recruitment space, in the current fiscal.
"We are basically looking to make three investments in this financial year. Mostly we are
looking at HR technology, recruitment space, the HR analytical space and learning and
development space," the HR Fund Principal Utkarsh Joshi said.
The companies that the fund is focusing on are in post "seed" and "pre-VC" stage and so
the range of investment will up to USD 500,000 to USD 1 million (Rs 3 crore to Rs 6 crore) per
transaction. The fund's existing portfolio includes PeopleStrong HR Services and People
Matters. While People Strong is a human resource outsourcing and HR technology company,
People Matters is an HR knowledge and media platform.
Infosys splits HR head role to focus on top talent management
India's second largest software services firm, Infosys, wants its next human resources head
to focus on leadership development and succession planning, a strategy-led position removed
from routine operational hiring and employee management functions as part of a larger
organizational overhaul.
The company undertook an organization reshuffle recently that will result in current global
HR head Srikantan Moorthy moving to a new delivery function role effective April 1.Executive
vice pres ..
Sumeet Salwan to be Johnson & Johnson's HR head for consumer products division
US based Johnson & Johnson has roped in Sumeet Salwan as human resource head for
consumer products division, making him the only Indian on its current global management
leadership team.
Salwan, a lifer at Unilever was senior vice-president of HR at the company's North
American division and among the leading contender to replace Doug Baillie's global HR head
role at the British consumer giant. The XLRI alumnus joined Unilever as a summer intern in
1992 and served the multinational a ..

21. 21
Airports privatisation bidding deadline extended due to 'HR issues'
Government extended the bidding deadline by private firms for management, operation
and development of four AAI-run airports due to HR-related and other issues, a top official
said today.
"There are many issues. There are issues relating to human resources. A concerted decision
has to be taken (on such issues). Whatever are the concerns of the employees, they have to be
addressed," Airports Authority of India chairman R K Srivastava told reporters.
China pulls out stops to avoid lay-offs as economy cools
As growth in China’s sagging economy looks on the verge of spilling below 7%, officials
worried about a spike in unemployment are pulling out all the stops to avoid mass lay-offs.
State firms are encouraged to keep idle workers employed, subsidies and tax breaks are given
to companies that do not fire their workers, and some businesses are even enticed into hiring
despite the slackening economic growth.
The measures appear to be working for now, said a senior economist at the Development
Research Centre, a think-tank affiliated to China’s cabinet.
Hiring declines across sectors in March on slowing investments
The slower-than-expected recovery in investments in India is reflected in hiring activity (or
inactivity), with several sectors such as shipping and construction seeing a decline in the
number of people hired (compared with last year), according to data from job websites. In a
report, Naukri.com, a job website, said hiring in the real estate sector saw a drop of 20% in
March (compared with last year) and defense manufacturing, 27%. Construction and
engineering saw a fall of around 6% in February and March.
Those numbers reflect the macro economy. Factory output in eight so-called core
industries, measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), was 177.8 in March,
marginally lower than where it was a year ago.
Govt seeks to replace 44 labour laws with just five
The central government plans to reduce 44 labour laws to just five as it seeks to make it
easier for companies to do business in India and recapture the momentum it has lost in recent
months. The labour ministry also believes that the move will result in better compliance.
Four laws will deal with wages, social security, industrial safety and welfare, and industrial
relations, said two government officials familiar with the matter who asked not to be named.
The fifth will be a law for small factories.The officials said that work on the proposed laws has
started and that all will eventually be tabled in Parliament as new bills. Once passed, they will
change India’s labour rules framework. The officials added that the labour ministry is
confident of steering the bills through Parliament. Still, the move will likely face resistance
from opposition parties.
Courtesy: The Economic Times Livemint (H.T)