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Eliminating deadwood

P. S. Venkataraman, e-mail

This has the reference to `Sack Shirkers' (Business Line, July 5). While there can be no disagreement on the need to get rid of work dodgers to improve efficiency in any organisation, implementing a system that can identify non-performers in organisation s is difficult due to the following reasons:

The appraisal system in vogue is not open and transparent. Specific performance targets are rarely fixed at the beginning of the year.

A year-end assessment of the performance is done merely as a ritual, without any face-to-face discussion between the supervisor and the employee.

Invariably, at senior management levels, the number of employees reporting to a person is fairly high, due to a larger span of control. So, the knowledge of an employee's contribution, may not be available to his superior. The assessment tends to be base d on narrow perceptions, and will lack objectivity.

Unless, the above deficiencies in the appraisal system are removed, and the evaluation process is made more objective, open, and fair to the employees, the dividing line between performers and non-performers will be in the grey area.