Rising to the Top!

In my opinion, most "Promotions" (not all! ) in organizations have been reduced to actions to fill the vacuum in the Organization Structure created by Attrition!.

There was a time when people were promoted for their skill, their capability, the value that they bring to the table, their past contributions, reliability on deliveries, commitment to the job and last but not the least loyalty to the company.

High demand for skills has resulted in a floating population of opportunists who are always on the lookout for "better opportunity", "growth prospects" and "learning", while they are actually looking for "more pay for less work". Who said, "Customer is the king"? Who said, "Customer Satisfaction" is the most important thing? What is more important is my next Car, or that Limited Edition Watch or that Villa project and how I am going to fund it.

Here's a story about Tom.....

The Villa costs X, and Tom is eligible for a loan of only 0.4X, so, he looks for a job that pays him more and his Bank Loan eligibility goes up. Tom wants more money so he can spend more!, not because he needs more to live or for attaining financial security by saving more!

So, while Tom is looking for higher pay, he might as well bargain for that higher position and some joining bonus, which will help him make that down payment, amazing strategy isn't it?

What happens to Tom's current customer who is expecting him to deliver this project? --- Tom says, "this project is so simple, that a fresher can run it, you don't need me".

What happens to Tom's company who trusted him and offered him a job when he was without one just 2 years ago? --- Tom says, "Well, that's not my problem, I worked for the company for 2 years isn't it?".

Here's Tom's list of achievements in this company....

1. Training in Software Development Life Cycle for 2 months
2. Training in C++ for 3 months
3. Coding for the Leave Management System for 4 months  (an internal project) 
4. On bench for 1 month - this is the company's problem, and not Tom's! well, he was ready to work, but they did not have any projects!.
5. Training on SAP for 6 months (Tom applied for a training in SAP because his friends said, an SAP consultant's job will pay 3 times his current salary!, the company obliged, but paid for later!).
6. SAP Maintenance Project for 8 months (Tom has been assigned to this SAP Maintenance project for the past 8 months and has received a couple of customer appreciation emails for his performance)

Tom is now looking for a job because --- "I have learnt everything there is to learn. There are no challenges and learning on my current job."

Let's analyze this list of achievements:

1. Training: 15 months: 62% of the time
2. Idle time: 1 month: 4% of the time
3. On Project: 8 months: 34% of the time

What is the impression this guy makes on the interview panel? --- he makes A VERY GOOD IMPRESSION!, the panel sees this person as a "ready made resource" who can be directly deployed on a project and a means to earn instantaneous revenues, no training period and no lead times. The panel says "There is a project on hand and we need people urgently. This guy fits the bill, let's hire him".

HR makes an offer, Tom is unhappy and refuses and says he wants more and wants the Position of a Project Leader.

HR comes back to the interview panel with this new problem. The panel has to come up with a new strategy, they say "let's give him what he wants, instead of hiring experienced people, let's hire some freshers. This guy wants more responsibility, so he has to train these new people and get them up to speed in 2 months". HR is happy, Tom is happy and resigns from his current position. He tells his colleagues and friends that this new company really knows the value of individuals, they know how to treat people.

What happened in this case is sad and easy to visualize..... here's the list of the highlights:

• Tom got what he wanted even though he did not deserve it. 
• The new company went ahead and obliged Tom what he wanted because they were under pressure to deliver this new project. 
• Tom's colleagues and friends from his first company are thinking Tom is having a great time and they are disgruntled because they are not getting similar breaks, work suffers........
• In reality Tom is under tremendous pressure to deliver and is on the verge of cracking. 
• Tom has put a HOLD on the Villa, the Limited Edition Watch and the new car..... 
• Tom's team is also under great pressure to deliver and are looking up to Tom to teach them but Tom is not able to find sufficient time to train his team.
• Tom's team is showing signs of disgruntlement
• Management is after Tom to perform
• Tom fails!
• Tom is now complaining to his colleagues and friends about how this company is treating him and how unfair the management is. 

After 1 year, Tom is looking out for a new job which offers him higher pay!. He does not want to insist on a higher position as he wants more exposure now, he is willing to join as a Project Leader but does not mind if a higher position is offered!.

..... and the "Promotion" cycle goes on.....

Performance Vs Potential

I have had some serious discussions with my team members and my seniors on the topic of Performance Vs Potential.

In short, the agreed definition of "Potential" is the capability of the individual, something to do with future, for example: "This person has the potential to be a Manager in 5 years". "Performance" is something more "real", an evaluation of the past, what an individual has achieved in the past.

Candidates are hired based on the potential because the performance cannot be judged in a few minutes or hours, but then this is where the importance of "potential" ends. When the candidate assumes the role of an employee, then it is "performance" all the way, little weightage is given to "potential".

Employees are appraised to evaluate their performance for the past months, to evaluate the plan and the achievements against those plans, and then rate the employee whether he/she was below expectations, met expectations or exceeded expectations. A feedback is provided and areas of improvement are identified, targets are discussed and the employees' feedback is received on the team and the organization.

One of the most expected outcomes of an appraisal is the "raise". Gone are the days when people used to take the feedback constructively and try and get better in what they do, enhance and align their skills to the company's objectives. It is unfortunate that the appraisal meetings are now reduced to a marketing gimmick, where the appraisee is trying to present a "larger than life" picture of his/her achievements and the appraiser is trying to the punch holes in this picture, telling the appraisee that he/she is not as good as he/she thinks - sad, but true.

Professionals must think objectively on the "performance" and not on the "potential" because it is the performance that helps build a career.

Managers must also be more objective while appraising their team members. Today, the managers are governed by trying to fit the performance of the team members to the "Bell Curve". A quota for the number of people in the team that can get an "outstanding", numbers who can get an "exceeds expectations", number who can be assigned a "meets expectations" and finally the number who can be assigned "below expectations". The Manager's point out the personality issues rather than focus on the performance of the individual. Managers must identify the potential in the team members are try and maneuver their careers thru' a discussion and by counseling. The Manager's responsibility is to help build careers.