Do you take time to conduct your performance appraisal? What dimensions do you use in appraising yourself? What do you benchmark your performance against?
Notwithstanding, that in several roles, I was responsible for managing and administering the performance appraisal process in the companies I worked for as an employee, considering that the companies’ performance appraisal process was designed to help the companies achieve their business objectives and rightly so, to achieve my personal objectives aligned with my vision, I had to develop my performance dimensions which I appraised myself with on an ongoing basis to ensure I stayed on track.
Each time you sit in front of your manager for that annual performance feedback session, how do you honestly feel? So many people I interviewed on this subject told me it is not an exercise they looked forward to, and they wished they didn’t have to do it. This suggests that there must be something about the process or how it is being administered that is not appealing to people. This is a subject for another day.
In my case, while I had to participate in the company’s performance appraisal process, either appraising those I was managing or being appraised by my managers, what was of most significance to me was my performance dimension tied to my personal vision and life’s journey, with which I appraised myself on an ongoing basis and sort input from people close to me on how I could do better regarding my personal growth and life’s journey. Therefore, every time I sat in front of my managers for the company’s appraisal feedback sessions, I found it quite boring like others and couldn’t always wait for the sessions to be over.
Ultimately, my primary focal point was my appraisal system with relevant dimensions and benchmarks to help me achieve my personal objectives and overall purpose in life. Since I am on a learning journey, with “striving for excellence in all I do” as my mantra (“seeth thou a man diligent in his business…”), by default, it paid off on the company’s side, and I enjoyed outstanding performance appraisal outcomes throughout my career as an employee. So, while the company’s appraisal and feedback process may not have been appealing to me, my performance on the job never suffered.
What are you appraising yourself and your performance against? If you appraised yourself against your personal growth and vision, how will this change your thinking and perception of performance appraisal? How will this affect your focus?
