How Can HR Evaluate Employee Competency for Promotion Without Technical Input?

Dear Seniors, Wishes!! Please advise: We are in the process of restructuring, and many employees are eligible for elevation considering their experience, salary, last three years' appraisal rating, and other parameters. Salary plays a major role in this. Many employees are eligible for a one-grade elevation, and a few are eligible for a two-grade elevation.

How can the HR Head assess the actual competency and ability of employees to fit into the next level/grade without the help of the Technical department? HR needs to assess the fitment for all departments, the corporate team, the field team, and the overall organization. (A competency matrix does not currently exist.)

Thanks in advance.

Meenu

Eligibility Fitment in Performance Appraisal Eligibility fitment as part of performance appraisal should be decided not by the HR person alone, but collaboratively by the department head and HR. The HR person cannot solely judge an employee but can suggest to the departmental head issues such as the employee's habit of coming late or taking leave frequently. This process can be prone to bias. The role of HR is to identify and address these issues to make the process as perfect as possible.

Where the assessment is based purely on seniority, the decision-making process would involve HR. However, in cases where a merit-based comparison is required, the Performance Report would serve as the foundation. Adopting a Committee-Based Approach It is advisable to adopt a committee-based approach and engage line personnel in the process. HR plays an advisory role and aims to achieve a harmonious balance among various departments.

What I can understand is that the organization is in the process of reassessing each position/grade within the organization as part of restructuring. The organization is evaluating the individual employees who are functioning in those positions based on their PMS score for the last 3 years, overall experience, and other parameters.

In my opinion, this should be done by a team consisting of major departmental heads along with the HR head. There is a possibility, as also mentioned in the original post, that for some employees, there may be a two-grade elevation.

In the absence of any competency matrix, the team may apply a method called neutralization. In this process, the HR head has a major role to play. After compiling all the data, the HR head should compare each position and grade within the organization to identify the cases with the maximum deviation. For example, in a particular grade with almost similar experience and a good PMS score, there may be a significant difference in remuneration for one or two employees compared to the average/median of the group, either on the higher side or much below the average/median of the grade. In those cases, neutralization will be required to maintain internal parity.

The process of neutralization varies from organization to organization. It may occur in one go or in steps over a few future years. This type of organizational restructuring is highly sensitive, and care should be taken properly, considering many factors, especially the individuals who have a bundle of emotions.

Regards, S K Bandyopadhyay

If people want to grow in their careers, the organization must also grow financially. Both are interlinked. One or Two-Level Promotions One-level or two-level promotions should happen based on individual performance only. In several organizations, multi-level promotions do not happen annually. Promotions occur only when there is a need for the organization, not on a time-based schedule. Proper Organizational Structure There should be a proper organizational structure with slots available for promotions. The need must be present. If you do not have competency or performance-based modeling, then your organization may suffer sooner rather than later.