■ Indian Journal of Commerce & Management Studies ■ ISSN – 2229-5674

PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF EMPLOYEES IN

ORGANISATION – A CASE STUDY

Veena Datar
Lecturer,
Humanities Department, Samrat Ashok Technological Institute
(Deg) Vidisha, M.P. 464001, India

Manorama Saini
Reader, Humanities Department, Samrat Ashok Technological Institute
(Deg) Vidisha, M.P. 464001, India

Bhasha Shukla Sharma

Reader, Humanities Department, University Institute of Technology,
R.G.P.V., Bhopal M.P. 462036, India

ABSTRACT
A dynamic and growing organization needs to continually review its structure and
systems, creating new roles and responsibilities. The identification of employee potential
to ensure the availability of people to do different jobs helps to motivate employees in
addition to serving organizational needs. Competency mapping makes performance
management systems more measurable and scientific [1]. A critical factor related to an
organization’s long term success, is its ability to measure how well employees perform and
to use that information to ensure that performance meets present standards. Without
performance information, the employees can only guess as to whether they are working
towards the right goals in the correct way and to the desired standard [2]. Awareness of
employees about mapping systems and up gradation of process is necessary for overall
development of individual and organization. The present paper emphasizes on
performance assessment through e-MAP for improvement in productivity, organizational
development, individual growth and development. It also helps to assess the training needs
of an individual in the organization. The investigation was carried out by taking BHEL,
Bhopal as a sample organization.

Keywords : Competency, Appraisal, Performance, e-MAP.

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■ Indian Journal of Commerce & Management Studies ■ ISSN – 2229-5674

INTRODUCTION
In the present competitive scenario, the management of Indian organizations is expected to be
more productive and efficient for their survival. This problem has been faced by western countries about
10 to 15 years ago. Thus it becomes apparent that Indian organizations would undergo massive changes
within themselves [3]. In this context, it would be important to identify the factors in the organizational
environment that have the most positive impact on the performance of an organization.
Human resource is considered as the backbone of any economic enterprise. The optimal utilization
of natural resources and the factor inputs of capital technology depend on the extent of use of human
resources. High performing organization, today are recognizing the need to use the best HR to enhance
their competitive advantage [4]. The businesses in this century are knowledge based. These days the
organizations are facing challenges in the form of talent retention, increasing quality, increasing
productivity and thus profitability [5, 15]. It is clear that an organization’s success depends on its ability to
efficiently manage the resources and have competitive and progressive attitude. This can be achieved
only if the employees upgrade their knowledge, skill and know the areas of weakness. Thus it becomes
imperative for organizations to have synchronization between performance and expectations of
employees. Hence, the performance review of the employees should be measured by the organization. The
purpose of a performance review is to measure the gap between what an employee has done and what is
expected in the job [6]. The present paper is an attempt to study the performance assessment of employees
in a public sector unit Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Bhopal (M.P.).
Prologue of BHEL:
In recognition of the need and importance of establishing the manufacture of heavy electrical
equipment indigenously, the Government of India decided to set up the Heavy Electricals (India) Ltd.,
Bhopal (HEIL) in 1958. Later in 1974, the Government of India decided to merge the company HEIL into
BHEL.
Present Scenario of BHEL:
BHEL manufactures over 180 products under 30 major product groups and caters to core sectors of
Indian Economy viz. Power Generation & Transmission, Industry, Transportation, Telecommunication,
Renewable energy etc. The wide network of BHEL’s 14 manufacturing divisions, four power sector
regional centres, over 100 project sites, eight service centres and 18 regional offices enables the company
to promptly serve its customers and provide them with suitable products, systems and services efficiently
and at competitive prices. The high level of quality and reliability of its products is due to the emphasis on
design, engineering and manufacturing to the international standards by acquiring and adapting some of
the best technologies from leading companies in the world, together with technologies developed in its
own R & D centres. The overall performance of the company in the past has made eligible to achieve
“Navratna” flagship among various PSEs in India.

PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT IN BHEL:

Performance appraisal systems are designed to improve performance especially in three areas –
performance, facilitate performance and encourage performance [7, 17]. Essential characteristics of
effective appraisal system are reliability and validity, job relatedness, standardization, practical viability,
legal sanction, training to appraisers, open communication, employee access to results and due process [8,
16]. The appraisal systems are used for variety of development and administrative purposes. Appraisals
can be done by superiors, peers, subordinates, teams, outsiders or combination of raters. Employees can
also carry out self appraisals. The appraisal process is shown in figure 1.

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■ Indian Journal of Commerce & Management Studies ■ ISSN – 2229-5674

1
Annual Planning
(Departmental)

2
4
PERFORMANCE Preparing Performance
Evaluation of
APPRAISAL Work Plans for the
Performance Appraisal
Appraisee

3
Work Implementation
and Monitoring

Fig 1. Performance Appraisal Process.

To improve reliability and validity operating, it is essential to train raters [9]. Giving and receiving
feedback is not an easy job. To get best of human resource, employer should
(a) Create a culture of excellence that motivates employees at all levels.
(b) Match organizational objectives with individual aspirations.
(c) Equip people with requisite skills to discharge their duties well.
(d) Clear growth path for talented employees.
(e) Provide new challenges.
(f) Empower employees to take decisions without fear of failing.
(g) Encourage team work and team spirit and open communication.
Some organizations have developed a performance assessment system driven by key result areas
(KRAs). KRA describes the performance goals- business, functional and behavioral [10, 11]. These are
used to map the employees’ progress and based on the results the company decides to plug performance
gaps with the help of relevant training inputs. Performance assessment is possible through-
(i) Participation - Feedback
(ii) Learning - Learnt test (knowledge, skill & attitude)
(iii) Effectiveness - Work output
(iv) How far the employee is able to change the business.
(v) Return on investment.
For performance assessment of employees at BHEL, various processes are used. These processes
are reviewed time to time and modified/upgraded as per the requirement. The table I shows the difference
between earlier and present process adopted for Performance Management and Training & Development.
Table I- HR process.
Process Objective Earlier Process Present process
Training & Building Primary Induction - Competency mapping in three
Development competence to suit training for skills. stages to identify roles, present
changing business competencies and fill the gap.
needs as reflected in Function based - Multi skill, Quality at door
the e-MAP and inputs step.
other business - Competency needs
initiatives. identification through e-MAP.

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■ Indian Journal of Commerce & Management Studies ■ ISSN – 2229-5674

Process - Process improvement training

improvement - Focused comprehensive
training training
Performance Aligning individual Annual -Balance score card
Management goals to confidential -Performance Management System,
organizational reports e-MAP
goals, planning and - Introduction of behavioral traits
evaluating leading to potential appraisal
performance
BHEL Bhopal has opted an online performance appraisal system known as Moving Ahead through
Performance i.e. e-MAP system. For assessing performance of employees 24 functions are identified like
HR, Finance, Personnel, Manufacturing, Engineering etc. KRA Master evaluate the competencies-
functional competency and behavioral competency [12, 13]. The behavioral competencies are common
for all levels. Behavioral competencies of MAP are planning and organizing, initiative, commitment to
quality, creativity and innovation, interpersonal relations, cost cautiousness, strategic thinking, customer
focus, decision making, risk taking, people capability, analytical ability, communication skills, team
work, achievement orientation, negotiations skills, problem solving, knowledge of business environment
[14]. Functional competencies are related to the employee’s field of job.

In BHEL, the performance appraisal system observes the following steps as shown in figure 2.

Figure 2. Various steps in Performance Appraisal System

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■ Indian Journal of Commerce & Management Studies ■ ISSN – 2229-5674

When employees’ development and career goals are identified, action plan is prepared
considering the following points:
(i) Is training needed in any specific area?
(ii) Suitable source of training for development of knowledge, skill and attitude.
The critical step in the process is action on appraisal forms which contain the summary of
employee’s performance during the year. Documenting is a vital process as employees file reflects the
appraisal and career growth which is helpful for future reference. Employer tries to generate confidence in
employees so that they frankly share the perceptions, problems, attending, listening and acceptance.
Employer helps employees to understand situation, strength, weakness, problems and needs.
The unit plays an active role in
(a) Deployment of HR policies and strategies at unit level.
(b) Feedback to corporate office to bring about policy changes/ improvements.
(c) Periodic review of issues in a participative manner.
The process is reviewed periodically, based on organizational need and feedback from employees
and environment. The employees are encouraged to upgrade the knowledge and professional
competency through training & development initiatives.

CONCLUSION:
The businesses in present century are based on knowledge, talent and performance. Performance
appraisal is the key factor of any organization as it helps to know the output/ job satisfaction and the
position of the organization. The study has covered different issues related to performance through e-MAP
systems of appraisal for executives in BHEL, which is beneficial for both employees and the organization.
The Mapping system is helpful to give direction for the area of training required for different employees,
which in turn contributes significantly an increase in productivity of the organization. Also, mapping
system helps to assist in HR decisions like promotion, reduce grievances, strengthen relationship between
management and employees, reduce accidents etc. Hence it is concluded that changes to update the system
should be a continuous process and employees’ awareness and commitment regarding this system is
necessary. This will help the organization to compete with the changing HRD needs.

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