Performance Appraisal of the Performance Appraisal System

         March end is nearing and its time for Appraisals. All eyes are focussed on the one most important thing ‘Appraisals’ and ‘Increments’. To an HR professional, these two words have distinguished definitions. But, to a layman Appraisals mean Increments and Increments mean Appraisals.

For all those who still think they mean the same, here’s the dictionary meaning for both:

• Appraisal - an assessment or estimation of the worth, value, or quality of a person or thing

• Increment - The process of increasing in number, size, quantity, or extent.

These two terms are related, but not the same. However, in a typically traditionally managed, family owned business, there may be not be much of a practical difference between the two, but in larger organisations Appraisals and Increments have a larger system in place called the Performance Management System.

          There is much ado about effective Performance Management Systems (PMS) and a lot many theories have been conceptualised for building a robust PMS. The most popular amongst these are the 360 degrees, 180 degrees, Management by Objectives (MBO), Ratings Scale methods.

Organisations invest a great deal of money, time and efforts in formulating a PMS system that suits their organisational needs, culture and business plans. The effectiveness of any PMS depends on many factors from Goal Setting Process to the Evaluation Methodology and the Feedback Mechanism, but the major factor that influences the success of an organisation’s PMS is the ‘buy-in’ from the top management.

When you talk of Appraisals, employees imagine a herculean task coming forward i.e. of filling up pages and booklets of information. Amidst targets and deadlines, employees struggle to manage recollecting and providing information not only about their own performance, but also for their colleagues as in the 360 degree approach. What do companies do with all this download of information? Are the companies effectively utilising the data generated for the benefit of the employees and the organisation? Do companies review the Performance Appraisal Systems viz-a-viz the results it generates?

         In a webinar on "Designing an Effective Performance Management System" hosted by SHRM India; the speaker Aniruddha Limaye, an Independent Consultant, pointed out indicators that we need to be sniffing for, to understand when to start instituting a new PMS or get rid of the existing one altogether. According to his theory, the key indicators that we need to look at are:

 Employee related issues – unfavourable feedback from employees on PMS, increase in employee attrition linked to appraisal cycle

 Performance related issues – low ownership by line managers that requires tremendous follow up by HR, lack of team work / turf mentality, organisation struggling to achieve goals, difficulty in implementing any new decisions /changes / initiatives

         In most companies, Performance Assessment becomes just an HR or Admin process. HR does play a role in setting up of the process, coordinating the execution, and for normalisation. But Forced Ranking, Bell Curve Method, Jack Welch’s 20-70-10 principle come into picture as regularisation methods, which might prove to be de-motivating for many employees. “By implementing a forced ranking procedure, organizations guarantee that managers will differentiate talent”, says Dick Grote in his book ‘Forced Ranking: Making Performance Management Work’. Does forced Ranking mean appraisal of the manager’s ability to appraise his subordinates?

If PMS does not have the status of a ‘Business Process’ the organisation should think of scrapping it rather than redesigning it. PMS is not an HR process, but should come as a buy-in from the top management. Without an objective Goal-Setting process and a strong & positive Feedback Mechanism, performance cannot be reinforced. Hence, if an organisation’s PMS lacks these two important requisites, it is always advisable to scrap it rather than having a negative impact on employee’s expectations from the system.

        As quoted by Limaye, “You need to catch someone doing something right and then reinforce it!”

       When in spite of incessant initiatives of reviving the Appraisal System, there is still demand / need for change, performance appraisal systems could be eliminated with no harm done. No Performance Assessment System will work until the organisation is completely ready for the change it desires to bring in with the system.

          All in all, performance review is a daily activity, and not an annual ritual led by the HR delegates.

- VAISHALI PARGAONKAR

Be and It Is! Cracking the FACEBOOK Code!

Kun Faaya Kun in Urdu means "Be," and “it is”!!

It means – “To have anything done, we simply say to it, "Be," and “it is”!!

Jab kahin pe kuch nahi bhi nahi tha, wohi tha wohi tha

Woh jo mujh mein samaaya, woh jo tujh mein samaaya, Maula wohi wohi maaya

In this recent composition by A. R. Rehman, he talks about God, but here I’m talking about FACEBOOK! Nowadays to have anything done or not done, we simply ‘Facebook it!’

“FACEBOOK”…..the word has become synonymous with ‘Life’.

You tell a friend that you have complete access to Facebook in office, he will make you realise how lucky you are and how his company is depriving him of his basic rights.

There are different types of personalities on Facebook. For some the day doesn’t start and end without Facebook. And with smart phones today, the world is at our fingertips, and so is Facebook.

Some people are addicted to Facebook. They need to check Facebook first thing in the morning, and also the last ‘one-more time’ before going to bed. If you feel the urge to check your FB page every 5 mins, in spite of knowing that there would be nothing new, then YES!! You are an FB addict!

Before this $120 billion worth creation of Mark Zuckerberg came into being, the first thing anyone did after logging on to the office computer, was to open the Inbox to check new mails received. And work would flow gradually. Now, 1^st thing that people do is log on to Facebook to ‘keep in touch’ with other’s lives. “God! Please may I have atleast one notification, 1 friend request, I have posted such a nice update yesterday, please please please!” And if you see no red numbers on the notification bar, you face severe dejection and feel that the day has not started well today. ‘Red’ is no longer a colour for danger!! And then you make a resolution, “Today, my status will earn me as many likes and comments as possible”.

Some people are not so tech-savvy otherwise, especially those in their mid-40 and 50’s who have been introduced to this novel concept of ‘keeping in touch’ by their children or other acquaintances of young age. (Well I don’t mean to say that everyone in their 40’s and 50’s are not well-versed with technology, but here I intend to mention the not-so tech-savvy crowd amongst them). So, these are the people who make it a point to log on to the site daily, and make their presence (tech-savvy ness) felt by liking & commenting on every possible update on earth (read FB). Using newly acquired face-booking jargons like ‘lol’, ‘rofl’, ‘bro’, ‘superlikes’, ‘nice pic’, etc. becomes a way of life. Sharing pictures and videos becomes a binding affair. And not to forget the mannerisms that FB promotes – there are people who say ‘thanks’ on every ‘comment’ and ‘like’ they have grossed. 

And thanks to Facebook, now we all remember our friends’ birthdays and also send them good wishes on their ‘wall’, the ‘Great Wall of Fame’!

So is Facebooking a science or an art? Have not arrived at this conclusion yet, but I have figured out that there are 3 main imperative acts you need to do in order to ‘be there’ (make your presence felt) on Facebook.

(1) To update your own status. Be creative here because it is directly proportionate with the amount of likes and comments you will earn. (After all, that’s why you are here) ‘Out-of-the-box’ thinking is what you require.

(2) Like or comment on others status / pictures. If you can’t be creative here, just say ‘nice’, ‘lol’, ‘hahaha’, ‘true’, ‘well said’, ‘agree’ etc… (After all, your friend is going to pray for your good health and prosperity for giving him the recognition, (read notification)).

(3) Share and comment on pictures / videos (shared by 90% of people in your ‘Friend list’ already? So what!)

Some people are very passive on FB. They are there, but always invisible. They are like our parents, who are silent spectators to each and every move that you make. These people never post a comment / status, but are updated with all that is happening in their friend’s lives. May be they fear sharing about their lives to the ‘public’. Mind you, this ‘public’ are the same people who they have added to their own ‘Friend List’!

Leaving aside people on Facebook, and coming to other aspects. Any website, advertisement (television & print media) we see, contain Facebook and Twitter icons at some corner of the page, providing links to these sites. It has become such an integral part of branding and promotion. The ‘Facebook Timeline brand pages’ prove to be an effective tool in conveying identities of organisations. It gives added fun and engagement to the one-on-one branding and customer service experience.

It is no longer only a social networking site. We have various forums and ‘pages’ by professional bodies and forums where people discuss topics related to business and strategies. It is used as a hiring tool to attract talent, promote for seminars and chats, invite for private parties and functions etc.  Not only business, but it also has importance in creating political and social awareness, driving campaigns and such.

Facebook has definitely brought the world closer. Long lost friends, childhood memories, relatives and acquaintances, this networking site does not know disparities of time, distance, & boundaries.

So, what was life before Facebook? I think hard while I question myself because, yes! I don’t remember how I kept in touch with so many friends (well, I dint know I had 434 friends and more to come until Facebook happened).

YES! We feel the need to Face-book our life’s small and big events, we need to Face-book where we had dinner last night (with a picture if possible), we need to have an opinion and express it too on Face-book. We just need to Facebook!

It goes without saying that the link to this blog shall be posted on Facebook the first thing after completion (there is an FB icon down there provided by this blog site too), and I shall be waiting for your likes and comments on the same.

HAPPY FACEBOOKING J


- VAISHALI PARGAONKAR

Corporate India v / s India Against Corruption

Do you think Corporate India should take a step forward to fight against corruption and declare a Days Off to enable the employees to support the movement?  This question was posed by an HR Forum on Facebook, which earned 108 likes and 61 comments from HR and non-HR professionals.

The same morning, I had similar questions in mind as to whether corporate should participate in this revolutionary stance taken by our iconic leader Anna Hazare. I have been following this story since Anna Hazare’s fast a few months ago, when I learnt about what Jan Lokpal Bill is all about. Keeping in mind what the bill will do to our warped system, and that activists like Kiran Bedi, Arun Kejriwal and the rest are supporting Anna, I too started having faith in this movement. Moreover Anna’s aura gives feel-good vibes as contrast to Baba Ramdev who (supposedly) fasted for the same cause.

Coming back to the question, of what role can Corporates play & whether this should be taken up as an Act of CSR.; being an HR professional, my arguments run from philosophy to policy. Gathering from what my FB friends who commented on the question, majority of the 61 people who spared time to pen down a word or two, have agreed with a ‘BIG YES’ and feel that Corporates should declare atleast 1 day off so that employees can support this anti-corruption movement. Well, I too am stung with these pests infecting all of India with scams, and hence primarily I too concur with Anna Hazares movement.

I strongly believe that the philosophy of management here is of utmost importance. Anna says that everyone needs to sacrifice their bit...only then we can bring an end to corruption. But people always think that the rest are anyways sacrificing... so what difference does it make if I don’t. This attitude itself has led us to this day, when we are seeing another ‘Freedom Struggle’ after independence today.

Not many companies will come forward and declare even 1 day off and incur loss in business due to same. Forget at least supporting the cause, if not actually bringing an end to corruption (Not to forget most of our big corporate leaders have played some or the other role in giving oil to fire). In the recent past, corporates had given days off for Semi-Final and Final matches of the 2011 World Cup. I don’t know whether I should say that it’s a shame why corporates are not coming forward today when India really needs its people.

On the other hand, I will not only blame the corporates for not showing any interest. Even for employees (you and me), will only updating Facebook and Twitter statuses and joining online forums actually help? Yes, it will definitely spread the awareness, but even if we assume that corporates declare a day off, how many people will actually get down on the roads and join the rally? Employees can take leaves for watching World Cup matches, but given a day to join the protest, are people really interested? And so instead people in the HR forum suggested that organizations can dedicate 30 minutes of the entire day regularly for the cause, a common meet of all employees across the country can be called for and such. One friend even suggested ‘pens and tools down’ instead of a holiday. As pointed by a colleague from the forum, who knows a days off means good time at a Cinema hall for somebody.

Well, after a debate like this… yes it is duty of the corporates to pay attention to such issues and contribute in every small way they can. Only providing donations and setting up NGO’s is not enough, corporates must also pay heed to internal corruption issues and setting up a system that will prevent corruption in the first place rather than inspecting and punishing for the same. However, why wait for your company to come forward? We have examples of students and office-goers who have taken a week’s off and are participating in the movement. So why wait until someone else starts? Why not just go ahead and let others follow? We can participate and still keep the business moving. Afterall, every corporate is part of Indian economy, and we must keep the spirit going….

Good Performance v/s Bad Behaviour

"Congrats! Mr. A, you have been promoted to a Manager!"

Mr. A has 12 years of work experience and is known as a devoted and hard working individual. A performer at his work, Mr. A has many achievements to his credit and has progressed from an execution role to a managerial role.

Performing as an individual is very different than performing in a team. And especially when you are leading & managing a team, a person requires different set of skills and competencies. A person may be good at executing activities on his own, but getting work done from people might not come so easy.

Going back to Mr. A, he has been awarded as the "Best Performer of the Year", has been appreciated enough in his appraisals and is the apple of the eye of the top management. Mr. A follows certain rules of a manager that most at his level do. He believes in empowering his team, but at the same time follows a ‘school-teacher with a stick in hand’ approach. His leadership style can be categorized as directive and traditional.

So are his subordinates convinced with his style of management?

Mr. A is resolute on getting results from his team. Hence smallest of errors made by the subordinate become a big issue to be dealt with. He wants his team to be as perfect in work as he is. After all, his performance will not shine if the subordinates don't obtain the desired results. Being impulsive and very straight forward, like Mr. A appreciates good work of his subordinates promptly, he also sometimes loses his cool over his subordinates mistakes and yells at them without realizing that everybody else is also listening. Instead of taking the latter to a secluded place for counseling, he loses patience and unintentionaly creates an embarrassing situation for the subordinate. And this does not end in a minute or a two, but becomes a 10-15 minute ordeal for the subordinate.

Mr. A sometimes doesn’t even care to make sure whether the error is actually done, and passes a judgmental statement at the subordinate, who ends up justifying for an offence never committed. He also gets a bit personal, so much so, that Mr. A actually forgets the mistake in question and sounds like a spouse taunting the other for all the flaws he has figured out in his entire lifetime.

Well, the result of the same turns out to be expected -- subordinates body language in front of other colleagues changes for the rest of the day, he/she feels highly embarrassed and de-motivated, sometimes even sheds a tear or a two when the going gets tough. And often you see this subordinate smiling his way to glory, relaxed and all enthusiastic when Mr. A is not around. He seems to be more productive when the bullying boss is not in vicinity.

Now let’s see what is Mr. A's behaviour with the rest of the colleagues. Mr. A shares a good rapport with his colleagues being extrovert by nature, and is respected by all for his work, helpful and friendly nature. However, he is famous for being cynical and sarcastic and spreads this kind of culture amongst all. After all, you give back what you get, especially when it is comments that you do not enjoy listening to. Mr. A sounds tyrannical at times, is rude and tries to shield his sarcasm with humour, but obviously does not succeed at all times. The outcome of his nasty, teasing and hurtful jokes results in employees hitting on each other for every small thing. Many instances have ended up in conflicting situations when some employee on that day chooses to not ignore the hurtful remarks but take necessary action and revolt against such behavior. The workplace then becomes like a warfront where the ammunition most used are devastating words.

So, I keep wondering about this Good Performance v/s Bad Behaviour. Definitely, Mr. A is a bully at the workplace, but he also is a good performer. Active bullying is manifested through clear evidences, but passive bullying where the person does not actually seem like a tormenter but acts like a slow poison, is difficult to deal with. You cannot even ignore it and you can’t even complain about it.

So what is the plight of the subordinate???

• The verbal and emotional abuse results in loss of productivity

• Increase in level of absenteeism

• Emotional stress to deal with

• Lack of team-work

• Reduced efficiency and increased errors due to fear

What results in such bullying behavior by the boss?

• Aggression and passion to perform

• Personal nature and temperament

• Impulsiveness / lack of tolerance power

• Newly acquired managerial responsibilities and the resulting pressure to perform

• Lack of communication skills

• Lack of leadership and team handling skills

According to a study by the Employment Law Alliance in 2008, almost half of all employees have been targeted by a bully boss. The study also revealed the following:

• 81 percent of bullies are managers.

• 50 percent of bullies are women and 50 percent are men.

• 84 percent of targets are women.

• 82 percent of targets ultimately lost their job.

• 95 percent of bullying is witnessed.

MY QUESTION:

1. As an HR what should be done to curtail such behavior to protect the victim as well as improve the culture of the organization?

2. If the bullying boss is a performer and contributor, should such behavior (keeping in mind that the boss is not a crude or raging bully, but subtle bully) be ignored? If not, what strategy needs to be used to counsel the boss, such that he does not get demotivated but at the same time takes corrective action for his conduct?

- VAISHALI PARGAONKAR

Nikon D5100 Photo Competition Submission

Nikon D5100 Photo Competition Submission

Paternity Leave : Daddy Days Off!

It was when 2 female colleagues of mine availed a ‘maternity leave’ I recollected that a few months back I had had a chance to enjoy sweets distributed by a male colleague. He was sharing his happiness for having become a proud father.

As an HR professional I started to wonder if men should be given paternity leave rights just like women enjoy the privilege of availing maternity leave……Yes. Men do not give birth to children (literally), but they do become fathers and apart from what’s fair and unfair to them a logical argument would make more meaning to an HR professional.

Paternity Leave Law in India:

In India, the Central Government endorses the concept of granting paternity leaves to fathers along with maternity leaves to mothers. And it also makes all Central Government employees eligible for paid benefits for availing such leaves.

Rule 551(A) - Paternity Leave – 6^th Central Pay Commission-

•  A male CG servant (including an apprentice) with less than two surviving children may be granted 15 days Paternity Leave during the confinement of his wife for childbirth
• The Paternity Leave can be availed up to 15 days before or up to six months from the date of delivery of the child.
• Paternity Leave shall not be debited to the leave account.
• It shall not be refused under any circumstances.
• During paternity leave, leave salary equal to last pay drawn is admissible.

Well, the law does say so….but the private sector is not bound by this law and hence need of an argument whether giving fathers time off is essential or is an extra privilege that may not be required.

On some secondary research about Paternity Leave laws in India and other countries, I realised that the most common need of the hour is to receive both income and job-protected time off after the birth of a child. Here are some arguments that people of different professions from different countries have put forth…..

Arguments ‘FOR’ granting Paternity Leaves:

1. In the early stages of parenting, the presence of both mother and father is equally important for the child
2. As the mother is recuperating from post-partum depression, it becomes difficult for the mother to look after the child alone. With the father around, not only he can offer help with domestic chores, medical care of mother and child, but also give the mother moral or emotional support, and spend quality time with his family. In the first week when the mother and child are at the hospital a lot of running around is required and can be taken care of by the father. Paternity leave becomes very important when there have been complications during childbirth and extra care needs to be taken.
3. With changing culture in India, and changing family structures where women are also working, most families in cities are nuclear and may also have parents or elders living in another city, state or country. Also today grandparents might also be working and hence, reliance on babysitters, nannies and maids increases. Not to forget, not all households can afford to hire maids / nannies to take care of the child.
4. Why burden only the mothers? And also, if mothers can get a maternity leave, then in these times of gender-equality why not paternity leaves to the father?
5. Father-child bond in the early stages of life is very important, and who says that father does not feel the need of spending time with his new born? Even the father wants to witness all the ‘first-time’ doings of his new born.
6. Like Mum, Like Dad: Fathers should be prepared to do tasks like changing their child’s nappies and feeding food to the newborn
7. Fathers do end up availing some leaves amortizing on their paid leaves. They have to save on leaves right from the wife gets pregnant so that they can support her after child birth. This can get stressful. And when the employee ends up availing excess leaves, he might even undergo a loss of pay, which at this crucial times of multiplied expenses adds to the stress
8. Will the male employee be productive at work when his mind and soul would be with his wife and the child, and would he not take leaves often in the first few days after the child birth?

Arguments ‘AGAINST’ granting Paternity Leaves:

1. We already have maximum number of public holidays as compared to any other country
2. Engaging mother and father at the same time for one cause is not justified / necessary
3. The ‘man’ is not much helpful in pregnancy days. The pains and complications of pregnancy can be shared and solved with the women friends / relatives only.
4. Women in India generally go and live with their parents during delivery and few months afterwards
5. By taking 10/15 days leave, the couple increases chances of quarreling instead of helping each other
6. Men cannot waste time for long or afford any disruption in their career. They must not give priority to emotional feelings over career. Men would not like to put their career on hold, or give it a break
7. Men around the house during daytime are more of a hindrance. In India still....men are not that domesticised, maybe a decade down the line, things may change
8. Someone has to work to maintain the cash flow
9. Women are hardworking and dedicated unlike men. Handling of such responsibilities by men will only come with time. Hence, it is better to increase maternity leaves

Laws in Other countries:

·                                                                                             SWEDEN: A Revolutionary Policy

Parents are entitled to a total of 480 days paid leave per child, with both mothers and fathers entitled and encouraged to share the leave. The leave can be taken at any time until the child reaches the age of seven. Mothers and fathers are expected to share the 480 days equally.  It is possible for one parent to take up to 420 days of the total leave, but the remaining 60 days are then reserved for the other parent. In addition to the paid leave of 480 days per couple per child, you are entitled to reduce your working time by 25 percent. This, however, is not compensated for by the state.

Companies in India that grant Paternity Leaves:

Amongst many, below are a few companies that grant Paternity Leave to employees:

• NIIT claims to be the first to offer paternity leave from 1995.
• Employees of Infosys are eligible to avail three continuous working days of paternity leave and this option is available for the birth of the first two children.
• Omega Healthcare services – 5 days
• Datacraft India – 3 days
• Wipro Technologies – 0 days
• MNC’s in India such as Google, Cisco, Accenture, and Intel, most of which have paternity policies in place. Cisco Systems' India office has the most generous paternity leave of 12 weeks followed by Google India, which offers two weeks. Other multinationals which offer the privilege to their Indian staff include HSBC and Eli Lilly.

MY TAKE ON THIS:-

My Vote: ‘FOR’ granting paternity leaves to male employees

1. Entitlement to employees only up to 2 children by private sector companies
2. Paid Paternity Leave of 10 working days at the minimum be granted immediately on child birth (100% pay)
3. Entitlement to reduce working time by 25 percent during the first month immediately after availing 10 days of paid leave benefit
4. Paternity leave of 15 days be granted during the first 3 months at half pay (50% pay)

WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON THIS???


- VAISHALI PARGAONKAR

Sources:

BBC News Europe, 20 October 2010

Women's Law Project Blog, June 24, 2010
DNA, Sunday, Oct 23, 2005

DNA, Monday, Feb 1, 2010

Mint, Thu, Nov 11 2010

Deccan Chronicle, February 26th, 2009

Wikipedia

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Inspirational Stories of Famous Failures and Their Future Success

Came across a wonderful collection of Famous Failures and Their Future Success Stories....

Great source of inspiration!

"So you have tried something and you have failed. Maybe numerous times. If you have been told you have no talent, aren't cut out for "this business" or are never going to "make it in this line of work", Well don't be discouraged. The following are stories of other people who were told the same thing or something similar and went on to be major successes! You might just recognize a few:

The Vice President of Columbia told this actor that he was never going to make it in the business. The actor? - Harrison Ford

His first book was rejected by 12 publishing houses and sixteen agents. - John Grisham

Turned down by a recording company saying "We don't like their sound and guitar music is on the way out" They were talking about the Beatles

Was told by his father that he would amount to nothing and be a disgrace to himself and his family - Charles Darwin

Told by a music teacher "as a composer he is hopeless" - Beethoven

Was told that "he couldn't sing at all" Enrico Caruso

Fired from a newspaper because he "lacked imagination and had no original ideas" - Walt Disney

Were told by Publishers that "anthologies didn't sell" and the book was "too positive"

Rejected a total of 140 times. The book? Chicken Soup for the Soul. It now has 65 different titles and has sold over 80 million copies all over the world.

Told by a teacher he was "too stupid to learn anything" Thomas Edison

Failed the sixth grade - Winston Churchill

Wasn't able to speak until he was almost 4 years old and his teachers said he would "never amount to much" - Albert Einstein

Did poorly in school and failed at running the family farm - Isaac Newton

Was not allowed to wait on customers in the store he worked in because "he didn't have enough sense" - F. W. Woolworth

Was cut from the high school basketball team, went home, locked himself in his room and cried - Michael Jordan

Producer told her she was "unattractive" and could not act - Marilyn Monroe

This book was rejected 18 times before it was published. It then sold over one million copies the first year. The book was Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach

Auditioned for All My Children and got rejected - Julia Roberts

Received 30 rejections and the author threw it in the trash. Luckily his wife fished it out again and encouraged him to resubmit it. The book was Carrie - the author Stephen King

As you can see, these are just a few of the people who refused to listen to the criticism or the "experts".

If they could do it - so can you!"

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Healthy Attrition .... Regulating the Churn Rate

Talk about attrition and it is always looked upon as a taboo.

Reasons: Cost of turnover (Recruitment cost, New Hire Costs, Training and development cost, Administration cost, lost productivity costs). But not all attrition is ‘bad attrition’.

Sometimes it becomes necessary for the development and growth of the organization. And this attrition is termed as ‘good attrition’ or ‘healthy attrition’.

The first argument coming forth while talking about ‘healthy attrition’ is “Are we only talking about low performers / less productive employees in the organization?” Not really. When low performers quit, the organization definitely benefits. But good attrition is not always about getting rid of the less productive staff, and attrition cannot be always termed as ‘bad’ whenever employee departs.

When employees have been with the organization for a long time contributing in every way to its growth; the learning curve bounds to take a dip after a stage. If the company cannot envision a clear career path for the employee, it is advisable to look for fresh talent. An acquaintance Mr. Vaz whose article on ‘Moderated Attrition’ inspired me to write this has rightly pointed out; and I would like to quote him here, “Anything that needs self renewal must go through a process of re-generation. Whether that be a tree that sheds leaves and grows new ones or whether the renewal of cells in our body.” Truly complacency is very injurious to health; for the employee and for the organization both. After all ‘Nothing is Irreplaceable!’

Some employees impact the culture of the organization negatively especially in organizations with less employee base. This is either because they have been in the organization for a long period, some from the time when the company was in the caterpillar stage of its life – cycle; and still possess an old school of thought. They fail to change with the changing times, they fail to adapt to the increasing employee strength, workforce attitudes, changing technology, changing processes and systems. They might know the inside-out of the company, but may not be emerging as effective leaders. And moreover, they add to manpower costs, scaling high on the compensation ladder, as the company makes attempts to retain them. Whether deserving or not is a question that remains unattended! Such static workforce should be replaced by new employees with new abilities & attitudes, new ideas, new technology thus saving the organization from becoming stagnant. Employees having a detrimental and demoralizing influence on the work-culture and team spirit are not appreciated in the role of leaders by the young blood that flows into the organization. Traditional mindset should be replaced with out-of-box thinking. Exhausted leadership should be replaced with vibrant, dynamic leadership.

Jack Welch, former Chairman and CEO of General Electric, also advocates this through his 20-70-10 principle, where he believes that “employees must be ranked into performance categories of the top 20%, middle 70%, and the bottom 10%, and then managing them “up or out” accordingly”. This differentiation helps identify the 20% star performers and cash cows that need to be rewarded, the ‘middle 70’ that can be trained and coached to move up the career path; and helps diagnose the 10% bottom-tier performers (haunting for a sustained period of time) that need to be moved out so fresh talent can be brought in. Such turnover of employee is good attrition for a company, presuming that the parameters for deciding the 20-70-10 employees are in synch with the goals of the organization.

“Healthy attrition helps release the choked pipes of organizations hierarchy.”

- VAISHALI PARGAONKAR