Employee behaviour: A new metric in performance review

Swiss bank, UBS, has introduced ‘employee behaviour’ as an integral part of the performance review giving as much as 30 per cent weightage while deciding the bonus payable to the employee.

‘Goodness’ can’t be measured in terms of money. This may not hold true any longer. From now on, how employees treats their colleagues, can affect their appraisal and salary increment.

In a fast paced environment, where the primary motive is to achieve business goals, this aspect of the employee has been completely ignored. Yes, employees are evaluated on how they deal with their customers, but never on the basis of relationship and behaviour with co-workers or their honesty and integrity.

Swiss bank, UBS, has introduced ‘behaviour of the employee’ as an integral part of the performance review. This parameter has been given 30 per cent weightage and it will determine how much bonus the employee gets.

UBS, which employs around 60,000 people, has had this parameter as part of its performance review for the last two years. However, the bank has only now integrated it with the score sheet and has given one-third weightage to the metrics such as ethics and team orientation.

In the past, the employees were graded for collaboration skills and integrity, but these were not included in the final scorecard that decided the annual bonus.

Normally, most performance reviews look at tangible benefits and are primarily linked to business goals. It’s high time companies looked at intangible benefits as well.

While such parameters have been part of the appraisal system, rarely have these made it to the final score.

Says, Ravi Mishra, regional HR head – south Asia & middle east, Birla Carbon, “Intent is more important than the content. Every organisation should observe this and must add value to the performance management system (PMS) process by accommodating reasonable weightage, so that employees practice this as motivation, and fairness comes to every organisation.”

“Unfortunately, performance evaluation process is often driven by just numbers,” he adds.

“Numbers are important; but then Satyam, Worldcom, Enron, Tyco employees had the numbers yet they disappeared from the canvas very much unceremoniously. Most of these companies had always overlooked the intent part of employees, for instance, accomplishment through unfair means. Such models are never sustainable,” Mishra quips.

Concurs Lalit Kar, head HR, Mumbai International Airport, GVK group. “Our performance review system is highly inclined towards results.”

He suggests, “‘Listening’ is an important criterion, which we tend to overlook. For instance, while evaluating senior leaders or team heads, we should consider other attributes such as ‘how much do they listen to their subordinates’, ‘how much space do they give to their team members’. After all, everything can’t be so result-oriented or linked to just business goals.”

“Besides, from team leaders’ perspective, result-oriented employees needn’t be driven, rather employees who are on other side, need encouragement to perform better,” Kar says.

V Ravi, vice-president & head, L&D (RPMG,) Reliance Industries, says, “At Reliance Industries, we have included values and behaviour as part of the talent management review system. We have graded employees for their leadership potential for those at the senior management level.”

“Even in the performance management system, every employee has to identify at least three of the 30 behaviours and work towards this, which is discussed with their managers. However, further reinforcement is needed to make it an integral part of the performance review and reward system as well,” he adds.

Hence, be good to your co-workers. Rewards will follow.