Bell Curve – To Be Or Not To Be📝
Of late, many employees from a technology company were asked to leave on account of non-performance. The reason not only raised concerns but it also highlighted performance appraisal practices followed by companies. While some also came into limelight for blindly following the Bell curve approach to performance appraisals. However, we have recently heard about many companies doing away from the traditional process of measuring the performance, once in a year.
What exactly is Bell Curve Performance Appraisal System?
An exercise to reward the top ten percent & motivate the middle eighty percent to over-achieve and asking the bottom ten percent laggards to leave or improve, a phenomenon also known ass a bell curve.
Bell Curve was introduced at GE by the then-CEO Jack Welch. The system requires managers to put employees necessarily in performance baskets. This concept however, does not reflect or improve the overall performance of the organization. Instead, it is seen as bringing more employees in the ‘Average’ performer basket to fit in the model. This undue adjustment instead triggers more exits than expected. Therefore Google, Microsoft, Adobe, P&G, Infosys, TCS, IBM, KPMG & Accenture have already announced their anti-verdict on the same.
It is time to embrace the change
While there is a transition in the thought process to change this measurement methodology what is driving this shift? More HR professionals witness this as driven from the top; a phenomenon called ‘boosting the morale‘ of employees once a while, which seems to be an after-effect of unplanned exits by employees, making that not-so-expected career moves. HR is worried and nothing more than astonished at times trying to figure only out – Why would ‘this’ employee quit? As a matter of fact, most employees lie when they are confronted with their logic on leaving their present organization. So to determine their real reasons, it becomes imperative for an organization to study the behavior of their employees & also about their time being spent at the office.
All the activities are looked from the perspective of data captured at various instances and then a trend analysis is run through. Ironically, an artificial intelligence firm gathered from employee behavior that employees tend to spend more time on his desk just before the period of deciding to resign, only to discover that this particular employee was spending time applying on various job portals and addressing recruiter queries rather than attending to his work.
Often HR is seen rolling out new strategies to Recruit, Retain, Train & Reward existing employees. However, they reflect very poorly in learning from the past mistakes. It is evident from the attrition rate and inefficient processes that tend to either consume a lot of employee work-time or tend to leave no & minimal change in the employee behavior.
Strategizing for future is important, however equally important is shunning the load from the past. What policies will make into the Next planning Year? Should be addressed equally. It would probably be the first time that many organizations will witness as many as five generations working together & this becomes equally challenging from the perspective of understanding what the employee’s belief systems are.
The oldest of the lot are Traditionalists – One company for a lifetime and the youngest lot of millennials workforce is always looking the right fit to their thought processes. With the former being risk averse and later being risk friendly, even job hopping at times, the duration of time for their current job is subject to their engagement levels on the job & in the organization. Therefore understanding and engaging millennials and their cultural fit are different from the traditionalists.
What the future holds?
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