Should organisations have a proper system of post-appraisal reviews in order to gather feedback from employees about their appraisal results? How about tackling post appraisal blues?

Ramesh Ajjampur, global delivery head, Mindteck points out, "It is very critical to get feedback from employees on their appraisals. The feedback will help the management understand the issues, which are not known at their level. If you have a systematic approach, you will be able to segregate the issues into a few specific areas and we can take some of the common issues and address them. If there is some very specific feedback from an individual, we need to put it through the hierarchy." Expresses Ruhie Pande, head HR, Kaya Skin Clinic, "At Kaya, we take feedback from every employee as a part of the process. This feedback gives every employee an opportunity to speak about their appraisal process and whether it is being followed in its true spirit across the organisation. In my opinion, just the fact that the organisation is taking feedback and tackling relevant issues that come out of this immediately gives our employees confidence in the entire appraisal system. If the feedback is acted upon in a timely manner, it can prevent potential attrition/disengagement." According to Kanthi D Suresh, managing director, Konnexions HR Pvt. Ltd., "A robust feedback directly impacts employee productivity. But, where organisations go wrong, is having a feedback only post-appraisal, where most reactions revolve around ‘shock' and ‘dis-belief'. A continuous feedback system, say, on a quarterly basis, shows employees the right direction and guides them towards achieving their KRA'S. Post appraisal review is nothing but a consolidation of the entire year's feedback."

Taking feedback is one thing, and doing something about it is another. Do organisations do anything to address the grievances employees come up with during these feedback sessions? "The most important thing that an organisation should do is act upon the feedback taken and do so immediately. The way to get concrete results is to intervene in a situation that has not gone as per the spirit of the process and set it right," suggests Pande.  Ajjampur feels that it is the intention that matters most. "Once you are able to show some response for the feedback they have given, you may not be able to correct it entirely, but your intention to gather the feedback and show atleast some response on it will certainly have a positive impact on the employees and they will start believing the organisation," he remarks. "Whether results can be changed, it really depends. In extreme cases where it really depends on the genuineness of the case, then it can be done. There should be a proper and unbiased mechanism in place for it," he adds.

Most HR heads and experts feel that these feedback sessions should be done in a systematic way and ensure the employee feels the feedback is valued. However, is should not become a habit for employees or a tool for them to just get their results changed. It should be constructive and systematic. "Any employee that holds an organisation to ransom is a potential ‘problem creator' and any organisation that does not nurture a ‘productive' employee, is not worth working for," Suresh concludes.

--Yasmin Taj 

Should organisations have a proper system to guage feedback pertaining to results/performance ratings, post appraisals?

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