Feeling Stuck: How to Handle Unfair Performance Ratings When You're Doing Your Best

Performance Appraisal Concerns

Is this possible? My senior hardly contacts me 2-3 times within 6 months. He is working in a different city, and I am alone handling my branch. His rating on the performance appraisal for me is not satisfactory because, whatever job responsibility I have, I am doing very well. Regarding that, I am contacting his assistant. Here, I have my General Manager, and whatever work he gives, I am doing very well. So, I am getting depressed by doing my job perfectly, yet the rating is like this. It will affect my growth. Kindly suggest what I should do.

Sir, I just want to know about my probation period. My senior is giving me a rating on the performance appraisal that I am not satisfied with. The reason behind this is that my senior works in another city, and I am handling a different branch. Within 6 months, they have only contacted me 2-3 times on the phone.

As far as I know, I am completing my work on time, and my general manager is also 80% satisfied with my job. However, our main boss has not given a rating for my performance appraisal yet. I have to wait to see if they will give me a salary hike or not.

Regards

Dear Pragati, you need to give more details for people to comment. How large is your organization? How large is your branch? It appears that you are in a similar situation to the one I was in when working. You are in a function where your functional boss gives you the appraisal, but the local manager is there only to handle disciplinary issues.

Does your company appraisal system have a self-appraisal form that you have to fill out? How long have you been with the company? Have you spoken to your local GM about how he feels about your work?

I am sure that there will be other HR experts who can provide you with answers without questioning like I do.

Have a nice day.

Regards,
Simhan

Dear Pragrati, I can understand your frustration because of the low rating in the Performance Appraisal; however, we need to address this in a professional manner. You have not mentioned how the performance appraisal was conducted. What were the deliverables? What were you instructed to increase or decrease?

If your boss did not provide you with this information, you should have communicated your deliverables based on:

- a) quality
- b) quantity
- c) timeliness
- d) consistency
- e) responsiveness
- f) accuracy
- g) customer satisfaction
- h) innovation

You should have also highlighted the revenue savings resulting from meeting the above points.

Fairness in Performance Appraisals

"Fairness" is a crucial organizational value. While some companies adhere to it, others may not. Investigate why your boss, who works in a different city, gave you a poor rating. What were his/her expectations? How did you fulfill them? Did you make any significant errors that led to embarrassment at that level while striving to meet the performance targets?

Ok...

Regards,
Dinesh V Divekar

I am handling 50 staff. I have been working with the current organization for 6 months. We have a Performance Appraisal Form in which marks are already categorized as good and excellent. Job knowledge, quantity of work, and many more details are included in the performance appraisal. My senior just has to circle the marks, and then the overall total rating will be included in the grade. For example, if the rating is between 70-79, then it is a B grade, and I received the same. If it is between 79-90, it is an A grade, and above 90, it is an A+. My local GM is also satisfied with my work because I am working under him.

Dear Pragati, these exchanges clearly indicate that if we provide the complete picture at the outset, we receive better responses than if we do not. How many branches does your organization have? I know of a similar case in a large multi-branch FMCG. Achieving a B grade after 6 months of work is no mean feat. Some companies have a policy based on normalized ratings, where not more than a certain percentage can be awarded A+ and A grades. At times, the A+ grades have already been assigned to individuals at the headquarters, leaving those in branches limited to B's and A's. Even the A's are typically given to longer-serving and more productive members for the year.

Therefore, I suggest following Dinesh Divekar's advice. You have not mentioned whether you were provided with an opportunity to complete a self-appraisal form or if you had a chance to discuss the differences with your boss.

Have a nice day.

Regards,
Simhan

Ya, I am working with an MNC company. I understood your point about those persons working in headquarters getting A+ because they have much more responsibility. But, sir, I am getting 70%, and it doesn’t mean they will extend my probation period for 3 months. I am feeling depressed because, despite fulfilling my job responsibilities 100% (like a 1st-grade child cannot be compared with a 10th-grade student), I still have to learn more things. I object to my senior’s rating as they only gave me 70%. I object because they do not know my ability, as they have only spoken with me 2-3 times on the phone. Within 2-3 calls, we cannot judge others’ abilities.

Regards

Sir, I have been on probation for 6 months now. In June, my appraisal was conducted, and I received a 70% rating from my senior, which corresponds to a (B) Grade. My senior has forwarded the performance appraisal form to my local General Manager for my signature. Upon reviewing the comments, I approached my General Manager as my senior has only contacted me twice over the phone in the past 6 months. This suggests that my General Manager knows me better than my senior. In response, my local General Manager advised me to wait until our main HR boss arrives next month from abroad, as their decision will be final regarding the extension of my probation period.

I have successfully resolved several issues that my senior has not been able to address so far. Despite my best efforts, receiving a rating like this makes me question what more I can do. The comments also suggest that I need to improve my knowledge of HR practices.

Dear Pragati, forget about the poor rating in your performance appraisal; however, it appears that your number one problem is understanding the concept of communication. It took five posts to explain your viewpoint, and even the last post you provided is quite clumsy and not easily comprehensible. You have not answered all of my questions. No manager will accept information in installments or on a piecemeal basis from their subordinate.

Priority: Effective Communication

Your priority at this stage should be learning how to effectively convey information to others. This lack of skill may have had repercussions on your performance appraisal. Addressing this issue now would be beneficial; otherwise, you may encounter serious problems in the future.

Regards,
DVD

Dear Pragati,

As TS and Dinesh Divekar have pointed out, we are still not clear about what you do, how large your company is, and its nature of operations. From what I can gather from your successive posts, you are a fresher. What qualifications do you have? What was the medium of instruction when you took your Secondary School Certificate? I raise this question because your command of the English language could be causing you problems.

You say that you are dealing with 50 people. What exactly do you do? The managers do not have to interact with you to assess your performance at work. They can ask the people with whom you deal, etc. The mere fact that they have extended your probation by 3 months indicates that you have not met their expectations. As Dinesh Divekar has pointed out, it may be that deficiencies in your communication have caused this.

You have also said that your GM is 80% satisfied with your performance. In a workplace, that means not fully work-ready. The expectation is 100% satisfaction.

If seniors at CiteHR have criticized, they have criticized your approach and not you as a person.

Have a nice day.

Simhan

I have also been through this situation. One of my college mates said, "10% growth is for work and the remaining 90% is for relations with higher management." Due to this belief, many people do funny things like appreciating the boss's new car or trying to help the boss, etc. I have found this approach quite helpful.

The suggestions mentioned above may sound good in theory, but in reality, they hardly work.

Regards,
Deepak

Dear Pragati, I never miss going through the daily emails from this forum, even though I am not from the HR department. Many members who work exclusively in HR or as heads of HR have already tried to understand your problem. My only suggestion to you is to avoid using SMS language when briefing something. It is okay within our friend circle, but any correspondence with SMS language displays a negative image of the person.

I personally feel that your immediate boss is only responsible for overseeing the operations of your branch, and the real decision-maker is your boss who is in another city. Just because he may have only contacted you two or three times in the last six months, it does not mean he is not in touch with your branch. According to the organizational structure, you already have a boss in the capacity of a GM. If you are leading a team of 50 people in your branch, there must be other departments and department heads like you who report to the GM of your branch. If you are handling the complete branch of 50 people, what exact role is the GM playing then?

My only advice is not to be upset and to carry on with your good work. Though it may not pay off in the current organization, it will give you a chance to advance in your career with another company in a responsible position.

Best regards,

Regards

To all my respected seniors, I have read each and every suggestion and opinion, and I have come to know more things. I will definitely provide the required information that will help me to solve this problem.

We all want you to understand yourself better, rather than getting demotivated for reasons that are quite common in every company. Try to evaluate the whole situation before you come to a conclusion. Perhaps you can discuss it with those whom you trust and seek their views or suggestions. This will give you peace of mind. If we are wrong, we have to accept our mistakes and correct ourselves for a better future. This will help you keep learning new things that will benefit us.

Have a nice future and good luck.

With profound regards,