Appraisal season is here. The best time to publish this article was a year back. The second-best time is today. (I would rate myself 0 on a scale of 0-10 about the timeliness of this article. Poor time management.)
Organizations are trying their best to catch up with the needs of their people. Their need to be recognized for their efforts. Their need to be heard. Their need to be guided. A very small number of people in organizations succeed in accomplishing this feat. No, they don’t succeed by following a once or twice a year process. They have an established culture of feedback on an individual level. A feedback that doesn’t sound like a feedback. Sadly, the dominant culture has equated feedback with criticism. But the real meaning of feedback is acknowledgment of an action. Verbal or non-verbal. These extraordinary individuals make conversation and care a part of their day-to-day work. They acknowledge. They willingly confront the challenges. Appraisals remain a formality of trying to objectify and quantify the unquantifiable.
But even with the best intentions of organizations, it is a fact that appraisal system is optimized for the masses, not individuals.
So, how do we take a stock of ourselves?
Not objectively, but realistically. There is a difference. Objectivity is for the researchers who want to quantify everything. Or the designers who are scared to challenge the status quo. Or the showmen who want to graph numbers on a ppt deck, without any actual benefits for the individuals.
So, how do we do that?
It is difficult and simple. Difficult because it requires time, effort, and willingness from our side. Simple because it is simple.
A brief summary of what it takes to prepare yourself for self-appraisal:
– The detachment from third-party validation. This means believing yourself. Most of the third party has more to gain by making you feel inadequate and doubt your abilities. People have made a profession out of this.
– Willingness to learn. Learning about self. About new industry trends. New courses, mental models. Anything that doesn’t offer participation certificates. Seriously.
– Willingness to accept change. Change of work, friends and colleagues.
– Cultivation of a few believable people. This is a necessity. To quote Ray Dalio, “Believable people are people who have 1) a record of at least three relevant successes and 2) have great explanations of their approach when probed.” I would add that the believable people should know you inside out.
– Shipping your work regularly. No excuses. A lack of this ingredient is like a lack of salt in your recipe.
Apart from these measures, a few questions worth considering:
– What commitment are you going to give to yourself as a part of the appraisal?
– What limiting beliefs are you going to identify and break this year?
– Other than monetary, what other aspects are you going to push your organization to appraise you?
The best time to self-evaluate was a year back, the second-best time is today.