A good performance appraisal system is not about only rewarding employees but will actually help to enable performance by identifying training and developmental needs as well as giving solutions for increasing performance and productivity in that Organization.

A performance appraisal is a systematic and periodic process that assesses individual’s employee’s job performance and productivity in relation to certain pre-established criteria and organizational objective. There are certain other aspects of individual employees that are considered as well such as organizational citizenship behavior, accomplishments, potential for future improvements, strengths, weaknesses etc. Performance Management systems are employed “to manage and align” all of an organizations resources in order to achieve highest possible performance and one of the ways of doing this is by improving the performance appraisal system for everyone as it is a key element of the Performance Management system. A robust performance appraisal system would contribute in the following areas:

• Improvement of performance in the individual level as well as the level of the organization

• Provides the base on which employment decisions like promotions, transfers, terminations etc. are taken

• Improves overall communication within the organization

• Helps in identification of training and developmental needs of employees

• Establishes a clear linkage between performance and compensation

• Links performance to rewards on a fair and equated basis

Informal discussions with Managers in Public Sector Organizations in India have indicated that one of the reasons why the employees are not functioning effectively is because of an ineffective Performance Appraisal System in the Organization. Appraisals are done more for the sake of it rather than to link it to results.

In most organizations, when the topic of performance in organizations is discussed, generally the focus is only on the performance of employees. However, Performance 

Appraisal is not done for merely appraising an employee but is much more than that. It is about identifying what needs to be done to improve the performance of an employee and providing a career for the employee from the time of joining an Organization till the time of separation. A good performance appraisal system is one which should focus not only on employee’s performance but also on identifying areas and issues which will help to build the organization, its departments, processes programmes, products or services to internal or external customers, projects etc.

A good performance appraisal system will provide a sound base to an Organization to provide the right environment for employees which will help to increase the productivity of the individuals and the organization. An effective performance appraisal system is even more important in the Public sector domain to ensure that employees are performing in lines with expected standards. The need of the hour in Public and Govt. Sector Organization in the India is to increase their productivity as it will help boost the economy and accelerate growth in this region.

Literature Review

The process of performance appraisal is one of the key components of an effective performance appraisal process and a lot of research has been done on the process of performance appraisal. Jacobs et al. [1], defines performance appraisal as the systematic evaluation of the individual with respect to his or her performance on the job and his or her potential for development. Flippo [2], establishes the linkage of performance appraisal to the organization and society, “Performance appraisal is a structured system of measuring and evaluating employee's job-related behaviours and outcomes to discover how and why the employee is presently performing on the job and how the employee can perform more effectively in the future so that the employee, organization and society are benefitted.” Performance Appraisal is the main tool on the basis of which employee performance is linked to organizational effectiveness. Performance Appraisal System (PAS) is used as a measure for increasing the effectiveness of organizations by improving the performance of the employees and developing the capabilities of teams and individual contributors [3]. Chouhan and Varma, [4], defines performance appraisal as the process of obtaining, analyzing and recording information about the relative worth of an employee. 

The ability of organizations to install an effective performance appraisal strategy helps them achieve competitive advantage which is required most in the current competitive era. Mc Gregor [5], says: “Formal performance appraisal plans are designed to meet three needs, one of the organization and two of the individual namely:

• They provide systematic judgments to back up salary increases, transfers, demotions or terminations

• They are means of telling a subordinate how the person is doing and suggesting needed changes in behaviour, attitude, skills or job knowledge. They let him know where he stands

• They are used as a base for coaching and counselling the individual by the superior

According to Cummings [6], the overall objective of performance appraisal is to improve the efficiency of an enterprise by attempting to mobilize the best possible efforts from individuals employed in it. Such appraisals achieve mainly four objectives viz. the salary reviews, the development and training of individuals, planning job rotation and assistance in promotions.

There are very few studies that have been conducted on performance appraisal process in Indian Organization and in some of these researches some aspects of the research topic has been covered. Mendonca and Kanungo [7], pointed out the typical aspects of the Indian way of management wherein decision process was centralized, allowing less scope for employees to be updated about different aspects of management. Similar views about leadership and supervisory styles of management across Indian organizations have been detailed by Sinha [8], Virmani and Guptan [9]. These studies through understanding of Indian work cultures and values emphasize a different perspective towards management of employees in India.

A detailed study to understand the Performance Appraisal systems in India by way of a comparison in around 116 firms in India, comprising public sectors, private sector and MNC/JV firms was undertaken by Amba Rao in 2000 [10]. The study revealed the impact of culture and values on the functioning of Indian managers and their perception towards the process of performance appraisal. The study revealed that in public sector organizations objectivity was missing in the performance appraisal process and was more of a formality given its rules and adherence to legislations. Also the focus was more for developmental perspectives rather than evaluation for assessing value and worth of an individual. As such performance was not getting linked to the productivity of the organization.

In the year 2009, Sadananda [11], studied the performance management system of the public sector undertaking, NALCO (National Aluminium Company Limited) through a book chapter. The study highlights aspects of PMS which is based on Management by Objectives and is an annual exercise for both executives and non-executives of the organization. The survey depicts lacuna in communication of goals, review of performance and use of key PA techniques like Assessment Centres for objective analysis of multiple evaluation parameters. Although NALCO follows the mode of Coaching and mentoring for employee development, the system has not been implemented to great success.

India has traditionally been a country with high power distance in working relationships, implying reverence and high authority for the superiors. Managers in India follow a paternalistic way of management and hence find it difficult to adhere to the process of stringent and objective Performance Appraisal Systems. The general trend is to follow an adhoc system of appraising performance which is more subjective and relationship oriented than objective and statistically measurable. There is a conflict in catering to their professional role while maintaining balance with their social role which results in the fact that there is a superficial commitment to the process of Performance appraisal and true value determination of the subordinates [12]. This is more pronounced in the public sector organizations where it is seen that Managers in Public Sector Units are doing it more as a routine manner and there is a lot of subjectivity rather than objectivity. 

Thus some research work has been done connected to the research topic which would be helpful for the study but it is very limited and there is no research work that has focused only on the public sector units of North east India or those units which are primarily operating out of North east India. The researcher comes with an overall experience of 12 years plus in the Human Resources Department of large corporate and hence based on the findings of the study; recommendations and suggestions will be made on how to make the performance appraisal process operate more effectively in Public Sector Organization.

Performance Management

Organizations or company in the earlier period of time, they mostly focused on the performance of the sales, marketing and supply chains. But over the courses of time, the management realizes that though these fields are regularly evaluated but hardly effective progress could be seen in the organization in terms of profits and expansion of the business entities. Lately the management realized that there are gaps of skilled employees and there is no such mechanism or lack of management systems in the organizations. Because of these attribute the organization suffers from losses as employees were lagging in performance. 

Even today the majority of the company still employ simple process for evaluating the performance of the employees. Where manager individually questioned to each employee to define the goals and simultaneously documented or recorded. This type of approaches may appear to serve the goals of company in terms of performance management but at the end it is not adequately sufficient. This approaches leads to organizational gaps, including inconsistent process, misinterpretation of information, reliance on tradition hierarchy, lack of agility etc. 

Therefore, it is very urgent needs of the organization or company to adopt an integrated performance management system which fills the need of emerging requirement and organizational gaps and which ties the strategy and company processes to HR processes. This helps as an instrument for company in defining company performance plan which compresses all the elements together.

Concept & Definition of Performance Appraisal

The history of performance appraisal system dated back its root in the twentieth century. But the formal procedure or implementation of performance appraisal took place during the time of World War II. It is an ancient art. The performance appraisal is needed in an organization or a company because each and every employee right from low level to top level category have different and unique personality, social, physiological and psychological traits. Performance appraisal assesses the performance of the employees in respect to his/her jobs role. Performance appraisal brings out the employee’s performance gaps. Performance appraisal’s a continuous process that helps in measuring employee’s performance over the period of times in terms of quantitative and qualitative. 

Performance appraisal is an important managerial tool of an organization or company to help in better understanding of the performance criteria and to enhance future individual performance. Performance appraisal system provides the HR to take a rational basis decision such as rewards, career planning, transfers, training, counselling, mentoring, termination or promotion etc.

Definition of Performance Appraisal Different Pioneer’s

Performance Appraisal may be defined as any procedure that involves:

• Setting work standards

• Assessing the employee’s actual performance relative to these standards

• Providing feedback to the employees with the aim of motivating that person to eliminate performance deficiencies or to continue to perform above par.

Performance assessment is the process that measures employee performance. It involves deciding:

• What to assess

• Who should make the assessments

• Which assessment procedure to use

• How to communicate assessment results

An Overview of the Organization - Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited

BSNL which is commonly known as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is a public sector company of telecommunication operates all across India. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is a Govt. of India Enterprises and Indian state owned Telecommunications Company. BSNL has it’s headquarter in New Delhi. BSNL was founded on 1st October, 2000. Before its formation as a separate sector, it was merged with Department of Telecom (DoT). The branches of BSNL are there in every nook and corner of India. 

The genesis of the BSNL was originally founded by British Government during its rule in India (19th Century). In the beginning BSNL was part of erstwhile Post and Telegraph department (P&T). In the year of 1975 the Department of Telecom (DoT) separated from its P&T partner. Till 1985 DoT provided telecom services in the entire country but after 1985 Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) was carved out of DoT to run out the telecom services in Delhi and Mumbai. 

BSNL provides leading telecommunications services in all across India. The services such as GSM cellular mobile services under the brand name Cell one. BSNL offers different value-added services such as Free Phone Services (FPH), India Telephone Card (Prepaid Card), Account Card Calling (ACC), Virtual Private Network (VPN) etc.

The jurisdictions for providing telecommunication services in India by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) are decided depending upon tele-density or telephone density. BSNL has categorized the jurisdiction as Circle. Circle is name given to the State of the India where tele-density is huge. 

The geographical areas of Northeast have less population density. Population in Northeast are mostly scattered or confined to some specific areas especially Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura and Manipur. But the cases with Assam (Now Asom) are different. In Assam Population density is huge as compared to other North-eastern states. Therefore, Assam is considered as circle by the BSNL. 

The rest of states of North East i.e. Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur are divided in two circle namely North East-I & North East-II. 

In North-East I telecom circle three states are constituents i.e. Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. It’s headquarter is in Shil-long, capital of Meghalaya. While in the North-East II telecom circles constituents of states i.e. Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur. It’s headquarter is in Dimapur, Nagaland.

Overview of BSNL Sanchar Bhawan Itanagar Arunachal Pradesh

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) provides telecom services in the state of Arunachal Pradesh as well like in the other parts of India. Arunachal Pradesh falls under the North East – II telecom circle. It’s headquarter is in Dimapur, Nagaland. For operation and vigilance, the BSNL North East – II has its office in Itanagar, Capital of Arunachal Pradesh which is known as BSNL Sanchar Bhawan Itanagar. 

BSNL Sanchar Bhawan Itanagar is also officially known as General Manager Telecom Department (GMTD) Itanagar. BSNL Sanchar Bhawan was established in the year of 1979. 

BSNL Sanchar Bhawan Itanagar has 78 employees which consists of Group A, Group B, Group C & Group D. BSNL Sanchar Bhawan has offices in each districts which is known as SSA i.e. Secondary Switching Area. SSA is responsible for operation in each respective district. All across Arunachal Pradesh Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has employees of more than 300 hundred of temporary and permanent employees working.

Process of Performance Appraisal System

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Sanchar Bhawan Itanagar has its own Performance Appraisal System where evaluation of performance of an employee is done on an annual basis through Annual Performance Appraisal Report (APAP). The employees are categorized as Group A, Group B, Group C and Group D.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Itanagar Arunachal Pradesh has simple Performance Appraisal System. Basically, the entire appraisal system is reviewed by two persons who are known as:

• Officer Reported Upon 

• Reviewing Officer

The employees are given a chance to appraise their performance in the form of report i.e. Annual Performance Appraisal Report (APAR). The APAR comprises of some set of questions that the employees have to fill up and reply. Every employee has to fill the report annually and based on that reports the employee’s incentives or rewards will be decided. The company will decide whether the employee is qualified for promotion or requires training etc. The employee has to submit the APAR to the Reporting Officer. Once the report is submitted by the employees, these reports are sent to Officer Reported Upon, the Officer Reported Upon will evaluate whether the employees has filled based on his/her performance or it is fake. After completing all the evaluation by the Officer Reported Upon the report is then sent to higher authority i.e. Reviewing Officer. 

Reviewing officer is generally the head of the office. In the case of BSNL Itanagar, General Manager is the Reviewing Officer. Before sending report to New Delhi office, Reviewing Officer will evaluate the report.

The performance appraisal report are divided into five parts i.e. Part-I, Part-II, Part-III, Part-IV and Part-V. The first four parts have to be filled by the Reporting Officer while the fifth part has to be filled by the Reviewing officer. 

• Part-I is basically general information of the employees such as name of the officer, date of birth, date of continuous appointment to the present grade, present post and date of appointment thereto and period of absence from duty (on training leave etc.) during the year

• Part-II section has to be filled by the Officer Reported Upon, related to his/her jobs such as brief description of duties, targets/objectives/goals (in quantitative or others terms) and achievements, shortfalls of the target/objectives/goals, higher achievements and contribution thereto of employee etc

• Part-III section is details of the employee based on his/her attitude or behaviours, work output, personal attributes, functional competency

• Part-IV is that section of the report where the Reporting Officer has to record regarding the relations with public, work integrity, strength and weakness, health conditions etc

Format of appraisal certificate is attached with the Annual Performance Appraisal Report (APAR). This is signed by in-charge of APAR.

Objectives of the Study

• To study the problems faced by Public Sector Units in their Performance Appraisal systems

• To ascertain whether the Manager and the employee jointly set the goals that helps to enhance the link between employee performance and productivity of the Organization

• To understand whether the performance appraisal systems of public sector units are linked to Rewards and Recognition of employees.

• To suggest and recommend, on the basis of this research, certain measures which would help to make the performance appraisal process more effective in Public Sector Organization

Methods of Data Collection

For the purpose of this study data collection method was done both by collecting primary data and secondary data. 

For collection of primary data, a Questionnaire was prepared and circulated amongst the BSNL employees of the Itanagar Branch. Secondary Data Collection was done from company bulletins and the company website.

Sample Size

In the BSNL Sanchar Bhawan Itanagar Arunachal Pradesh, there are about 78 employees working as a temporary employees and permanent employees. Employees have been categorized as Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D employees. For effective results or outcome of the research study, random sampling techniques have been used. It means prepared questionnaires related to the topic was framed and distributed in the BSNL Sanchar Bhawan Itanagar. Out of many questionnaires distributed only 30 employees has responded to the questionnaire. Therefore, 30 employees who were randomly selected were considered for sample size of the study.

Studying performance appraisal system of BSNL Sanchar Bhawan Itanagar, questionnaires was distributed among the employees of the organization office. The employees were selected randomly from branches such as MSC, Administration Section, Planning section, Hindi Section, Account Section of the office organization. Responses from thirty employees were considered for data analysis. Based on the response from these employees during survey, the findings have been interpreted. The data is depicted in a bar-graph, pie-charts and in percentage.

Gender

Interpretation: According to the survey it is found that large numbers of respondents are male in comparison to the female counterpart. This may indicate that majority of the male employees are there in the organization (Table 1).

Age Group

Interpretation: According to the survey, the majority percentage of employees working in the BSNL Sanchar Bhawan Itanagar are in the age group of 31-40 years and 18-30 years which may indicate that the employees are mostly from younger generation. Hence, the growth of the organization could be positive if management utilise the employees in the right direction by providing right motivation on a timely basis (Table 2).

Setting of Performance Goals/Key Result Areas for the Employees

Interpretation: From the data analyzed in Table 3, it is observed that mostly the performance goals/key result areas are set jointly by the Manager and the employee as 60% of the employees were of that view. 17% opined that the goals are set by senior management, 13% gave their views as the Line Managers or team Managers and 10% gave it as the HR department. A pictorial representation of the data is given in the form of Figure 1.

Utilization of Skills and Expertise of Employees

Interpretation: From the data analyzed in Table 4, it is observed that 63% of the employee feels that their skills and expertise are being properly utilized, whereas 37% of them are not satisfied with their skill utilization capacity by the organization. A pictorial representation of the data is given in the form of Figure 2.

Imparting of Training On Techniques of Appraisal to All Employees

Interpretation: From the data analyzed in Table 5, it is observed that 33% of the respondents have opined that only the appraiser of the organization receives training in the techniques of performance appraisal whereas 30% and 27% of them observed that both the employees and team leaders respectively receives training as well.

Table 1: Respondent Characteristics by Gender

Table 2: Respondent Characteristics by Age

Table 3: Job Role Distribution Among Respondents

Table 4: Distribution of Respondents by Awareness Status

Table 5: Roles Involved in the Performance Appraisal Process

Table 6: Distribution of Respondents by Appraisal System Rating

Figure 1: Role-Based Allocation of Performance Appraisal Responsibilities

Figure 2: Proportion of Participants Indicating Satisfaction with The Appraisal Process

Figure 3: Proportion of Feedback Providers Across Organizational Roles

Figure 4: Employee Performance Ratings

Also 10% are of the opinion that only the HR team receives the training. A pictorial representation of the data is given in the form of Figure 3.

Quality of Training Facilities Offered in The Organization for Improving Performance

Interpretation: From the data analyzed in Table 6, it is observed that 50% of the respondents feel that the training facilities offered in the organization for performance improvement are of average level while 23% of them responded that the training facilities offered are good. 

Table 7: Issues Faced in the Performance Appraisal System

Table 8: Distribution of Responses by Appraisal Process Stage

Figure 5: Factors Affecting the Performance Appraisal System

Figure 6: Timing of Performance Appraisal Activities

The other 23% of the respondents are satisfied with the facilities and only 1% has said it is very poor. A pictorial representation of the data is given in the form of Figure 4.

Reasons why The Performance Appraisal System May Not Be Working Effectively

Interpretation: From the data analyzed in Table 7, it is observed that 40% of the employees are of the opinion that the main reason behind the ineffective performance appraisal system of the organization is due to the lack of role clarity whereas other 33% of them feels it is due to the lack of communication by superiors. The other 7% and 20% of the employees opines the reason to be interval of appraisal and other reasons respectively. A pictorial representation of the data is given in the form of Figure 5.

Stages of Performance Management During Which There Is a Communication Between Employees and Managers

Interpretation: From the data analyzed in Table 8, it is observed that a majority of 40% feels that there is a continuous communication between the managers and employees throughout the performance management while 27% of the respondent feels it is at the goal setting stage. A 10% and 23% of them feel that communication only takes place at the mid-term review and annual review respectively. A pictorial representation of the data is given in the form of Figure 6.

Working Relationship in The Organization

Interpretation: From the data analyzed in Table 9, it is observed that a majority of respondents disagree that the working relationship in their organization are good whereas a small 3% strongly disagrees. A 17% of them agree with good working relationship environment and other 23% are uncertain about it. A pictorial representation of the data is given in the form of Figure 7.

Challenging Assignments in The Organization

Interpretation: From the data analyzed in Table 10, it is observed that a strong 50% disagrees that there are any challenging assignments in the organization and 7% of them strongly disagrees. Although 20% of the respondents agrees with the provision of challenging assignment and 3% strongly agrees. The remaining 20% are uncertain. A pictorial representation of the data is given in the form of Figure 8.

Working Conditions in The Organization

Interpretation: From the data analyzed in Table 11, it is observed that regarding the working condition of the organization a major 43% are uncertain whether it’s up to the par whereas 23% agrees that there is a proper working condition, although there are 27% of them who disagrees with it and 7% who strongly disagree. The remaining 20% are uncertain. A pictorial representation of the data is given in the form of Figure 9.

Are Assessment Done by The Peers and Colleagues

Interpretation: From the data analyzed in Table 12, it is observed that there is divided opinion regarding whether the assessment is done by the peers and colleagues, where 53% respondents agrees with it and other 47% opines otherwise. A pictorial representation of the data is given in the form of Figure 10.

Are Assessment Done by Subordinates

Interpretation: From the data analyzed in Table 13, it is observed that a majority of 70% does not agree that the assessment process also involves the subordinates whereas the remaining 30% agrees with the involvement of the subordinates in assessment procedure. A pictorial representation of the data is given in the form of Figure 11.

Outstanding/Unsatisfactory Ratings

Interpretation: From the data analyzed in Table 14, it is observed that a majority of 83% has observed that they have never got an outstanding or unsatisfactory rating and 17% has got outstanding or unsatisfactory rating. A pictorial representation of the data is given in the form of Figure 12.

Table 9: Respondents’ Level of Agreement Regarding Appraisal Effectiveness

Table 10: Respondents’ Perception of Appraisal Fairness

Table 11: Distribution of Responses Regarding Appraisal System Transparency

Table 12: Respondents’ Involvement in the Performance Appraisal System

Figure 7: A Pictorial Representation of Working Relationship in The Organization

Figure 8: Challenging Assignments in The Organization

Adequacy of The Present Method of Appraisal

Interpretation: From the data analyzed in Table 15, it is observed that 60% of the respondents agree with the adequacy of the present performance appraisal method adopted in the organization, whereas the other 40% are not satisfied with the present appraisal method. A pictorial representation of the data is given in the form of Figure 13.

Trait for Which Employees Want to Be Given Weightage

Interpretation: From the data analyzed in Table 16, it is observed that 43% of the respondents wants their organizing and managerial ability to be given more weightage during the appraisal, whereas 27% of them to be given weightage in their knowledge of profession. The other 20% and 10% of the respondents have indicated that they would want weightage to be given on personality/character and supervision of work respectively. A pictorial representation of the data is given in the form of Figure 14.

Linkage of Promotions to Appraisal

Interpretation: From the data analyzed in the Table 15, it is observed that 60% of the respondents agree that provisions of the promotions are linked to the performance appraisal, while 40% are of the opinion that promotions are not linked to appraisals. A pictorial representation of the data is given in the form of Figure 15.

Figure 9: Working Conditions in The Organization

Figure 10: Assessment Done by The Peers and Colleagues

Figure 11: Assessment Done by Subordinates

Figure 12: Outstanding/Unsatisfactory Ratings

Figure 13: Adequacy of The Present Method of Appraisal

Figure 14: Trait for Which Employees Want to Be Given Weightage

Table 13: Distribution of Respondents by Training on Appraisal System

Table 14: Distribution of Respondents by Understanding of Appraisal Process

Table 15: Distribution of Respondents by Satisfaction with Appraisal System

Table 16:   Distribution of Respondents by Factors Influencing Effective Performance

Figure 15: Linkage of Promotions to Appraisal

Figure 16: Performance Appraisal System is a Matter of Ritual or Rewards

Figure 17: Treatment of Poor Performers

Figure 18: Linkage of Rewards/Incentives to The Performance Appraisal Process

Table 17: Respondents’ Opinion on the Effectiveness of the Appraisal System

Table 18: Distribution of Respondents by Perceived Purpose of Appraisal

Table 19: Distribution of Recommended Actions Following Appraisal

Table 20: Respondents’ Perception of Performance Appraisal Feedback

Performance Appraisal System is a Matter of Ritual or Rewards

Interpretation: From the data analyzed in Table 18, it is observed that the majority of respondents of about 67% view the performance appraisal system in their organization only as a matter of ritual, while only 37% of the respondents view it as a matter of reward. A pictorial representation of the data is given in the form of Figure 16.

Treatment of Poor Performers

Interpretation: From the data analyzed in the Table 19, it is observed that 47% of the respondents have opined that the poor performers of the organization are recommended for training and 30% has opined that they are given coaching and counselling, whereas 23% has said that they are relocated or transferred. It has also been observed that poor performance does not lead to the advocacy of dismissal or discharge. A pictorial representation of the data is given in the form of Figure 17.

Linkage of Rewards/Incentives to The Performance Appraisal Process

Interpretation: From the data analyzed in Table 19, it has been observed that a majority of respondents i.e. 53% agree that the rewards and incentives are linked to the performance appraisal process along with the 17% respondents who strongly agrees with it. 13% of the respondents had no comments, the remaining 13% and 3% disagrees and strongly disagrees that there is a link between the rewards and performance appraisal. A pictorial representation of the data is given in the form of Figure 18.

Major Findings

From this research study in the topic Performance Appraisal System of BSNL Itanagar, the following few points are the major findings:

• BSNL Sanchar Bhawan Itanagar Arunachal Pradesh has human resources mostly of the younger generation which is a good sign for the future

• Employees would like to be given more weightage in the trait, Knowledge of Profession when their performance is being assessed

• Most of the employees agree that their skill and experience have been properly utilized

• In terms of performance goals/key areas for the employees, mostly Senior Management sets the goals. In some cases, Line Managers or team leaders, HR department and employee and managers also collectively set the goals

• Most of the employees do not undertake performance planning with his/her superior/manager during setting of the performance goals

• Majority of the employees are of the opinion that they would not want to be assessed by their colleagues/peers or subordinates

• Employees at BSNL Sanchar Bhawan, Itanagar feel that Annual Performance Appraisal Process is only a matter of ritual

• According to the survey, it is found that factors such as salary or income, working environment, advancement or promotion, authority or power and responsibility mostly affects the performance of the employees in the organization

• Employees were given to tick on certain factors which affect performance according to them. It is found that 41% per cent employees agreed that they receive praise and recognition for work done. Here 35% per cent employees are uncertain while 6% per cent employees disagree. Employees of BSNL Sanchar Bhawan Itanagar totally agree that in the organization there have good working relationships. On the factor of responsibility to take proper decisions in employees work, 65% of the employees agreed with the same. But 17.5% per cent employees are uncertain and disagree respectively. 47% per cent employees agreed with the factor that they are having proper working conditions in the organization, 12% employees are uncertain, while 35% per cent disagreed with the factor. On the opinion of the factor having challenging assignments in the organization, 51% per cent of the employees agreed but percentage of employees with uncertain, disagree and strongly disagree consists of 12%, 12% and 19% per cent respectively

• Training facilities offered in the BSNL Sanchar Bhawan Itanagar is found to be satisfactory to improve the performance of an individual in the company

• As per the survey, it is found that 47% per cent said that they got outstanding/unsatisfactory rating in the annual performance appraisal report while 43% per cent employees said otherwise

• Majority of the employees find the present method of performance appraisal adequate but there is a small section of the employees who feel that present method is not adequate at all

• Most of the employees said they get appreciation for the work done from higher ups and the same is reflected in their appraisal but some employees said that their work performed has not been reflected in the annual performance appraisal process

• In BSNL Sanchar Bhawan Itanagar there is high relevance of human judgement rather than competency based appraisal in the performance appraisal system

• The lack of role clarity is the major causes for failure of performance appraisal system in the BSNL Sanchar Bhawan Itanagar. Also lack of communication by superiors or communication gaps are causes of the failure

• Data gathering stage, annual reviews and goal setting stage are the stages of performance management during which communication mostly takes place between employees and managers. In the midterm reviews communication takes place hardly between employees and managers

• Employee self-appraisal finds to be beneficial to a certain degree as per the opinion of the employees

Recommendations and Suggestions

Based on the findings from research study, the following points are hereby recommended or suggested for better and effective working of performance appraisal system and thereby for effective administration of the company:

• BSNL Sanchar Bhawan Itanagar has employees mostly of the younger generation which could be a positive impact on the output of the company. Therefore, management should utilize these young employees by proper training in time to time

• Lack of role clarity in the organization leads to failure of the Performance Appraisal process, therefore management should clearly define the role of the employees so as to avoid or reduce role conflict among the employees

• The Annual Performance Appraisal system needs certain modifications by analyzing the current performance or requirement of the employees

• Employees of the organization mostly see appraisal process as a matter of ritual. Management should implement this process more effectively and connect it to measure or evaluate the performance of the employees. It should also be used as a tool to define incentives rewards for the employees

• Employees would like to assess their performance based on knowledge of profession therefore while evaluating Annual Performance Appraisal emphasis should be given to knowledge of the profession and skills of the employees in that regard

• In order to improve the evaluation process and also for increasing performance of the employees, performance goal planning should be initiated at the beginning of the year

• Communication between management and employees is an important factor for the growth of the company. Therefore, communication in all aspects should be initiated. 

• Present annual performance appraisal process should be up-graded

• If possible more emphasis should be given to self-appraisal

Human resources in the organization are most essential elements to run smoothly of every organization. Without having required human resources, even implementing latest technology in the company won’t produce any result or output. This means company will not generate profit without an effective and efficient human resource system. In the business sector it is fundamental for company to generate minimum amount of profit to survive in the highly competitive business world. This business world does not exclude any public sector organization or company. 

So to successfully survive the company over a period of time, it is necessary to examine or evaluate available company human resources in the regular interval of time. The most easily available and effective tools for examining or evaluate human resources in the company is Performance Appraisal System. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Sanchar Bhawan Itanagar Arunachal Pradesh has its own performance appraisal system for each group of employees. The performance of the employees in the BSNL Itanagar is evaluated on an annual basis. This is called Annual Performance Appraisal Report (APAR). 

BSNL Sanchar Bhawan Itanagar mostly has younger generations of the human resources which is good sign for the company. The company should effectively mobilize or use these young human resources so as to serve the public in the greater ways and could help the state in the telecommunication sector. If these young human resources are used in the effective modus by setting targets, then it would not be wrong to assume that BSNL could became main player as telecom service provider in the state.

But also by thoroughly studying the performance appraisal system of BSNL Sanchar Bhawan Itanagar as part of summer internship, some interesting features of the company performance appraisal system could be able to find out. Though the appraisal system of the BSNL Itanagar is working good but from the study it is found that Annual Performance Appraisal system of the BSNL Itanagar needs further serious upgradation. 

The present system is out dated. If the present system is modified in better ways then the company would be able to assess or evaluate employees in more detail ways, which will be huge profit for the company in terms of achieving goals and earning good wills.

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