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Grade

Human Resource Management

Individual Assignment
Case Analysis Report on
‘To whom the bell strikes!’

Date of Submission: 11/11/2019

Submitted by:
Name: Sakshi Tibrewala
Roll No: 191149
Section: A
Batch: MBA – FT (2019-2021)
Case Summary

The tension arises when Sunayna, Team head of managing big data for the company and its clients,
receives a two word email, “I Resign” by one of her employees, Rahul. This wasn’t a surprise for her
as it was the fourth resignation she was receiving since the performance appraisals were submitted.
Sunayna was very impressed with the performance of her team and could not see it fall apart. She had
to confront Rahul and know the reason behind the resignation. She couldn’t afford to lose out any
employee from a team of 50 out of a company of 35000 employees.
Her team was very self-motivated and highly competent. Each of them had atleast 5 years of work
experience in the field. Their work was as such that they had time bound projects and the exit of 4
employees would put a lot of pressure on the rest of the team. This would directly hamper the delivery
timelines and profitability of the organization. She called Rahul for a chat to discuss the situation.
Rahul was aggrieved with the fact that he was rate the lowest among his peers for a similar work
done. He just missed one deadline and the ratings received just not justify the intensity of penalty for
one fault. Sunayna tried explaining to Rahul that his rating is good in terms of the performance he
has delivered but since the organization follows a Bell Curve appraisal system, its necessary to fit in
the entire team under one curve. The policy does not allow high ratings for all employees.

Rahul’s major grievance was that these ratings are linked to the salaries and thus the high parity in
the ratings in the team for a very similar deliverance of performance was not justified. He met the
expectations of his job profile but to receive higher ratings he needs to give in some more as advised
by Sunayna. Rahul stayed adamant to his decision and talks about how all good companies are now
shifting away from the bell Curve system and adapting to newer appraisal systems.

Sunayna herself did not entirely approve of this system. She had met Sanjay, HR Director, multiple
times and persuaded him that considering the diversity of skills and equivalent performances it is not
possible to give them ratings below 3.0. Sanjay agreed to make such an exception. Sunayna reached
out to Sanjay once again to discuss this situation. She asked him if they could switch to the continuous
appraisal system instead of waiting for an entire year to review the performances as this was a practice
observed in a few other companies to like Wipro, TCS and GE. Sanjay tries convincing her that the
Bell curve system has multiple benefits like identify high and low performers sharply, and, tailor all
talent management processes according to this segmentation.

Continuous evaluations seem a burden to managers, thus are not implemented in the organization just
yet. Sanjay asks Sunayna for a proper solution while the performance appraisal teams brainstorm
upon how this deadlock can be resolved.

(507 words)

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Diagnosis and Identification of Core Problem

The core problem in the case is the feedback of the Bell Curve Appraisal system adapted in the
company. Sunayna and Sanjay face the dilemma whether to continue with the Bell Curve system or
implement and introduce a new system which shall involve continuous performance reviews.

The employees are showing resentment because even though the performances of the team has very
less deviation compared to each other, they are poorly rated which in the end affects their salaries.
Rahul asks the management to adopt newer systems as done by other good organizations to.

It is observed that as more and more millennials are joining companies, there is a diversity in skills
and competencies. They also bring high competition which makes it difficult to fit them in the bell
curve as the performance of the employees are almost on the same levels. Thus, lately the system is
losing its relevance and creating more angst than calm.

Recapping the case, the Big Data team has recently been put together by Sunayna, and it comprises
of highly qualified and competent individuals hired from different organizations. Given that the team
is new, it is also reasonable to say that the performance norms and the goals are fuzzy. The team is
working on a per project basis and the possible comparison in the measurement of individual
performance is only limited. The relationship between the manager and the team is also at an initial
stage, and understandably, may be unable to withstand the harsh reality that a forced ranking system
asks of managers of stack ranking people at the end of each performance period.

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Decision Objective

The decision objectives that facilitate the discussion of the situation are:

1. Factors facilitating retainment of employees within the team.

2. Review the appraisal system in accordance with the team profile and organization.
3. Fairness of the performance appraisals with respect to the performance delivered by the
employees.
4. Revisit the flexibility around the Bell Curve Appraisal system.

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Causes and Consequences
Sr. No Causes Consequences

1 Highly competent and varied skills existing a. Difficult to fit equivalent performers
within employees under the bell curve.
b. Employees lose morale as
performances do not seem to be
recognized.

2 Increase in number of millennials in the a. High competition among the

workforce employees
b. Need of digitization in the appraisal
systems.
c. They resent the system of being
restricted under a curve as they have
are prone to open ended thinking.

3 Employees meet expectation in lieu of high a. Employees are poorly rated as the
rating organization requires more than just
‘meeting expectations’.
b. Employees compare their lower
rating with higher rated performers.
c. Focus is directed only towards
performance on tasks and not on
learnings.

4 Yearly assessments a. Managers need to wait an entire year

to portray their reviews of the team.

5 Linkages of Ratings to salaries a. Employees lose morale when lower

ratings are received.
b. Employees are forced to switch jobs.
c. Employees become numbers-
oriented rather than constructive.

6 Small size of team a. Difficult to equalize performers.

b. There will always be a few good
performers who will be forced with
lower ratings.
c. The team is working on a per project
basis and the possible comparison in
the measurement of individual
performance is only limited.

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Theoretical Framework Pertaining to Case

The company can consider incorporating a different appraisal system that fits in well with the team
dynamics and organization. Below are some widely accepted Appraisal systems that fit in well with
the current scenario:

1. 360 Degree Appraisal

In this system, an employee is reviewed by his/her superior, peers, subordinates and clients.
All appraisers are given survey questionnaires designed for this purpose in which they provide
information or feedback. Such information received is compiled through a computerized
system and reports are prepared individually and are presented to the respective employees.
Then they meet their appraisers and discuss on areas of improvement. Under this approach,
the employee receives an all round approach true to the performance.

2. Critical Incident Method

Critical Incident method is a unique method that assess the performance of the employee
during unfavourable conditions. Under this system, the employee keeps record of both
effective and ineffective behaviour of the employee. This is an example of continuous
review system. With this method, the low scorers and high scorers are identified.

3. Management by Objectives (MBO)

Under this approach, the superior and the subordinate together set the goals. The employees
work towards achieving these objectives and the manager constantly reviews how close they
are in achieving these goals. This way the employees are directed the right path. This also
turns out to be a motivating factor and promotes self-development.

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Decision Options and Recommendations

Option 1: 360 Degree Appraisal

Pros:

1. Transparent view of performance

2. Unbiased performance appraisal
3. All round approach in receiving feedback
4. Specific areas of improvement can be identified

Cons:

1. It Can Create A Negative Culture.

2. It Might Not Be Accurate.
3. Too Focused On Weaknesses.

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Option 2: Refurbish the Bell Curve Appraisal System

Below are some steps that can be undertaken to flex and simplify the Bell Curve system in accordance
to the team:

1. Delink Salary increments from performance ratings:

Promotions and Salary increments must be made on role assessment and must me more
objective. They should be delinked from performance of the employee. HR and the manager
can then support the basis of compensation decisions, market rate, the individual's
compensation positioning vis-a-vis the internal and external grids, etc., and, not be only
guided by the performance score.

2. Project assessment:
The assessment of the employees must be refrained from providing individual scores. Since
the team follows a per project system, the scores can be given on the entire project on the
scale of 5.0. Thus all the individuals working under the project are given the same rating.
This eliminated biasness and subjectivity.

Recommendations

The company must adopt the 360 degree appraisal system of performance review. The feedback
survey forms can be circulated to the entire team and clients. The compilation of all these information
will for the performance report of the individual employee. This will help Rahul, and all such
employees to attain a clear view of their efficacies and identify the specific areas of improvement.

The peer-to-peer comparison existing currently will be eliminated as the ratings are received via
multiple sources.

Additionally, salaries and promotions must be delinked from the performance ratings. Compensations
must be assessed through market value and role performance.

The above recommendations help in training managers to be good coaches to enable performance
conversations, and, several other new initiatives to buttress their performance management processes.

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Learning Insights on People Management

1. Analytical Thought: A good manager has to be analytical, not only in terms of marketing,
sales, office tasks and problems solving, but also in terms of people management. A manager
needs to understand the problem and analyse it deeply in order to conclude to a solution
beneficial for the manager, employee and the company.

2. Human Relations: A good manager needs to understand what is going on in the team. The
creation of the right mixture of relationship and hierarchical respect is very critical. Vertical
communication is very important in order to know the employee’s opinion and perspective on
important matters. The good manager need to maintain the equilibrium to establish a good
culture which will benefit all the participants and will embed a team spirit to all the team
members.

3. Continuous Feedback: It is important to provide continuous feedback to the employees so

they have an update on their expectations. This way they have the bandwidth to improve
before they are finally evaluated for performance appraisals. The manager can also review on
how close the individuals are in meeting their targets.

4. Communication Transparency: Good communication in a project change management

process creates an atmosphere of trust among all those affected by the change. Leaders should
share their plans, decision milestones and immediate next steps with their staff. Transparency
regarding the impact of changes on operations management and related processes leads to
understanding and support from employees.

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 Undertaking

To Whom It May Concern:

I, Sakshi Tibrewala, hereby declare that this assignment is my original work and is not
copied from anyone/anywhere. If found similar to other sources, I shall take complete
responsibility of the action, taken thereof by, HRM Team.

Signature : _________________________

Name : Sakshi Tibrewala

Roll No. : 191149

Section :A

Batch : MBA – FT (2019-2021)

Date : 11th November 2019

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