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<ul><li>46% of organizations are expected to give double digit salary increases in 2023. </li><li>The projected salary increase for 2023 is the highest for technology platforms and products (12.9%), followed by e-commerce (12.2%). </li><li>75% organizations foresee a considerable improvement in business outlook in 2023. </li></ul>Even as news of layoffs are making headlines, there is some good news for Indian employees. According to the 28th Annual Salary Increase Survey by Aon, a professional services firm, salaries in India are expected to go up by 10.3% in 2023. Even though there are concerns about economic volatility, the projected salary increase continues to be in double digits, which may be in response to a high attrition rate of 21.4% in 2022. In 2022, the actual salary increase was slightly higher at 10.6%. The study analyzed data across 1,400 companies from more than 40 industries. The projected salary increase for India is the highest among major world economies with China, US and UK having projected salary increases of 6.3%, 5.2% and 4.8%. For Brazil, it is 7.2%. “With back-to-back double-digit increments, India Inc. continues to be bullish on talent despite fears of global macroeconomic uncertainty. Organizations are increasingly prioritizing their spends towards top performances, key talent and high potential talent,” says Pritish Gandhi, Aon Director &amp; India Practice Leader, Executive Compensation &amp; Governance. When it comes to different sectors, the projected salary increase for 2023 is the highest for technology platforms and products (12.9%), followed by e-commerce (12.2%). For technology and consulting services, financial institutions and FMCG/FMCD it is 10.7%, 10.1% and 10.1%, respectively. Sectors like telecom, life sciences, transportation services/logistics and automotive/vehicle manufacturing had projected salary increases of less than 10%. Companies also continue to give differentiated increments to key employee cohorts. While top performers got a 16.5% hike in 2022, employees with a high potential or critical skills got a 15.7% hike. Also, employees with digital skills that can be sought after by any industry that needs digital disruption got a salary increment of 15.1%. The survey reveals that the hiring outlook for India inc. remains positive with 19% saying they have an aggressive hiring outlook while 56% say they have a normal hiring outlook. 23% have a very selective hiring outlook while 3% say they are looking at a hiring freeze. Also, 75% organizations foresee a considerable improvement in business outlook in 2023 while only 25% organizations report a negative impact of economic volatility. The survey further reveals that while the merit increase projections (increase based on individual performance) remained steady at 7.8%, the non-merit salary increase projections (increases on top of merit increase such as market corrections, special adjustments and promotions) is expected to moderate to 2.8 percent, which is higher than the historical average. This is particularly noteworthy at junior levels where the non-merit increase/projections are as high as 3.3%.

Double digit salary hikes are here to stay: Aon predicts 10.3% pay hikes for Indians in 2023

The bell curve appraisal system, junked by many big organisations including consultancy firm <keyword id="50041" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="kpmg" source="Orion">KPMG</keyword> is being proposed to be implemented in General Insurance Corporation of India (<keyword id="1031743" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="gic-re" source="Orion">GIC Re</keyword>), the company unions said. They also wondered as to how the bell curve appraisal system would be good for GIC Re when its own <keyword id="17182" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="CONSULTANT" source="Orion">consultant</keyword> - KPMG - was not in favour of it. "The bell curve appraisal system that has already been defunct in many organisations is being proposed to be implemented in GIC Re very soon at the cost of Rs 4 crore approx," five unions of the national reinsurer have told their management. Citing various news reports, the five GIC Re unions, in a letter to the Board of Directors and its Chairman and Managing Director <keyword id="1089020" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="devesh-srivastava" source="Orion">Devesh Srivastava</keyword>, listed names of several big companies that have scrapped the bell curve appraisal system. "The most surprising part is that even our KPI (key performance indicator) consultant, KPMG has also scrapped the aforesaid appraisal system as it was toxic for the work environment," the letter notes. "While removing this mode of appraisal, KPMG stated that 'We want to encourage a collaborative work culture and take away the internal competition between employees, thus encouraging qualitative discussions on performance'. The bell curve, the way it is understood and implemented, is wrong sometimes, making it a forced normalisation and forces rating. It cannot be a rigid curve. It could be a steep curve, flat curve depending on the business performance," the GIC Re unions said. The GIC Re is the national reinsurer with about 470 employees. In an earlier letter, the five unions had said if KPMG's recommendations are implemented, the work-life balance of employees will be adversely affected. "KPMG has proposed a phone application which will be installed in every employee's handset which will inform one's performance 24/7, thus further deteriorating work life balance," the unions had told the GIC Re management. "We also demanded the consultant's preliminary report with SWOT analysis and final pre-implementation report which has not been provided till date," the letter written by the unions notes. "Be it known to all that the recent transfers, re-transfers and retro transfers fiasco and the various departments which have mushroomed overnight were based on KPMG's report which is not even approved by the management nor has our board's sanctity. Hence, it does not adhere to the current transfer policy. This is akin to clinical trials," the earlier letter added. According to the unions, quality parameters are totally ignored, and all the employees will be judged on quantity and what the phone app reflects. SEE ALSO : <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/rupee-rises-28-paise-to-79-25-against-us-dollar-in-early-trade/articleshow/94168701.cms">Rupee rises 28 paise to 79.25 against US dollar in early trade</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/tata-memorial-centre-doctors-from-11-institutes-develop-low-cost-clinical-intervention-for-cancer-treatment/articleshow/94168749.cms">Tata Memorial Centre, doctors from 11 institutes develop low-cost clinical intervention for cancer treatment</a>

GIC Re unions question the bell curve appraisal system that was junked by its consultant, KPMG

<ul class="summary-list"><li>NY Attorney General <keyword id="12338139" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="letitia-james" source="Orion">Letitia James</keyword> has signaled that her probe of <keyword id="11914386" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="donald-trump" source="Orion">Donald Trump</keyword>'s business is in its 11th hour.</li><li>Still, documents are pouring in by the hundreds of thousands of pages as Trump appraiser <keyword id="13578501" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="cushman-wakefield" source="Orion">Cushman &amp; Wakefield</keyword> scrambles to comply with subpoenas.</li></ul>It's the Summer of Trump for Letitia James and her band of Trump Organization investigators.With statute of limitations deadlines looming, New York's attorney general has signaled that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ny-ag-letitia-james-office-enforcement-proceeding-against-donald-trump-2022-4">her office is wrapping up</a> its massive, three-year inquiry into an alleged pattern of financial fraud at Donald Trump's multi-billion-dollar hotel and golf resort empire.There will be no summer slowdown as James races to file the result of that probe, an expected encyclopedic lawsuit quite possibly <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ny-ag-letitia-james-deposition-grilling-donald-trump-organization-2022-5">seeking to put the company out of business</a> entirely.Depositions from Donald Trump and his two eldest children, plus an ongoing, giant evidence dump from longtime Trump appraisers Cushman &amp; Wakefield — to include Cushman's entire archive of communications with Trump and Trump Org — will make for a very busy July as the finish line nears.<h2>The hottest depos yet</h2>James' investigators have by now recorded subpoena-mandated depositions from some 40 witnesses. Those include less-than-enlightening sessions with <keyword id="13182004" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="the-trump-organization" source="Orion">the Trump Organization</keyword>'s two top executives, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/eric-trump-weisselberg-invoked-5th-amendment-rights-500-times-2022-1">former CFO Allen Weisselberg and Eric Trump</a>, who has helmed the business as executive vice president since his father became president in 2017.James has left the hottest depositions for smack in the middle of summer.Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, and Donald Trump, Jr. have all been court-ordered <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-to-testify-new-york-top-court-rejects-appeal-wright-2022-6">to sit for questioning</a> some time between Friday, July 15, and Friday, July 22. Reps for Trump and the AG's office declined to say whether or when those have been scheduled.The three Trumps could follow in Weisselberg's and Eric Trump's footsteps, and plead the fifth hundreds of times, but there would be a legal cost.The depositions will be taped, and those tapes will become evidence for a jury should James' eventual lawsuit — and any possible demand for fines, restitution or a dissolution of the business — go to trial. A jury would be told that they are allowed to draw a negative inference from the sight of any witness invoking the right to remain silent rather than risk self-incrimination.<h2>What's up? Docs.</h2>Meanwhile, evidence is pouring in by the hundreds of thousands of pages from Cushman &amp; Wakefield, in response to their loss two weeks ago of a last-ditch appeal at New York's highest court.James's probers appear to care a lot about the Chicago-based Cushman, Trump's go-to appraisers for well over a decade.They've alleged that Trump used "fraudulent or misleading" Cushman appraisals to win $165 million in tax breaks and bank loans. At least some of those questionable appraisals were made in what the AG has called "an atmosphere of pressure applied to them by the Trump Organization."The <keyword id="11893295" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="real-estate" source="Orion">real estate</keyword> services giant is now scrambling to comply with the third of four subpoenas James has issued since June of 2019, <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22076318-cushmandocumentdelaymemo62922">according to a new court filing </a>that gives a sense of how much new paperwork the AG's office is in the midst of processing.Cushman has turned over 800,000 pages of documents to the AG's probe. Some 500,000 of those pages were turned over in the past week, lawyers for the appraisal firm say in the filing.But two sets of documents, demanded in that third subpoena, issued in September, remain to be turned over.And here is where lawyers for Cushman say they are struggling and need more time, ideally until July 15, after having blown past this week's deadline.What are they still laboring to turn over? <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22076324-3rdsubpoenacushman">The third subpoena's</a> first and second document requests:"All documents and communications concerning any work performed for Donald J. Trump or the Trump Organization." And: "All documents and communications concerning any work performed concerning property or assets owned by Donald J. Trump or the Trump Organization." <h2>Terabytes of emails</h2>Some of this material, including "emails, substantial hard copy documents, and other e-discovery materials," has already been turned over, the new Cushman filing says.But the e-discovery firm that's helping collect and process Cushman's documents, Platinum Intelligent Data Solutions, is still scouring through 1.78 terabytes of emails "involving current and former employees," in an effort to parse out what else must be turned over, the filing says."This is estimated to include approximately 9 million e-mails with attachments consisting of approximately 72 million pages," the filing says, describing the huge database now being sifted for Trump-related communications.The AG's office has yet to respond to Cushman's request for a two-week delay, which would also have to be approved by the <keyword id="11956275" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="manhattan" source="Orion">Manhattan</keyword> judge who is presiding over the AG's probe, NY Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron.That's the judge who on Wednesday ruled that Donald Trump <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-not-contempt-court-new-york-ag-still-holds-fine-2022-6">is no longer in contempt of court</a> over an earlier failure to fully comply with James' subpoena for his business documents.As for the 500,000 pages turned over by Cushman in the past week, those include <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cushman-and-wakefield-must-turn-over-1000-appraisals-to-ny-ag-trump-probe-2022-6"> some 1,000 valuations,</a> stretching back to 2012, that were conducted by 5 Cushman-employee appraisers of Trump properties, the latest filing also says.James has said she wants to compare how the 5 appraisers set values for Trump properties with how they set values for similar non-Trump properties.The 5 appraisers worked on three properties James is looking closely at — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-appraisers-cant-explain-40-wall-street-doubled-value-2022-4">40 Wall Street</a>, the Seven Springs estate in Upstate New York, and the Trump National Golf Club near Los Angeles.Any measurable favoritism toward Trump, which Cushman has steadfastly denied, could result in the AG naming the appraisal firm as a defendant in her lawsuit.A Cushman spokesman did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Tish James' Summer of Trump: Depositions loom, fresh appraisal docs pile up in NY probe's 11th hour

<keyword id="460869" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="performance-review">Performance review</keyword> season is upon us. This presents an opportunity for employees to demonstrate their accomplishments and distinguish themselves and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/14-things-to-do-as-soon-as-you-realize-an-employee-is-about-to-quit/articleshow/51502699.cms">their value to the organization</a>. Basically, it’s time to show off all the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/8-easy-ways-of-pulling-off-an-office-romance/articleshow/51453361.cms">hard work you have done</a> in the past year. When we see show off, it means making everything you have done count, and quite humbly so. 
 
So, we tell you 9 tips to make the process work for you and make it easier for your boss to write you a terrific review: 
 
1. Decode what's your job profile 
Seek clarification. A great place to start is a detailed list of job duties or, if it is available, an official job description, from your manager or human resources department. It’s better to start off with clarity as to what you are expected to deliver. It will channelize your actions in that direction and get you maximum output. 
 
2. Engage yourself in the process 
Many workers are missing important opportunities to maximize their earning potential by not devoting more effort to their performance review. It’s after all a system that will empower you to become a critical resource for the company. Be an active participant in establishing your goals from the start. Focus on key objectives and define a plan that makes sense for you and your employer. Be engaged all along, it’s a good and helpful practice. 
 
3. Your Goals should be reasonable 
When establishing goals, make sure they are meaningful. There should be value in doing a particular activity. Each goal must be relevant to the work you do each day and should be mutually agreed upon by you and your manager. Also, going over-board with goals will only impress your boss for that moment, remember. So sign up for goals which are reasonable, and gives you a sense that you can achieve them. 
 
4. View goals as a project plan 
Make your goals your mission for the year. Keep goals current, track progress and contributions, and update goals as appropriate to reflect any changes in your role or responsibilities. Remember that although goals are set to achieve certain work-based objectives, they can also yield personal rewards in the form of professional and developmental growth and greater earnings potential. 
 
5. Take note of your work daily 
No one pays closer attention to your work than you do. The annual performance review, and the promotion or salary increase that often goes with it, can be enhanced significantly if you highlight your accomplishments clearly and make a case for yourself. So, as you work, document your accomplishments along the way and let your boss know when you have reached established milestones. Good time don’t stay always so, if you reach a stumbling block along the way, seek advice on how to best resolve the issue. 
 
6. Show an interest in additional training 
If you don’t have access to the tools or training necessary to achieve a particular objective, be sure to ask. Your employer will see that you want to improve the quality of your work and are interested in professional growth. Additional training will make you more valuable to the organization and set you up for the next step in your career. 
 
7. Talk to your boss on performance 
Have an open dialogue with your boss throughout the year so you have a better sense of where you stand and how your progress is being perceived. Don’t leave all of this discussion for the annual review. Try to conduct brief, informal discussions throughout the performance review period. Taking time to check shows your boss that you are interested in performing well and are working hard toward achieving goals. 
 
8. Share positive feedback 
Feedback from colleagues is also valuable when you are preparing for a review. If someone sends you a thank you via e-mail or on paper, keep it on file. If someone says something complimentary, ask him or her to put it in writing. 
 
9. Utilize Performance Review Feedback 
When you get constructive feedback during a performance review, listen to it carefully and objectively. If part of the feedback is difficult to hear, try not to appear defensive. Instead, take time to consider what was said and try to make improvements in your work habits to avoid similar comments in the future. Companies value employees who can accept professional guidance.

9 ways to get your boss to write you a terrific performance appraisal

<ul class="summary-list"><li>New York AG <keyword id="12338139" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="letitia-james" source="Orion">Letitia James</keyword> on Friday asked a judge to compel <keyword id="13578501" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="cushman-wakefield" source="Orion">Cushman &amp; Wakefield</keyword> to turn over documents.</li><li>The firm handled appraisals for 40 Wall Street, Trump National Golf Club in LA, and the Seven Springs estate.</li></ul>New York Attorney General Letitia James is chasing more Trump documents — this time from the former president's real estate appraisers. On Thursday, James had asked a <keyword id="11956275" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="manhattan" source="Orion">Manhattan</keyword> judge <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ny-ag-trump-fine-10000-day-not-turning-evidence-over-2022-4">to impose a $10,000-per-day fine</a> on <keyword id="11914386" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="donald-trump" source="Orion">Donald Trump</keyword> for what she calls his failure to comply with her lawful subpoena for documents. On Friday, she asked the same judge to force Chicago-based appraisal powerhouse Cushman &amp; Wakefield to turn over documents she accused them, too, of illegally withholding. "Cushman &amp; Wakefield's work for the <keyword id="11964533" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="trump-organization" source="Orion">Trump Organization</keyword> is significant to our ongoing investigation into Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization's financial practices," she said in a statement Friday night.The firm performed appraisals on three Trump-owned properties that James' office is investigating, <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21581260-jamescushmanwakefield">according to court papers</a> that detail James' request of Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron to compel their compliance.One is Seven Springs, a property on 212 acres in Westchester County, north of New York City.Court documents showed Trump received a $21.1 million deduction on his 2015 taxes by donating a 158-acre easement on the property to a conservation trust, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-got-a-21-million-tax-break-for-saving-the-forest-outside-his-ny-mansion-now-the-deal-is-under-investigation/2020/10/07/de84c1ba-ff6b-11ea-830c-a160b331ca62_story.html">The Washington Post</a> reported in 2020. James' office is probing whether Cushman &amp; Wakefield inflated the value of the easement.A second property is Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles, where the former president received another write-off by donating an ocean-front easement that had been assessed by Cushman &amp; Wakefield. James accused Trump of pocketing a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2022/02/03/how-donald-trump-inflated-the-value-of-his-los-angeles-landand-got-a-tax-break/?sh=6706cd0168e5">federal tax benefit totaling more than $5 million</a> using "misleading" valuations of that easement, which she said failed to fully take into account that the property is prone to landslides. The third property is 40 Wall Street, a 70-story skyscraper. The New York AG is investigating whether Cushman &amp; Wakefield inflated the property's value in connection with a 2015 mortgage loan refinance on the building and in other business deals.James' subpoena also requires the firm to turn over information about the firm's larger business relationship with the Trump Organization.A previous order by Engoron had required the appraisal firm to turn over all documents requested by James no later than October 2020.A representative of Cushman &amp; Wakefield could not immediately be reached for comment. Company lawyers previously said the subpoenas are overly broad and that it has already turned over all relevant documents.Engoron has yet to rule on James' request for the $10,000-a-day fine. Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-family-files-appeal-fighting-order-that-they-testify-before-new-york-ag-letitia-james-2022-3">are appealing the judge's February order</a> that they comply with James' demand for their depositions.

NY Attorney General Letitia James asked a judge to compel Donald Trump's real estate appraisers to comply with subpoenas

A recent trend doing the rounds on <keyword id="28120" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Linkedin">LinkedIn</keyword>, the biggest professional networking site, has intrigued us a lot. It asks you what you would do if you were 22 again and the responses are pretty diverse. Opinions have been pouring in from C-suite guys to recent pass-outs, interns and mid-to-senior level executives. And the most striking concept I have come across till date is someone wanting to <keyword id="2312132" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Change-job">change job</keyword> every month (for worthy reasons, of course). While that seems to be an extreme case, people in their early 20s are known to job-hop more than is good for professional health. Most of us do it for a bit of a raise or a better job profile – well, who wouldn’t if you get a custom-made position, instead of slogging at your old job and hoping to reach that slot someday? Some do it as they get bored with what they have been doing while others simply jump ship to avoid a <keyword id="2312133" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Toxic-work-culture">toxic work culture</keyword>, a <keyword id="467176" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bad-boss">bad boss</keyword> or a combo of both. 
	 Whatever be your reason for job-hopping even when you are just one or two-job old (even <keyword id="67723" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="HR">HR</keyword> guys consider it most natural for you to look around during this time to achieve <keyword id="34604" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="career-growth">career growth</keyword>), do not be led by money alone or assumption of power. <keyword id="10876" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="salary">Salary</keyword> rise becomes a routine all too soon and indulging in power play at office may actually hurt your <keyword id="2312143" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Learning-graph">learning graph</keyword>, <keyword id="21700" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Leadership-qualities">leadership qualities</keyword> and ultimately your <keyword id="2312144" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Professional-integrity">professional integrity</keyword>. 
	 Moreover, <keyword id="2312146" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Top-dollars">top dollars</keyword> and plum posts won’t be easy to come by. The Indian job market has been sluggish for some time now, as per ILO findings. <keyword id="6358907" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="unemployment">Unemployment</keyword> rate in India has risen from 3.5% in 2011 to 3.7% in 2013 and it may further increase to 3.8%, according to the Global Employment Trends 2014 report. Of course, there are positive vibes all around and hiring across sectors is likely to warm up significantly under the new government led by <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword>. In fact, the job market is expected to grow at least 30% this fiscal. All that is good news, but the broader economic growth doesn’t see an instant change and it may take quite some time before you can pick and choose your next job. But don’t lose heart. With every job offer you get, comes some <keyword id="2312150" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Hidden-perks">hidden perks</keyword> although you may not be aware of them. 
	 It is true that our perception has been different till date and take-home salary has always ranked high on an employee’s priority list. <keyword id="6357081" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Employees">Employees</keyword> in India prefer a <keyword id="1794997" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="competitive-salary">competitive salary</keyword> and related benefits over <keyword id="885084" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="career-progression">career progression</keyword>, according to a 2014 employees’ perception survey, conducted by global human resource company <keyword id="6439430" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Randstad">Randstad</keyword>. That is in sync with the global traits, the survey says, but have you ever tried asking your HR guy whether your company offers the following benefits that can actually ensure your overall growth? If you swear by the G word (read growth) at <keyword id="6357280" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="workplace">workplace</keyword> and your current job doesn’t offer these 5 hidden <keyword id="69022" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="perks">perks</keyword>, make sure you get them when you are looking for a change next time. 
	 
	1. Do you get performance-based rewards? In sales jargon, they call it incentive and most of the C-suite guys are also entitled to it. However, most companies prefer to pay a flat amount if they are under a contractual obligation to pay <keyword id="50592" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bonus">bonus</keyword>. Others simply skip it if it is not there in your appointment letter. But there are exceptions as well. Some companies offer project-specific <keyword id="29962" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="incentives">incentives</keyword> or split profits (but these are mostly start-ups) to keep their employees happy and motivated. 
	 In the first company that I joined as an intern, no one was entitled to bonus but a token amount was handed over each year, based on one’s performance. Mind you, it was not a flat amount and varied from person to person. But it really kept us motivated and also acted as a timely warning. If we got an abysmally low amount or landed up in the ‘no-cheque zone,’ it was time to do some self-scrutiny and act upon it. As the annual <keyword id="538384" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="performance-appraisal">performance appraisal</keyword> was nearly 6 months away (the incentive used to come around Diwali), there was plenty of time to move up the performance scale or to look around, find a more suitable position and quit without feeling too hurt. 
	 
	 
	 
	2. Can you play the <keyword id="149794" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="strategist">strategist</keyword>? Well, we don’t mean you are going to do the CEO-level stuff. But do you have the freedom to ideate and brainstorm every now and then? Will the company top brass (or at least your own <keyword id="553771" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="line-manager">line manager</keyword>) have the time and patience to listen to you? Do they acknowledge the value of your ideas and try to get them implemented? If the answer is ‘no’ in most of the cases, it is quite likely that you are working like an <keyword id="2312170" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Organisational-cog">organisational cog</keyword>, instead of sharing your company’s vision and goals. If that is the case, you will soon <keyword id="2312174" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Lose-motivation">lose motivation</keyword> and work will suffer consequently. 
	 However, it is wrong to assume that only big corporations fall victim to ‘<keyword id="2312169" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Communication-failure">communication failure</keyword>.’ It does happen in a 10-strong company if one person chooses to take over the meeting procedure and others are just too polite/scared/disinterested to intervene. In contrast, some big companies keep ‘idea boxes’ and pass them around for you to contribute and participate. If your firm does that, don’t shy away from that extra effort. Taking an active interest in your company’s well being is a smart move that will take you far. 
	 
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	3. Do they run an <keyword id="2312177" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Innovation-lab-at-workplace">innovation lab at workplace</keyword>?
 Strategy is often limited to your own projects, but <keyword id="94495" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Innovation">innovation</keyword> has no limit. Your company may not do it the Google way and allow you to work on random projects outside your immediate duty zone (well, as per Quartz, even Google has effectively done away with the ‘<keyword id="1823038" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="20-time">20% time</keyword>,’ which allowed its employees to take one day a week to work on independent projects). But do you get a fair chance to work on your ‘interest’ areas without hurting your productivity? Can you stretch your capabilities and learn <keyword id="1438120" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="new-skills">new skills</keyword>? Enhance processes? Put your <keyword id="6360549" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="creativity">creativity</keyword> to work and ‘<keyword id="1620972" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="innovate">innovate</keyword>’ something that will benefit your company? 
	 Although a risky proposition (most project managers will term it as ‘messing up’), employee ‘me-time’ can be highly rewarding if the person involved has the right kind of focus and enthusiasm. What’s more, if you are good enough in your new <keyword id="44111" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Avatar">avatar</keyword>, you can easily seek ‘change’ within the company and start growing. All of us have seen people who love to get out of their <keyword id="1093785" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="comfort-zone">comfort zone</keyword> and do something new in order to prove themselves. If your company supports it and encourages an ‘open house’ culture, that’s the best thing you can ever desire. 
	 
	 
	 
	4. What is the <keyword id="25411" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="happiness-quotient">happiness quotient</keyword>? Once again, we come back to the <keyword id="1591413" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Company-culture">company culture</keyword> and how much it cares for you. Your <keyword id="2312196" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="New-organisation">new organisation</keyword> may have an irresistible culture that makes work fun, exciting and challenging. On the other hand, it may feel like a <keyword id="2312171" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Daily-grind">daily grind</keyword> that you could be too eager to escape. While a newcomer should be ready to work hard and grow in more ways than one, is the organisation ready to welcome you on board as one of them? Do you have a mentor from Day I who will help you learn new things and handhold you to success? Do you have good leaders who genuinely care about you, your <keyword id="2312153" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Professional-growth">professional growth</keyword> and your <keyword id="2312212" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Personal-well-being">personal well being</keyword>? Do you get enough <keyword id="2312213" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Praise-in-public">praise in public</keyword> and reprimands only in private? And finally, does your organisation share both rewards and pain with its employees? After all, there are plenty of companies that put their people in ‘pressure cooker’ situation all the time, without praising the efforts of the employees. 
	 All these answers may not be forthcoming within the first day or two, but a close look at your co-workers will soon help you understand the company’s EQ and happiness quotient. Every company has its own way of dealing with <keyword id="2312217" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Corporate-politics">corporate politics</keyword>, policies and procedures. If you have seniors who can navigate you safely through these potential landmines, motivate you throughout the <keyword id="2312240" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Daily-slog">daily slog</keyword> and provide plenty of opportunities to go up the <keyword id="2312242" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Growth-ladder">growth ladder</keyword>, accept that job and stick to it, no matter what others say. 
	 
	 
	 
	5. Can you break the proverbial glass wall? It has got nothing to do with the done-to-death, gender-related stories of the corporate world. Sure, they may happen to you when you reach that coveted level. But you will find the proverbial glass wall almost everywhere irrespective of gender bias. For instance, if you are a coding wizard and want to be a <keyword id="6544760" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="project-manager">project manager</keyword>, your line <keyword id="6362609" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Manager">manager</keyword> may not want to let you go as it looks like a <keyword id="2312244" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Lose-lose-situation">lose-lose situation</keyword>. You will be prone to make mistakes in your new role while your manager loses an <keyword id="2312249" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Efficient-employee">efficient employee</keyword> who has been doing his/her job commendably all this time. On the other hand, a <keyword id="2312250" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Growth-dead-wall">growth dead wall</keyword> is bound to drive an ambitious person out. 
	 Here is one <keyword id="2312256" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Professional-dilemma">professional dilemma</keyword> that most companies and most individuals suffer from. When a former colleague was working for a small publication house and wanted to expand her role beyond everyday operations, the <keyword id="5645" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="CEO">CEO</keyword> was openly unimpressed. “We are a small organisation and there’s not much scope for doing anything else,” he said during the appraisal. The same happened to a guy in a large firm that would not expand one of its units and refused to allocate funds for digital branding. In about a year, that unit shut down. 
	 In all these cases, you can clearly see where the glass wall is. As one start-up CEO once told me, “The problem is not in the budget. It’s the mindset. You want to play it safe and get the maximum out of your employees with minimum investment. But that’s against the <keyword id="34859" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="business-law">business law</keyword> – great returns don’t come without good investments. <keyword id="2312270" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Reward-your-people">Reward your people</keyword> with growth and your company will surely advance.” If your organisation walks the talk like this CEO does, you have it what so many others desire. Stay put in this job and let your dreams grow. 
	 
	Images: Thinkstock/Getty Images

When You Are 22
And Job-hunting, Look For These 5 Hidden Perks

The country's third largest software services firm <keyword id="10862" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Wipro">Wipro</keyword> is learnt to have fired hundreds of employees as part of its annual "performance appraisal". According to a <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/tech/ites/wipro-sacks-600-employees-post-performance-appraisal/articleshow/58282863.cms">news report</a>, Wipro has shown the door to about 600 employees, while speculation was rife that the number could go as high as 2,000. At the end of December 2016, the <keyword id="6354321" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bengaluru">Bengaluru</keyword> ¬based company had over 1.79 lakh employees. The report states that Wipro said <keyword id="6354185" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="IT">it</keyword> undertakes a "rigorous performance appraisal process" on a regular basis to align its workforce with business objectives, strategic priorities of the company, and client requirements. 
 
 to work on client sites. With visa programmes in these countries becoming more rigorous, Indian IT companies are likely to face challenges in movement of labour as well as a spike in operational costs. Indian IT companies get over 60 per cent of their revenues from the North American market, about 20 per cent from Europe and the remaining from other economies. Besides, higher adoption of technologies like automation and artificial intelligence is also reducing the need to have a large number of employees at client site.

Wipro shows the door to 600 employees post performance appraisal

<ul><li><keyword id="6214644" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dream11">Dream11</keyword>, an Indian gaming and sports startup is redefining the human resource function — adopting a rare culture. </li><li>The gaming startup focuses on the designation of employee and not his remuneration at the previous company while extending job offers and compensation to its employees. </li><li>Every quarter, the employee is judged by some 25 coworkers based on the company’s core values — data, ownership, performance, user and transparency. </li></ul>Dream11, an Indian gaming and sports startup is redefining the human resource function - paving the way for a new culture. It not only allows employees to set targets themselves but also offers them the flexibility to do what they want to do, as long as they bring in the results. The company follows a pod structure — called a ‘dream team’ where product, tech, marketing, business analytics, and all other teams work together in pods — which refers to a group having a shared purpose. The employees can introduce their own ideas and set targets. “We don’t believe in bell curve. The culture and philosophy of how we work is completely different. We don’t have things like OKR, KRA and KPI individually set across the organisation. We only have one thing, which is a team target. Either the entire company achieves the target or we don’t,” <keyword id="2598207" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Harsh-Jain">Harsh Jain</keyword>, Co-Founder and CEO at Dream11 told Business Insider at the <keyword id="8514289" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="tie-global-summit-2019">TiE Global Summit 2019</keyword>. Salary hikes and appraisals The 11 year old gaming startup also breaks many traditional molds when it comes to appraisals. “From 15% to as high as 270% appraisals, we pay top of markets,” Jain said. “Everything is data driven for us. We do benchmarking of competitive companies which can poach from us. We see what they pay and then we pay at the 99th percentile,” he said. For new employees too, it focuses on the designation and not the remuneration at the previous company. The company has 200 employees. In fact, the drill to decide on appraisals isn’t the same either. It doesn’t let only managers rate the performance and make decisions. Every quarter, the employee is judged by 25 coworkers based on the company’s core values — data, ownership, performance, user and transparency. “If they get less than 7/10 rating on an average, they are given a warning. Two quarters in a row, final warning. Three quarters and you are out,” Jain said. <div type="Youtube" id="AVXqxHY4vV4" title="Dream11, an Indian gaming and sports startup is redefining the human resource function" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AVXqxHY4vV4/mqdefault.jpg"></div>

 See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/dream11-will-sell-sports-merchandise-and-game-tickets-on-fancode/articleshow/72066243.cms">Dream11 backed Fancode will sell sports merchandise and game tickets</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/dream11-founder-tells-how-he-struggled-before-his-first-funding/articleshow/72057606.cms">‘I heard 150 noes before first funding’- reveals one of India's newest unicorns Dream11</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/dream11-is-eyeing-the-unicorn-tag-riding-on-ipl-and-cricket-world-cup-in-2019/articleshow/68458528.cms">2019 may be the biggest year for this 11-year old Indian gaming startup</a>

This Indian startup offers as much as 270% hike in salary for a job well done

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/slideshows/careers/these-are-top-10-companies-that-will-be-adversely-affected-due-to-us-new-h1-b-visa-rule-and-the-salaries-they-offer-to-their-workers/cognizant-technology-solutions/slideshow/56891192.cms">Cognizant</a>, the American multinational having vast operations in India, might be firing more than 6,000 employees in its <keyword id="112426" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="appraisal">appraisal</keyword> cycle this year. 
 These layoffs would be a part of <keyword id="28721" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Cognizant">Cognizant</keyword>'s normal appraisal process. 
 
"This is part of the normal cycle. And Cognizant will not be alone in this, most IT companies will have rigorous appraisal process this and employees who have not taken efforts to reskill <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/it-jobs-are-going-to-take-a-dip-by-20-25-in-coming-three-years-the-reason-is-obvious/articleshow/57248237.cms">will not find it easy</a> in the next two years," says an ET source. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/indian-engineers-arent-justthreatened-by-trump-heres-the-biggest-threat-ever/articleshow/57218483.cms">Indian engineers aren’t just threatened by Trump. Here’s the biggest threat ever</a> 
 
Usually, Cognizant fires almost 2-3% under-performers from its 265000-strong workforce in a year. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/cognizantlayoffs-may-not-spike-this-time-around/articleshow/57715945.cms">Cognizant layoffs may not spike this time around</a> 
 
"As part of our workforce management strategy, we conduct regular performance reviews to ensure we have the right employee skill sets necessary to meet client needs and achieve our business goals. This process results in changes, including some employees transitioning out of the company," said a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/cognizants-internal-enquiry-reveals-improper-payments-of-6-million-made-in-india/articleshow/57054731.cms">Cognizant</a> spokesperson. 
 
"Any actions as the result of this process are performance-based and generally consistent with those we-'ve made in previous years. In any given year, the numbers may bounce a percentage here or there, but this is part of our standard practice. At the same time, we continue to enhance our capabilities and hire for roles across all our practice areas in the company," the spokesperson added. 
 
(Image source: TodayJobsUpdate)

Forget appraisal! Cognizant might fire more than 6,000 employees this year

Thanks to the rising upward culture of <keyword id="46431" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="India-Inc">India Inc</keyword>, a new benchmark has been set for policies for women employees. To this effect, <keyword id="46894" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tata-Sons">Tata Sons</keyword> has now rolled out a set of woman-centric policies, which include paid maternity leave of seven months, 18 months of half pay-half working day post-maternity support, flexibility to choose your working hours, secure performance ratings even during the maternity leaves and flexible work durations. 
 
Not only this, if an employee completes five years at work, (s)he would be able to avail one-year leave at half pay given that you are a care-giver at home. 
 
As of now, the policy has only been unveiled only at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Tata-Sons-ups-stake-in-AirAsia-to-49-equals-that-of-partner/articleshow/51584316.cms">Tata Sons</a>, which is the holding company of the group with businesses ranging from salt to software. Other companies of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/The-reality-of-Tata-Group-Few-companies-making-moneyothers-less-so/articleshow/50168486.cms">Tata group</a> are also likely to adopt these policies in the near future. 
 
"Our intent is to show that we care through a deep organisational commitment towards our woman employees. Maternity, for example, has been a key focus area. By offering seven months leave followed by post-maternity support of 18 months, we are providing a viable option to mothers to be at home during the critical early childhood," NS Rajan, the group chief HRO at Tata Sons, told ET. 
 
The policies would come into effect from this month itself, and the seven-month paid leave can be taken from two months prior to child birth. 
 
One very important aspect of maternity leaves is the career progression of women employees, who are often ranked less in performance ratings during and after their maternity leaves. Keeping this in mind, the policy says that performance rating during maternity leave and flexible work will be based on the average of the previous two years' ratings or ratings for the ongoing year, whichever is higher. Also, promotions would not be impacted because of maternity leaves, flexible work, work from home, all of which would be considered as continuous service. 
 
"Working women today perform multiple roles much beyond their work at office. Looking after home, attending to children and elders is a cherished role. Our approach, be it special leave and flexible alternatives, are aimed at recognising these important roles women play in their families and stand by our woman employees wherever needed," Rajan said. 
 
Not only this, the company has also introduced a policy for six months of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/PG-India-announces-six-month-adoption-leave-for-employees/articleshow/51509015.cms">adoption leave</a>, surrogacy leave, and 15 days of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Intuit-India-to-give-extended-parental-benefits-to-its-employees/articleshow/50636671.cms">paternity leave</a>. 
 
When we talk in general, Indian companies offer three months of paid maternity leave, a trend that is slowly changing with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/BhartiAirtel-announces-more-maternity-benefits/articleshow/51331019.cms">more and more companies</a> offering six months of maternity leaves. 
 
<a href="http://cdn1.tnwcdn.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/08/maternity-leave-mom-baby.jpg">Image source</a>

Seven months of paid leaves, flexible working hours and retrospective performance appraisal: Tata Sons’ new maternity leave policy is every working woman’s dream

It was only last year that <keyword id="10862" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Wipro">Wipro</keyword>, country’s third largest software exporter, had rolled out an ambitious pilot exercise across the company. Under the program, the company had ditched the traditional "bell-curve" appraisal system for a majority of its employees. 
 
Now, Wipro is implementing a new evaluation system which would stress more on frequent, quarterly feedbacks, which were earlier a one-time process that happened annually. 
 
"Traditionally, we've looked at elements including bell curves, building differentiation, categorization, etc. We wanted to make the process of giving feedback more frequent and our performance management system to be an ongoing coaching based process rather than just a one-time annual exercise," said Saurabh Govil, chief HRO at Wipro. 
 
The IT industry of the country is valued at $160-billion as of now, and is undergoing the biggest transitional period in its history. 
 Wipro’s rivals, <keyword id="6354512" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword> and <keyword id="28126" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="HCL">HCL</keyword>, are undergoing the process of ditching the "bell curve" appraisal, but Wipro has become the first IT services company which has had a full appraisal cycle without applying the bell curve. 
 
"Last year, we rolled out a pilot of our revised performance appraisal system. In the first phase of the pilot we did away with the bell curve for 80 per cent of the workforce," said Govil. 
 
As part of the new appraisal system, Wipro will allocate performance-linked compensation budgets to its managers. This would empower managers to take individual decisions related to employee appraisals. In the previous system, however, managers had to be conventional with the bell-curve bandwidth. 
 
"We felt that managers are taking much more ownership, and being more accountable in the revised performance managed system. We found them saying - it's my decision and it is not something that is being prescribed to me. And this exercise has also ushered in more transparency as it is based on a rating based on their goals and objectives for the year," said Govil. 
 
In the second phase of the pilot program, Wipro is thinking of rolling out this exercise for most managerial-level employees, and would cover the remaining 20% of employees.

Wipro becomes the first Indian IT company to totally overhaul its appraisal system

The <keyword id="112426" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="appraisal">appraisal</keyword> season is finally here! Hopes, happy times and life’s good are in the air. Working with a startup has its own benefits as always! The startups are giving appraisal a whole new dimension. From doubling salary to rewarding foreign trips – the startups are rewarding the best performers like never before. 
 
As per a news report by The Economic Times, besides taking home increments of 40-50% plus, appraisal also includes hefty cash bonuses and ESOPs. 
 
"Sky is the limit for top performers," Amit Sinha, VP-business and people, at Paytm told the Economic Times. It is giving 50%-plus increments for top performers and four-fold increase in bonus payouts. "Ours is a knowledge-based industry where experts add disproportionate value and thus get compensated accordingly," he added. 
 
Established companies, however, are giving out only 18-20% increments this year to top performers, according to recent surveys by firms such as Aon Hewitt. Cash-flush startups are rewarding top performers disproportionately more. 
 At MyRefers, founder and <keyword id="5645" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="CEO">CEO</keyword> Lalit Bhagia told the ET, top performers, especially at the entry level, got mid-year increments of 15-25%. Another round of increments” of between 15-50% depending upon the level and performance " is on the cards. 
 "The salaries and increments are commensurate with the scale of the opportunity these companies are going after," says Sandeep Murthy, partner at <keyword id="6357097" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="venture-capital">venture capital</keyword> firm Lightbox Ventures. 
 
"There is a challenge to find enough of the right qualified talent. In that context, paying these kind of salaries is justified," says Murthy. With such hikes, the gap between salaries offered by fledgling startups and established companies is shrinking. 
 
The news report by the financial daily reads, some 82% of startups are paying above the market median and are also paying above the 75th percentile for mid-level executives, a Hay Group-Canaan Partners study found last year. 
 
However, Debabrat (Debu) Mishra, director at Hay Group India sounded "These kind of salaries are unsustainable," says Debabrat (Debu) Mishra, director at Hay Group India. "Organisations are riding on VC money and creating an unhealthy environment which will not last for long." 
 
(Image: India Times)

Expect a 40-50% increment if you are working with a startup

In October 2013, Microsoft put an end to the <keyword id="2875197" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Bell-curve-system">Bell Curve system</keyword> of appraisals to curb the bureaucratic, political culture that undercut its people’s ability to compete and was also responsible for killing innovation and teamwork in the company. The move was soon followed by other companies such as Cisco too. 
 

	Economic Times spoke to some top professionals from these organization to know about the system and the reasons why they doing away with it and here is what they had to share. 
 <keyword id="276812" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Bhaskar-Pramanik">Bhaskar Pramanik</keyword>, Chairman, Microsoft India 

	The relative grading system in engineering schools is based on the principle that the marks scored by the students in any test will follow a bell curve. The mean score may be high or low depending on the difficulty of the test, but there will be a standard deviation, with a small cluster of students with scores markedly higher than the mean and a cluster far lower than the mean. 
	 
	It's a system that works well in exams, which are individual focused, but it has its limitations in an organisational setting, where teamwork is involved. "Today, a person is appraised not just on individual impact, but on teamwork," says Pramanik. "To succeed, you have to be smart, you have to be collaborative and you have to develop yourself based on feedback." 
 <keyword id="1324005" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Seema-Nair">Seema Nair</keyword> Director HR, Cisco Sytems, India &amp; <keyword id="8470" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="SAARC">SAARC</keyword> The main feature of Microsoft's new system is the stress it lays on continuous feedback. The appraiser and appraisee are required to do at least four "connects" every year, where the discussion is around what was achieved in the past quarter, what is planned in the next quarter and what could have been done better. "The discussion is both on what has been achieved as well as how it has been achieved," says <keyword id="2873445" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Microsoft-India-Human-Resources">Microsoft India Human Resources</keyword> head <keyword id="922603" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rohit-Thakur">Rohit Thakur</keyword>. "For example, one of the issues discussed is how you have reached out and helped others. It's helping people get a sense of what success looks like." Before Microsoft, Thakur spent 12 years with <keyword id="45528" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="GE">GE</keyword>, the original champion of the bell curve. Today, he's responsible for eliminating all the vocabulary associated with the concept. "We no longer label a person as "star" or "non-performer." Every individual has bad years and good years. The key measure now is impact. That's the basis on which everyone is rewarded." he says. One of the problems with the bell curve system is the direct link it creates between its five categories and salary hikes. 
	 
	At Microsoft, salary hikes are now left to team managers, who must take a call on how to distribute the sum budgeted to them. A manager can divide this equally amongst his team, but most would recognize this to be a recipe for disaster in the long run. The managers know they need to differentiate and ensure higher rewards to those who have greater impact. Else they will be left with a low performing team.
 

	Rohit Thakur Hr Head, Microsoft India
 Compare this to the earlier process described in Microsoft's Lost Decade, where managers would gather in one room during appraisal time to haggle over where their people should be put in the department's bell curve. Microsoft engineers who were clued in understood it was not just enough to impress their own boss, but bosses of other teams as well, which meant making time to "schmooze as many managers as possible." <keyword id="194500" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Rajiv-Kaul">Rajiv Kaul</keyword>, now vice chairman of <keyword id="194502" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="CMS-Info-Systems">CMS Info Systems</keyword>, was Microsoft India's first country head. He says: "The bell curve appraisal is an unnecessarily aggressive American invention that damages human relationships. In large organisations, politics takes over. I've seen how it worked, so I never used it in CMS." Another large organisation to recently axe the bell curve is Cisco, which announced the decision in November 2014. Since then, Seema Nair, Director of HR, has been busy training the 900 managers who appraise <keyword id="244727" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Cisco-India">Cisco India</keyword>'s 10,000 employees on the nuances of the new system, which are in many ways similar to Microsoft's. "Abandoning the bell curve is a bold move and it sent shock waves through the organisation," she says. "The senior leaders intuitively get it and they're the early adopters. But there will be some resistance down the ranks, as there is with any major change." 
	 

	Nair's biggest challenge is to get the quarterly 'sync up' conversations between appraisers and appraisees running smoothly (similar to Microsoft's 'Connect'). The bell curve system also mandated open conversations, but they never actually happened. "In a ranking system, employees would just be interested in knowing their rank. They would tune out to the rest," says Nair. 
	 

	This disinterest in feedback has always been a characteristic of the Indian workplace and bell curve appraisals have failed to address the problem. The new appraisal systems being implemented by Microsoft and Cisco are taking the issue of feedback head on. 
	 
	"Indian managers are hesitant to give feedback to their employees because they're afraid of confrontation," says Mohinish Sinha, head of leadership and talent practice at Hay Group. "While appraising their people, managers tend to focus on results rather than how the results were achieved. So you end up celebrating bad behaviour." The Hay Group has been advising several clients interested in moving away from bell curve appraisals, but none of them have yet taken the plunge. "They're flirting with the idea but they're afraid of where it will take them. It's basically a change management issue. We tell them to take courage," says Sinha. 
	 
	(Image: Reuters)

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