Aligning Appraisals with Joining Dates: How Can We Make This Fair for Long-Serving Employees?

In my organization, appraisals are typically scheduled based on the date of joining. However, for some long-serving employees, appraisals are only conducted from January onwards, regardless of their actual date of joining. I would like to amend this practice and align their appraisals with their date of joining. Please advise on how we can implement this change without causing any disadvantage to the employees.

Dear Colleague,

Performance Management System

The Performance Management System, including the Appraisal Cycle, should align with the financial year followed by the organization. This cycle is more suitable than any other periods or cycles. For example, if you follow April to March as the Appraisal Cycle, it is easier to:

- Link KRA/KPI to the performance/goals of individual employees.
- Objectively measure the contributions and performance of employees and link them with business results.
- Focus on business goals by individual employees to link with each FY KRAs/KPIs.

Regardless of the Date of Joining (DOJ), you can fit employees into the financial year. However, you can provide benefits from their date of joining post-appraisal. For example, if someone joined in January 2021, and your financial year is April 2021 to March 2022, then post-appraisal, you can extend the benefits/increments/hike from January 2021 to that employee and so on.

Hence, it is suggested to kindly follow a cycle that operates in line with your financial year/accounting year to have a better grip on individual performance towards the organization's financial results.

Standardizing the Performance Cycle

The performance cycle should be standardized across the organization, ideally following the financial year. If the cycle aligns with the date of joining (DOJ), it may result in different assessment periods for the boss and the subordinate, potentially causing accounting issues. For employees joining on standardized dates, Dr. Shivakumar's suggestion holds merit and deserves consideration.