The X-Factor. Is it serious or Am I taking it seriously?

I was elated when I saw the mail from BlogAdda stating that this post has been selected as one of the top posts for this week's 'Spicy Saturday Picks'.I just cant express my feelings because I was too unhappy when I wrote this post but now I am on cloud nine because of BlogAdda. Thanks to BlogAdda :)

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And now, I became a victim of the appraisal system followed in my company. I have heard lot of stories from my friends about organizational politics and about the appraisal system followed in their company and now I think I too can tell them a story about the system followed in my company with which they rate the employees.

The story goes like this, my company follows a bi-annual performance review with which they rate the employees twice a year and give them a salary hike based on their year end performance. For the 2009 - 2010 mid-year appraisal I was pretty confident that I would be given a fair rating as I expected and for the work I did after having discussion with my appraiser. But I was disappointed when I saw my rating and I was not at all happy on the number that was given to me for the work I have done during the last 6 months. There were lot of heated arguments in the post-rating discussion that lasted for more than 45 minutes, but at the end of the day it was all anger and disappointment that accompanied me to my home. To get rid of all my tension and pressure and to have good sleep I told everything to my dad whom I consider as my advisor in every aspect of LIFE. He is also my role model as he worked so hard to come up and bring us to this level in LIFE.

The next day, Friday I went late to office and I had no mood to work. I called my appraiser again for a discussion, but she was busy with her work. At this time I got a forward sms from my dad that stated, "If people around are trying to pull down, it means that you are above them! Be proud, attitude it matters". This message brought a smile on my face as he tried to pacify me, but I was thinking again and again of what and how to talk and I prepared myself for the discussion. The day passed by, my watch struck 6:00 PM and the whole bay looked dry as it was a Friday evening. But I just wanted to finish off the discussion or else I will spoil my weekend by keep on thinking the uncertain and unfair things that happened to me. I again got a sms from my dad again asking for the status of the discussion. Now he advised me not to become angry while discussing and not to argue too much as these things would be decided by the HRD and top level managers, so there won't be much use in arguing. He also quoted the famous slogan which his company employees used to say, "Executive work for manager... Manager work for themselves”. On seeing that message, I thought of leaving the office without having the discussion as I became very tired of waiting for the whole long day and when it was quarter past 6 , my appraiser called me for the discussion.

I explained all the work that I did in the last 6 months and I only expected some credit and recognition for that. I relatively compared myself and the work done with my friend who was given a better rating.(I just compared the work and not the rating... I even did this because when the appraiser just compares and rates relatively, why should I not do this while justifying my work.. ) But, to be frank I dint bother about his rating and I dint compare my rating with his rating. I just expected a number which I even told my appraiser during my initial discussion before giving rating. I dint ask for something that cannot be given for me and it was all a fraction of number that disturbed me this much because I consider the rating as a motivational factor and not as a mere number.

But, after putting down all my questions to my appraiser , the answer I constantly got for most of questions was, 'This is how the system works, and this is how we have been asked to do’. And during the discussion only I got to know about the so called appraisal system that is being followed. They do some sort of numbering and rank the employees who work in the same project to achieve a common goal and then rate them relatively in a scale of 5.

I will say that the appraisal process that is followed in my company is mere playing with numbers and it is just to get the work done from the employee by setting some goals and attributes. But at the end of the year, they do add some amount of money to your salary. I strongly feel that the system which is being followed to arrive at the X-factor is the draw back of my company and not all the employees would be benefited or recognized with such a kind of rating system. It is one out of the blue who get the real recognition and credit for the work done.

I don’t even want to use the word 'my company' anymore as I am just one amongst the 1.4 lakh people who work day and night for money, losing their precious time without even enjoying the LIFE. After all everybody is working for money, but there is something beyond that. You can name it as satisfaction, the happy feeling that you will have after completing a task successfully which develops self-confidence in oneself and motivates to perform better and better. It would be apt if I quote what Mr.Narayanamoorthy said," Don't Love your company, Love your job because you may not know when your company will stop loving you."

Some people may say that if your company is benefited you will be benefited, but I would say that, it is always the company which is being benefited at the end and not the employee. They don’t care about the employee's inner feelings or emotions. But at the end of the day, it is the employee who gets de-motivated, deflated because of the unfair judgment.

When I narrated this to my dad, he just told me, “Don’t get de-motivated by this, because there is a long way to go in your life and you have now only stepped into the organization. Just think and play this different ball game carefully”. From then I was thinking and working on how to handle such a situation and how to get a better rating in the future or even I can say that I am preparing myself for not to care or worry much about this motivational/de-motivational factor.