Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Appraisal Fever

I walk in to my office as usual and I am surprised to see people are not as usual. With so many ‘????????????’ in my mind and no patience to wait, I go and ask my colleagues….is everything fine…?[I think it sounds better and positive than –is something wrong?] They tell me…it's appraisal time….:) ...:(... oops I donno which smiley I should use now…:-/

Not having my appraisal now…I can happily sit back and watch all that is happening around me. They go one by one in random order. While they go they rush with a blank face and when they come back.... I really can’t predict anything from their face. I think this is the only time people can show so many expressions on their face at the same time [better than those kollywood/bollywood/hollywood actors]….I don't mean they act but it comes so naturally... producers should think about giving appraisal to actors too...:)

Ok, so no one is happy?
No, they are happy coz they mentioned a line saying you did good work.. on that hour.. of that day.. for that project.

So, are they not sad?
No, they are sad for not mentioning the other ‘n’ achievements that went unnoticed.

So, they are not angry?
No, they are angry coz they didn’t get what they want-both in terms of rating or hike.

So, nothing left out?
No, they keep advising others about how to talk during their appraisal, in spite of knowing it would not help them in any way but help themselves in spitting out what was all missed out during their appraisal.

So….What is the moral of the story guys?
“Talk as long as you can and argue, though it wont help you in anyway but at least you can have a nice boring chat with your manager[which he calls "interesting to know about you"...]. Another advantage is next time he’ll make sure that you have enough stamina to fight back and sustain for hours together, so he wouldn’t prefer to fight but to praise you....coz that’s the only time we stay quiet...and don't argue...:) Last but not the least-->Don’t expect anything as you get only what they want to give you”

My only doubt: Isn’t this an obvious waste of productivity, man hours……..and the big list they mention during every meeting?

16 comments:

  1. Yup Aarthi, 'Appraisals' are a big eye-wash.

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    Hope you would not mind me giving one post of yours.You can say No Also.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Waste of productivity ..noooo....in fact its great to know them,the bosses & what hypocrites they are..its good for the organisation that way &for those who are going thru this
    lol PS r u driving the car now..!!
    TC
    CU

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  4. Appraisals also lets you get to know your backbiters better .....thats when the true colors seeps out and all the back stabbing happens...

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  5. Ha Ha.. I can picturise it very well. I hv seen similar ones.

    The best way to handle appraisal is u shd be a bigger culprit than ur manager. Some of things I do to tackle this appriasal:

    Whenever u get any appreciation mail for ur achievement from any SO & SO save it separately
    Before going to appraisal, print them (Back to back printing) - Why so? u can claim u always thot abt cost cutting :-)
    Even if ur manager forgets ur achievements or purposefully evades it ur print out will put him in his place.

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  6. appraisal fever - very apt title.. itz hg expectations till our name is called, adn then ka boom.. like the wind out of a balloon.. but i dont think the meetings r a waste of productivity.. had all this drama 2-3 weeks back... now no fever till next round...

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  7. its something like butterfly in the stomach.... n they will last till the results are announced.

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  8. These all are very usual in companies. THe funniest thing is. they will made us sign on a non-disclosure letter which restricts us to share our appraisal information with colleagues. But we do that only first after appraisal..:))

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  9. Nice post.
    //[better than those kollywood/bollywood/hollywood actors]// - lol, very true. I would end up seeing our shivajis and sowkarjanakis after the end of appraisals either cribbing or sobbing :D

    To me the appraisal system followed in india is incorrect and it is like half baked were the main crux is lost. First the appraiser doesn't know on what basis he should appraise the appraise or the appraise doesn't know on what he is appraised of. It is only at the end of appraisal period we come to know the objective :(

    Actually it is ulta in mycase, my manager is more worried during appraisals.
    yennada yeppadi ball la potalum adichidarane nu ;) Hope you can understand this.

    Thanks to my mentor, who helped me in understanding SMART which helped me a lot

    Sorry lady.. was busy with work. I remember ur tag, would finish soon.

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  10. appraisal fever...apt title...:)

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  11. @vasu
    I can feel the heat too..:)

    @sudhakar
    Will chk out soon n let u know...:)

    @compassion unlimitted
    hmmm yaaa...driving ....ya ...:)but only to nearby places....:(

    @prats
    Hey prats...You know what...I found them out even before my appraisal...ain't I smart??????

    @cm-chap
    Ya, good idea...but they say...it's not an achievement...but jus you have done your job well...:(

    @xh
    Think your experienece was not that bad...nice to hear...:)

    @sandhya
    not butterfly in stomach...a dragon or dinosaur

    @jaggu
    he..hee..:)

    @kuttibalu
    first, welcome back after a very long time..Happy to see you here...:)

    Good that they are like "Ennada eppadi ball a potalum adikiran"...but here it's the other way round...It is not them but we think like tht...:(

    @suma
    Hope you enjoyed it...:)

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  12. My HR friend said that Appraisals are just an excuse to decide how much bonus one is eligible for. It has no relevance to one's work.

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  13. @jollyroger
    :) I appreciate ur HR friend...atleast he says the truth..:)

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  14. Seeing by ur appraisal fever...I just wanted to share a story!


    There was a contest in a company to write a fictional story for 500 words max which would start with the line "On a dark and foggy night, a small figure lay huddled on the railway tracks leading to the Bangalore station"

    This is what one professional wrote for the contest....... surprisingly, it was adjudged the best short story ;;))

    On a dark and foggy night, a small figure lay huddled on the railway tracks leading to the Bangalore station. At once I was held back to see someone in that position during midnight with no one around. With curiosity taking the front seat, I went near the body and tried to investigate it. There was blood all over the body which was lying face down. It seemed that a ruthless blow by the last train could have caused the end of this body which seemed to be that of a guy of around my age. Amidst the gory blood flow, I could see a folded white envelope which was fluttering in the midnight wind. Carefully I took the blood stained envelope and was surprised to see the phrase "appraisal letter" on it. With curiosity rising every moment, I wasted no time in opening the envelope to see if I can find some details about the dead guy. The tag around the body's neck and the jazzy appraisal cover gave me the hint that he might be a software engineer. I opened the envelope to find a shining paper on which the appraisal details where typed in flying colors. Thunders broke into my ears and lightening struck my heart when I saw the appraisal amount of the dead guy!!!!! My God, it was not even, as much as the cost of the letter on which the appraisal details were printed.... My heart poured out for the guy and huge calls were heard inside my mind saying "no wonder, this guy died such a miserable death"... As a fellow worker in the same industry, I thought I should mourn for him for the sake of respect and stood there with a heavy heart thinking of the shock that he would have experienced when his manager had placed the appraisal letter in his hand. I am sure his heart would have stopped and eyes would have gone blank for few seconds looking at the near to nothing increment in his salary.

    While I mourned for him, for a second my hands froze to see the employee's name in the appraisal letter... hey, what a strange co-incidence, this guy's name is same as mine, including the initials. This was interesting. With some mental strength, I turned the body upside down and found myself fainted for a second. The guy not only had my name, but also looked exactly like me. Same looks, same built, same name.... it was me who was dead there!!!!!!!! While I was lost in that shock, I felt someone patting on my shoulders. My heart stopped completely, I could not breathe and sprung in fear to see who was behind......... splash!!! Went the glass of water on my laptop screen as I came out of my wild dream to see my manager standing behind my chair patting on my shoulder saying, "wake up man? Come to meeting room number two. I have your appraisal letter ready

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  15. @m.flowerr
    Thanks :)

    @bit rocks
    Hey that was really nice.. worth being the best one too.

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