The Appraise project addresses the shortcomings of traditional performance appraisal systems, which often lead to employee dissatisfaction, biases, and inefficiencies. By integrating personalized KPIs, continuous feedback mechanisms, and achievement tracking, the system aims to promote fairness, transparency, and inclusivity, fostering a culture of trust and improving organizational outcomes

Role - Lead UX Designer
Responsibilities - Conducted user research sessions, competitor analysis, and stakeholder interviews. Designed core features such as personalized KPIs, peer feedback systems, and manager dashboards
Team - A cross-functional group comprising designers, engineers, and managers

Figma, Competitor Analysis, User Research Sessions

Internal Project, 2024

The Challenge or Problem Statement

Performance appraisal systems play a crucial role in maintaining high employee morale, fostering trust, and driving productivity. However, traditional systems often fail to capture the true scope of an employee’s work, leading to biased evaluations, generic goals, and employee dissatisfaction. These inefficiencies cost organizations significantly in terms of turnover and lost productivity.

1. Research Objectives
   1. Identify pain points in existing appraisal systems from the perspective of employees, managers, and HR.
   2. Understand the financial and operational impact of inefficient appraisal processes.
   3. Explore technological opportunities to enhance fairness and efficiency in performance evaluations.
   
   Methods
   • User Research: Conducted sessions with 50 employees, 13 managers, 3 HR representatives, and 2 executive directors across 13 IT companies.
   • Competitor Analysis: Benchmarked features of top competitors, identifying gaps in peer feedback and achievement tracking.
   • Primary Insights: Highlighted inefficiencies in goal setting, feedback integration, and manager bias in appraisals.
   
   Key Findings
   1. Generic KPIs lack specificity and relevance.
   2. Peer selection and review lack managerial emphasis.
   3. Lack of transparency and presence of bias in decision-making.
   4. Non-adherence to the established appraisal process.
   5. Disregard for employee feedback in the evaluation process.
   6. Absence of a tool/application to monitor employee progress against goals.
   7. Inefficient tracking of year-end feedback results in extensive time consumption and uncertainty.
   8. Managers spend significant time reviewing employee data during year-end appraisals.
   9. Lack of clarity about goal setting during the goal cycle leads to confusion and ambiguity.
   10. Significant of time is invested in aiding employees to formulate their goals for the year

Quotes

Workflow

How might we improve the performance assessment process to ensure more accurate and fair evaluations by addressing the below issues
1. Limited integration with peer feedback and no follow ups on feedback reduces the transparency
2. Generic KPIs may fail to capture the true scope and impact of an employee's work
3. Huge manual effort in mapping each deliverable to the goal

Studies have found that 85% of employees indicate they may quit after bad/unfair appraisal

Overall Cost Per Year for a company of 200 employees- ₹3 Cr to ₹12 Cr

Our product offers a holistic solution to enhance the performance appraisal process, promoting fairness, transparency, and efficiency. By leveraging OKR-based and performance based goal suggestions, achievements tracking, enhanced peer review system and automated performance checks, we empower employees and managers to drive continuous improvement and achieve better outcomes.

Peer Insights Hub/Continuous Feed - The system enables frequent peer reviews via a short, effective questionnaire and provides periodic recommendations to help employees achieve their goals.

Personalised KPI’s  - Automated goal suggestions based on the OKR approach and previous year performance feedback

Streamlined Achievement Tracker - Integration existing tools to Capture all the deliverables by the employee’s and providing a comprehensive report of their monthly and year end achievements

Personalised KPI’s

Integrated Peer Feedback

Employee Dashboard

Manager Dashboard

Performance Tracker