Managing Director (MD). Good Morning, gentlemen. Please sit down and make yourselves comfortable.

I have sent for coffee or would some of you like tea? A: (senior most and a kind of unofficial spokesman of the group) and others responded to the greeting and indicated that coffee would be all right and sat down. MD I have gone through the letter you sent me very carefully and I am glad to have this opportunity of talking to you. As I understand your viewpoint, , you feel that the recently introduced promotion procedure based on a kind of merit rating is causing injustice to a number of senior officers. Well said sir, I cannot say everyone perceives what is happening as a kind of injustice perhaps everything is being done in good faith with a view to improving the working of the organisation. But there are misapprehensions. Most of us here have been in government employment and we know the governmental procedure. If a person failed somewhere in his performance it is noticed with his C.CR. and he was told about it, he also has the opportunity if getting the matter rectified through the appeal is he was on a firm footing. We should treat it like this system to be revived so that we know where we were. But now you have every opportunity to know where you are. Now the main part relating to performance appraisal is done, in an appraisal interview where your superior officer discusses all aspects of your performance with you. This interview also enables you to put forward your own assessment of your contributions and achievement and even to indicate your position if there is any unfounded criticism of your performance. We are not, I am afraid, used to such discussions. We cannot speak freely. Why cant you? We do not wish to annoy our superior officers. Can I speak here freely? What he means is that you too are known to be fair minded and very keen on improving the organisational efficiency. We also know that you believe in the open system if communication. But a good many of our superiors are the same men who were with us in the government and are necessarily rank conscious and not used to such an open system. (smiles) Well, gentlemen, you can speak freely about whatever you like to say here. As for your superiors, I see the difficulty. But both director (HR) and I have briefed them on several occasions and I have an idea that most of them have a fair understanding of the new process. However, I cannot guarantee that every one of them has now become a believer in the open system. now this is the main point. In our view quite a few of them do not share with us what they really feel about us.

Director (HR)

B MD B A

MD

Not only that, Sir, I would go further. We are also under a great constraint and I cannot tell my superior what I think of him. I mean about his style of Company, the management gives to an employee some credit and then for every 3 years in his present grade, some additional credit is given to him. Now junior colleagues who are better performers cant naturally have the same quantum of credit on the score of years of service. So the competition between the junior men and senior men becomes fairer. Besides, senior men have been tested in different situations over a length of time. Younger men not having had any occasion to be so tried might score higher marks in appraisal interviews under the new system, they have generally better academic and technical qualifications on paper, and much is made of it. (smiles) I do not think you really believe that we are going by the paper qualifications. Possibly not. We do not appreciate the arrangement made by you for offering training opportunities to all of us, but older men always find it difficult to learn new concepts and ideas. Thats accepted. But if they develop the correct managerial attitude, their minds remain receptive and alert. Changes are going on a big scale everywhere. We should respond positively to the challenges of change. I should say, a manager can go on learning till the day he retires. Thats a rather hard standard of managerial excellence. but this is what we are aiming at. You know the now system is supported by a novel decision- which already our sister company ABC Ltd. is practising. Now we do not have a rigidly fixed number of posts in any grade. Its not that some senior men are being passed over because the vacancies available for promotion are just a few. That concept is now gone. Higher performers- whether they are senior or not- have a reasonable chance of getting increments or getting placed in a higher grade. We have now introduced a performance based reward system in place of an automatic bonus for length of service. Sir, we agree that all this is quite persuasive. But to go back to the specifics, adverse assessment of a persons work and conduct should be precisely stated and formally communicated. This is a necessary measure of security against whimsical, arbitrary or prejudiced assessment at an appraisal interview. But the appraisees opinions, when he does not agree with his appraiser, are also recorded. What value is attached to them? Generally, those are kept aside as a disgruntled mans grouse.

MD

A B

Director (HR)

MD B MD

Director (HR)

D`

MD

Some of it could in fact be disgruntled mans grouse, dont you think?