Why Niva Bupa introduced ‘Anytime Appraisal’ for its frontline staff

Niva Bupa Health Insurance (formerly known as Max Bupa Health Insurance) has revamped its appraisal system for its frontline sales professionals.

Unlike most companies that follow the traditional system of annual appraisal, Niva Bupa has introduced an ‘Anytime Appraisal’ system for its frontline sales staff.

Sharing the details exclusively with HRKatha, Tarun Katyal, CHRO, Niva Bupa Health Insurance, says that the Company announced the decision to revamp and introduce the ‘Anytime Appraisal’ system in the month of October, 2021. It took another month for the organisation to effectively implement the system.

How the new appraisal system was born

‘Insurance’ falls under the essential services sector in India. During the repeated lockdowns in the last two years, when many offices were closed and employees were working from home, the frontline sales team of Niva Bupa often had to be out in the field for work. “So for us, although the attendance and capacity was low in the office, people were continuously working,” informs Katyal.

He further shares that the salesforce accounts for almost 85 per cent of the workforce at Niva Bupa. It is the frontline sales people who have undertaken maximum risks during the pandemic, stepping out of their houses to execute their tasks and fulfil their duties even during the lockdown, amidst rising cases of COVID 19. The ‘Anytime Appraisal’ system was introduced by the Company to recognise the extraordinary efforts of these frontline heroes.

“We got feedback from the frontline teams themselves that they wanted something like an ‘Anytime Appraisal’ system in place, and therefore, we implemented it”

Tarun Katyal, CHRO, Niva Bupa Health Insurance

How it works

As per the new appraisal system, the performance of the frontline employees can be incentivised, and they can achieve their targets anytime during the year and be rewarded for it.

That means, if an employee manages to achieve 100 per cent target within eight months, she/he will be given the incentive accordingly, and then be assigned a new target to chase. “This way, people will not have to wait for an annual cycle to end and then be recognised for the good work they have done,” shares Katyal with HRKatha.

How it was implemented

Through the mechanised feedback channels, the HR team at Niva Bupa realised that even the frontline staff were desirous of a system that would appraise them any time.

“We got feedback from the frontline teams themselves that they wanted something like an ‘Anytime Appraisal’ system in place, and therefore, we implemented it,” admits Katyal.

Niva Bupa does not want to restrict the ‘Anytime Appraisal’ to the frontline sales staff alone.

Katyal points out that new hires in the frontline team are assigned targets immediately on joining. Therefore, it is easy to evaluate their performance on a daily or periodic basis. However, the same process cannot be applied in case of other functions, such as customer service, where performance and impact can be adequately evaluated and recognised only at the end of the year, or via an annual appraisal cycle.

“We are looking at some other roles in the organisation, where we can effectively introduce something similar to the ‘Anytime Appraisal’ or a “Live Appraisal System’,” shares Katyal.

How it was accepted

Employees are happy and satisfied with the implementation of the ‘Anytime Appraisal’. “The initial employee satisfaction surveys have indicated very positive signs, and I feel the implementation of the new appraisal system has created a lot of buzz at the workplace,” mentions Katyal.

Whether the new system has increased productivity amongst the frontline sales team, is too early to say, feels Katyal. After all, it has only been about six months since the system came into effect.

However, going by the initial reactions and feedback from the employees, it is clear that they have welcomed the decision and are happy about it.