Case
SPRING FORWARD OR FALL BACK: ISSUES IN NEW APPRAISAL SYSTEM
INDUSTRY :-
AREA :HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT/ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
ORGANIZATION :-
LENGTH :9
LUMS No :05-787-2019-1
PUBLICATION YEAR : 2019
ABSTRACT:
Amir, the Printing Incharge at Print Line Limited (PL) – one of the largest printing and packaging firm in Pakistan - has been a star performer throughout his six year career at PL. The appraisal system at PL was not linked with compensation system, which in turn was very subjective and based on managers’ discretion. Salary increase and promotion decisions were based on general impression of employees, resulting in inconsistencies across business units and favoritism. Sara - the HR manager at PL - convinced top management to revise the performance management systems. The new appraisal system was much more objective, and was strongly linked with compensation system, which in turn was based on a pre-defined forced curve. During the first year after these changes, Amir set quite ambitious KPIs for himself, and failed to achieve those KPIs due to factors outside his control. This placed Amir in the bottom most category of employees resulting in no salary increase or yearly bonus for him. He became visibly disturbed, but unsure about his future course of action. Sara was also thinking about whether to continue with the new system, or to revert back to some elements of the old system.