Miss ‘D’ was employed as an office Assistant with the Royal family of England. Prince ‘C’ was the head of the Secretariat meant for the Royal family. Miss ‘D’ was attached with the secretariat office. She didn’t report to ‘C’ directly. She knew her performance being watched by ‘C; occasionally. Miss ‘D; was ambitious. She always thought about her future career. To aspire always for a promotion was her natural instinct at work. She desperately looked forward for a promotion after several years of work but no one paid any attention to this fact. Miss ‘D; finally decided to leave the secretariat and try elsewhere. Before leaving, she made her last attempt just to try her luck. She wrote a memo to ‘C’. Where she described being neglected for years of loyal work but denied promotion which she deserved richly. When ‘C’ read the memo of ‘D’ he simply jot down the following remarks in a casual manner on the back side of the same paper.
 
“What is wrong with everyone now a days?”
 “Why do they all seem to think they are qualified to do things far beyond their actual capabilities”?
“This is all to do with the learning culture in schools – the child- centered learning emphasis which admits of no failure and tells people they can all be Pop stars, High court Judges or brilliant television personalities – Head of States without ever putting in the necessary work or effort, or having the natural ability.”
 
It was not intended by ‘C’ to reply or communicate ‘D; directly or informally. Miss ‘D’ could have never got a chance to see ‘C’s handwritten note over her own memo. She had almost forgot the same. The more she thought about the memo she desired more to quit as early as possible and say good bye to the secretariat. She also thought of sending a reminder but on second thought she felt it a futile exercise. It is better to remain silent and leave them.
 
One day, Miss ‘D’ happened to saw her memo lying in a office tray meant for filing papers. She immediately took possession of the same. To take it back from the tray was no sin, she thought. After all the memo belonged to her only. When she read the contents of the ‘C’s writing she was horrified, dejected, insulted and took it as a very sad experience of her life. She then lost no time to disclose the contents of the memo along with ‘C’s wri     ting to the Press.
 
Next day, the whole country read the story published in a prominent Daily. The person who got most hurt was the then education Minister who did not accept the charitable remark on educational system as given by ‘C’. It was most unwarranted, he felt.
The following counter reply was also published from the minister’s side in the newspaper :
 
“We can’t all be born to be king but we can all have a position where we can really aspire for ourselves and for our families to do the very best they possibly can. I want to encourage that culture”.
Charles Clarke – Minister for education
 
The above story is based on truth, since the same was published in “Times” London sometime in the month of February or March, 2005. We can debate in terms of Prince ‘C’ V/s Miss D OR Prince ‘C’ V/s the Minister. The discussion over the various issues relating to human behaviour at work will give rise to the following questions :-
 
 Who is at fault ?         whether ‘C’ or ‘D’ or both ‘C’ and ‘D’
 How the case should be decided ?       By ‘C’ or the Court or by arbitration
 Who should win the case?    ‘C’ or ‘D’
 
 
The answers with regard to appraising performance will vary from person to person because our perceptions are different. As an appraiser we need to develop a skill where our focus is to appraise the performance not the individual. Whenever the individual as a person comes in the mind of appraiser it automatically leads to biasness and we understand this biasness in terms of human emotions.
 
Some common errors generally committed
 
The idea is to appraise the performance in an objective manner minimizing the errors. But we cannot overlook some of the common errors coming in performance management.
 
At times the appraiser is unable to recognize the performance of individuals from excellent to very poor in a group which may be due to lack of knowledge and skills.

Some persons fail to distinguish between good and bad performers. May be they do not want to make the distinction or they are not being able to understand the concept of performance appraisal

It is a common practice to play safe by giving almost equal ratings to the entire group because by doing so one can easily shirk the responsibility and can pose as goody goody to all. Though this practice is dangerous for performance management. A large number of appraisers are suffering from halo effect hence unable to separate strong and weak points.
 
The performance is required to be assessed for the whole period by giving equal weightage for the period being assessed but it has been observed in most of the cases that appraisers are accustomed of rating the most recent performance ignoring the previous achievements. It really forfeits the basic objective of performance appraisal and amounts to great injustice. The good and bad work both are to be monitored around the year but it becomes quite easy to remember the recent events whether the same are good or bad.

After all appraiser is also a human being having his own pluses and minuses, personality traits, strengths and weaknesses so it is quite natural that he suffers with personal biases, likes and dislikes. The result comes in the form of great loss for the entire concept of Performance Appraisal.

Whatever we may say but especially in the Indian context large number of people are their who still feel attached to their beliefs which might have been inherited by them or acquired under the influence of elders. The result comes in the form of their assessment over the performance being partial for racial, ethnic, sexual or based on age related preconceived ideas.
 
Why emotional bias comes in appraisal
 
We are going to talk about the emotional bias in rating the performance and after observing the errors as envisaged above. A question comes quite naturally as to what are the probable causes which makes a person emotionally biased for or against the concerned appraisee.
 
We know there are different systems for managing the performance and every organization has got its own policies with regard to performance management. The appraiser needs to be well conversant with all related aspects of the concept of appraising performance as adopted by the organization but at times he fails due to inadequate knowledge of practice and procedure. Some appraisers do not possess the required skills and due to lack of understanding the rating pattern they cause great harm in assessment of the performance of the subordinate.
 
The triangle of hierarchy is having broad base and narrow apex, therefore, it is quite natural that higher you go up in the ladder of hierarchy the number of subordinates reporting to you will increase. The result comes in the form of lack of time for large number of subordinates to assess their performance and the appraiser finds himself in a hurry to complete the task.

A person cannot implement the system unless and until he is convinced about its accuracy.

At times the emotional bias comes due to doubts about accuracy of rating methods in the mind of appraiser. The emotional bias in rating performance also comes when the appraiser is suffering with disagreement with the given standards meaning thereby that he is not finding himself satisfied in assessing the performance on the prescribed parameters.
 

A very peculiar situation comes causing emotional bias in the mind of appraiser when he is having apprehension of overriding the rating on review.

It so happens that he feels insecured about the final outcome of his rating and is unsure about the assessment made by him. In some cases instances have been reported where the appraiser suffers with the influence on rating due to superior’s pressure. How it comes ? It is really a strange situation where the reviewing officer pressurizes the appraiser to rate the performance of his subordinate as per his own whims and fancies with not correlation with the actual performance. The appraiser feels a great amount of emotional bias and assess the performance much against his will. The pressure tactics work because the appraiser feels about the poor assessment of his own performance incase he is not honouring the instructions of his superior.
 
In most of the cases there is always suspicion for the final result of rating in the mind of appraiser which ultimately causes emotional bias.

The appraiser remains in a dillemna and uncertainty harms his objective assessment.

Its not necessary that the assessment made by appraiser is ratified by his superior officer, therefore, there is always an apprehension of disagreement on review.
 
Here comes a weird situation when the appraiser is having the fear of interview with disappointed subordinate. This shows a great amount of emotional bias in the mind of appraiser and clearly signifies that he is not confident about the assessment made by him. We have learnt various methods of performance Appraisal but those all were described in ideal situations. Nowhere the system gives room for emotional bias. This fear of interview with the disappointed subordinate is quite dangerous for the objectivity of Performance Management. We cannot generalize the presence of this emotional bias in all managers. In fact, this attracts the leadership traits and personality factors. As an appraiser one needs to be firm and clear in his mind but the quantum of emotional bias comes when there is lack of confidence on assessment of rating in the mind of appraiser.
 

Sometimes the appraiser suffers with the fear of promotion of subordinate for good rating. Especially in the cases where the subordinates are quite senior.

There may be a case when the subordinate is aspiring for a position being held by an appraiser and it is only a question of good rating to be given to him by the appraiser for becoming his pear or colleague. The appraiser finds himself in a very puzzled mental state of losing a subordinate to find him equal in rank just because he is going to give a good rating. This emotional bias is a result of some kind of complex of insecurity in the mind of appraiser.
 
In some cases where the appraiser is conscious about the fact of loss of promotion by poor rating to subordinate and he is not being able to do justice to the system may be because of his affection, effinity or regard towards the subordinate.

There is, possibility of difference of opinion on review between the appraiser and the superior officer.

As a matter of fact, it is a positive sign but in actual practice it becomes the cause of emotional bias doing damage to the objectivity of performance management.
 
Afterall a assesser is also a human being and it is quite common for an individual to feel concerned about himself. The appraiser is also an appraisee for his own performance by the superior. Therefore, he feels concerned about the assessment made by him for his subordinates and the reaction of his superior on his actions. Let us understand this situation in objective manner because appraising performance of subordinates is also a job for the appraiser and his assessment capabilities are required to be assessed by his superior, therefore, its quite natural this emotional bias comes in appraising the performance when he tries to give projections in ideal manner may be against the actuals.
 
How can we overcome emotional bias
 
We have observed the errors in appraising performance the causes of emotional bias in performance management inspite of the fact that every organization aspires to have a system which is devoid of bias. Since, the human element is involved in the process of appraising performance, therefore, it is impossible to eliminate the errors and emotional biases whatever system we may adopt but it is possible to minimize them.
 
We have learnt various modern techniques of appraising performance where efforts have been made to reduce the influence of human angle having biasness but its really difficult to think about a system which is not having the errors in one form or the other. We are not going to bear the consequences of emotional biases, therefore, the remedial actions have been thought about. There is rider you can’t have readymade remedies for overcoming emotional bias because these are dependent on human aspects. Still there can be some aspects of remedial measures which can make the difference.
 
Personal traits are important
 
Look there are three kind of persons. The wisest is who learns from the mistake of others. Then comes a wise man who learns from his own mistakes but there are people who never learnt anything inspite of seeing the mistake of others and experiencing their own mistakes one after the other.
 
To eliminate emotional bias while appraising the performance the first and foremost requirement is to think positive and observe the following :-
 

Always have positive mental outlook
 
Forget dejection, despair, failure and powerlessness.
 
Avoid negative suggestions
 
Focus on strengths
 
Look for opportunities
 
Beware of weaknesses
 
Make a change by seeking positives
 
Make stress a learning experience
 
Human touch makes the difference

At times we suffer emotional bias due to failures but there is a need to realize that failures are just stepping stones to success in disguise. Sometimes you need to fail in order to succeed. Similarly, the obstacles like money, habit, fear and other people can all be overcome. As an appraisee or appraissor you need to believe that nothing can stop you when you are moving in the direction of your dreams.
 
In order to generate objectivity in performance management we need to believe that we can only control our efforts but cannot control the results. When we talk about fears in the context of emotional bias it should be born in mind that we only give powers to our fears. We all have the ability to change but not to the same degree. Sometimes the questions are more important than the answers. It may look philosophical but it is true that there is a difference as to where we are and where we want to be, therefore, we must consciously change thoughts, words and actions to match our vision.
 
We all know that effective communication skills are necessary tools for appraising performance. There are certain words which comes with their meanings in emotional form as an appraiser or an appraisee we need to play with the meanings of the words by practicing the concepts in true spirit. Let us understand and debate the words, sympathy, empathy and apathy as they come into practice with their meanings.
 

Sympathy  -   An emotional affinity, pity,    The feeling or emotions of one person give rise to same in another.  Creating a state of shared feeling.
 
 
Empathy  -  The ability to recognize, perceive and  directly feel the emotion of another. Sense of upset directly and internally.
 
 
Apathy  - The state of indifference,  the individual is unresponsive or indifferent to aspects of emotional, social  or physical life.

The need is to identify the concept of empathy in correlation with sympathy and apathy. Its necessary to be a good human being first having self development then only one can reduce emotional bias while appraising the performance.
 
 
You will find that though motivation is one of the tool for performance management and we have discussed this concept in detail but as an appraiser sometimes the self actualization comes in your way as emotional bias. We need to eliminate the influence of this important aspect to some extent. There cannot be any room for total contentment or satisfaction because success is a journey not a destination. One is moving on this endless road. For every person there is another person that matches until you meet, you will never be complete. Learning is an unending continuous process in any avocation in life, therefore, nobody makes it on their own. Don’t be afraid to ask for help or advice.
 
 
How the system works in Public Sector
 
 
Before discussing various remedies for overcoming emotional bias let us discuss the comprehensive executive appraisal system which is being followed in most of the public sectors. The following components are there for appraising the performance.
 
In most of the public sectors A self appraisal portion is given in the Performance Appraisal Report where the concerned executive is required to write about his own performance with regard to the targets laid down for him and the constraints faced in achieving the same. The executive is free to write his achievements as well as the reasons for non-fulfillment of tasks.
 
The second portion of the report is the detailed appraisal by the Reporting Officer to whom the concerned executive reports. The reporting officer is required to comment on the performance of the executives with regard to the parameters like job knowledge, quality of work, quantitative achievements of targets, cost consciousness, group effectiveness, initiative, ability to solve problems, inter-personnel relations and communication skills etc. The reporting officer is also expected to give an overall assessment of the performance of the executive on a five point scale ranging from outstanding to poor. Besides these the training requirements and possibility of job rotation are also to be recommended by the Reporting Officer.
 
In the third part, the assessment made by the Reporting Officer is to be reviewed by the officer at the next higher level where he has to give his comments as reviewing officer. He has got the liberty to agree or disagree with the observations of the reporting officer even to the extent of changing the ratings after giving necessary reasoning for doing so. In most of the cases the reviewing officer agrees with the Reporting Officer.
 

In some of the public sectors the head of the concerned discipline is designated as a specialist officer who reviews the report from an expert angle and his observations mainly deals with the job knowledge and skills required by the concerned executive and also for the training needs.

Finally the Performance Appraisal Report goes to the countersigning authority who is also the appointing and disciplinary authority of the concerned executive. The signature of the counter signing authority in agreement with the assessment made at the lower level signifies the final approval of the rating on the 5 point scale from outstanding to poor.
 
EXECUTIVES ARE AWARE OF PITFALLS IN THE SYSTEM
 
We need to discuss the emotional bias in appraising the performance. This issue is so important and vulnerable in public sector that in one of the public sector undertakings the above appraisal system was discussed in the meeting of senior executives. One of the senior executive pointed out that this system is too complicated and time consuming. It was also mentioned that in this system the Reporting Officer is expected to have a proper record of the targets set by him for individual executive and also to maintain the record of reviewing performance on periodical basis. He is also required to talk to the concerned executive from time to time. Most of the executives felt that though these requirements are important for implementation in order to give justice but in most of the cases the same not being followed mainly due to reason that it is very difficult to follow the system meticulously
 
Various issues involved in the above performance appraisal system were discussed and the executives were of the view that it will be better to replace the system by evolving the simple format. One of the executive while supporting the idea gave an example of crisp and brief report written by Managing Director of a company for Head of the Personnel Department. The report written by Managing Director reads as follows.
 
“Mr. ‘X’ held charge as Head of the Personnel Department covering establishment, recruitment, training and industrial relations of the company. He is very intelligent and extremely sharp and thorough with rules and regulations. He is tactful with labour and firm with the union leaders. He exhibited courage on various occasions and showed no partisan attitude. His visible desire to be considered as very important can be taken as the only weakness. At times he bypassed seniors to take credit for dispensing favours. On one or two occasions he reacted in immature fashion when his efforts to overshadow other departments were thwarted. It is not that he is not loyal to the company but he seems to be more important to himself. Barring the element of ego which is apparent, his knowledge, drive and dynamism is excellent. Mr. ‘X’ is an officer with many pluses on his side. His integrity was never in doubt.”
 
The above crisp and brief report in a simple format was discussed by the executives. Many senior executives agreed that a simple narration like the above will be an easy system to operate. However, some of the executives were of the view that the system will not do justice to the individual or to the organization unless the comments are given in respect to well defined parameters in order to bring out various aspects of personality of the individual officer together with specific comments on the work performance linked with pre-determined targets. Although the matter was deliberated at length but finally it ended inconclusive.
 
 
 
 
EMOTIONAL BIAS CAN BE MINIMISED
 
There can be many dimensions of the problem to have a detailed discussion. Let us take the view in the form of remedies for overcoming the emotional bias in general.
 
The appraiser needs to have positive thinking and should not allow negative thoughts to come in his mind then only he will be able to reduce the emotional bias while rating the performance. It has been observed that in most of the cases the appraisers are having a tendency of giving high rating with no correlation to the actual performance. As a matter of fact it is result of emotional bias for pleasing everybody. Though its difficult to eliminate this quantum totally, however, the same can be reduced.
 
Generally, a person who is appraising the performance of his subordinates forgets that he is required to rate the performance and not the individual. Emotional bias comes in such a manner that at times the individuality of a person becomes more important. The only way to overcome this problem is the concentration towards goals and objectives viz-avis performance. rating the performance not the individual. At times it is quite natural when the appraiser is emotionally biased in favour or against the subordinate but it goes against the concept of Performance Appraisal. The appraiser needs to concentrate on the actual performance in correlation with the targets achieved or not achieved by the concerned individual. His personality should not come in picture. The emotional bias also comes in the way of firmness of the assessment because a person who is biased will not be able to stand firm on the assessment made by him.
 
We know that there are number of methods for appraising performance and management vise objective is one of them. There may be case when organization is not following this concept for appraising the performance but when the question comes of reducing emotional bias the objectivity of the system becomes important. The assessor must feel about the basic objective of appraising performance by asking question to himself as to why he is assessing the performance and what is the purpose of doing so.
 
In most of the cases lack of self confidence comes as cause of emotional bias, therefore, the appraiser must feel conscious about it and generate the feeling of self confidence. The self development techniques may come quite handy in this regard. Analysis of pros and cons of the assessment made is also necessary but the same should be done in a positive manner by taking care that emotional bias is not coming in the way.
 
The emotional bias in appraising the performance is mostly due to the individual personality of the appraiser. His leadership traits are also responsible for it. It has been generally seen that either a person is too lenient or strict. Some appraisers feel proud in identifying themselves as strict managers and some feels happy when their image comes as a lenient leader.
 
These managers need to understand that their leniency or strictness harms the performance management to a great extent and their own personality trait is forfeiting the basic objective of appraisal. Self realization is the best solution for reducing this kind of emotional bias. The appraiser must have the feeling that his performance is also going to be assessed by his superior and when there is a team work it is like a machine where every component has got its own existence and importance for smooth functioning, therefore, while making the assessment of the performance of subordinates the appraiser must feel about his own contribution which is also going to be assessed and he should follow the principle of deserve and desire. What he expects from his superior he should be able to give the same to his subordinates.
 
STRONG DETERMINATION IS NECESSARY
 
We have already discussed the concept of “Play it safe” while discussing the causes of emotional bias, therefore, it becomes necessary here to find ways and means for not allowing this practice in the matter of assessing performance in an objective manner. We all know that there are number of dimensions of performance management and the result of final rating attributes many corrective actions to be taken by the organization for further improvement.

The play it safe damages the whole system and negates the concept of punishment and reward the results are harmful.

An employee who is required to be rated outstanding is also grated ‘good’ which demotivates him on the other hand a poor performer also gets good rating which deprives him to have the chance for improving his performance, therefore, this aspect needs to be taken care. The appraiser must avoid identical rating to all subordinates.
 
If the performance is required to be assessed of the whole year and number of subordinates are large in number then a appraiser must keep a record of good and bad performance of all individual employees working under his control. He needs to record happenings which attracts various parameters of assessing performance. The periodical review of such recordings will help him in assessing the performance of the whole year rather than concentrating on the happenings of recent past. It has been observed that if the performance is to be evaluated for the period from January to December suddenly the level of efficiency increases during the last months. It makes the appraiser biased for rating the performance good forgetting the poor performance during the initial months of the year. It is otherwise also when the Outstanding performance of initial months is not recorded and some bad performance of the current months is their before the appraiser. This effects the whole process and a great damage is done, therefore, as an appraiser one needs to take care for avoiding this part assessment of the year.
 
In the appraisal system various parameters are devised concerning the job requirement and required performance levels. We may also call it as yardsticks or benchmarks for giving necessary weightage. Now the question comes as to what weightage is to be given to various parameters.

In fact, when a particular methodology is planned and adopted for assessing the performance it is made quite clear as to what weightage is to be given to each parameter.

It varies from job to job depending upon the nature of work and the task to be performed, therefore, their should not be any room for having biasness in giving weightage to various parameters.
 
Now, comes the most common emotional bias which is described in terms of likes and dislikes. Some appraisers act like typical scorpio. They like a person or dislike to the extremes. There is no inbetween which makes them as highly biased appraiser. This emotional bias causes great amount of frustration among the employees effecting not only the performance but the system at large. Similarly, some appraisers are in the habit of judging the employees by comparing behaviours which is also not correct because one needs to assess the performance and not the individual, therefore, there is no question of comparing two individuals for assessing them when their jobs are different. If one really takes these aspects into consideration it will become easy to overcome with this kind of emotional bias.
 
APPRAISER NEEDS TO FEEL RESPONSIBLE
 
The most important thing in the appraisal system is accountability and responsibility of all concerned. Here comes the question as to how much responsibility is accepted by the appraiser and appraisee and to what extent they are feeling accountable. The requirement is to understand the job and performance, in other words the task and accomplishment. If all members in the team are feeling conscious about their role play then there is no doubt that appraisal will be done in objective manner overcoming with emotional bias.
 
Last but not the least it is the role of the leader which effects the whole system and training plays an important in this direction. We do not have born leaders but leaders are made. The performance appraisal is incomplete unless the concept of counseling it not introduced in it, therefore, at every level one must learn the art of counseling because if one is appraiser for his subordinate he is appraisee also for his superior. Both ways for improving the performance of a subordinate he needs to know how to counsel them and as an appraisee again he must understand as to how the counseling is to be taken in a positive manner when it comes from his superior. In nutshell it can be said that for overcoming with emotional bias in the process of appraising performance learning the art of counseling is an important tool which comes as the greatest remedy. 
 
 
Author: Prof. dewakar goel  MAIL ………dewakargoel14@gmail.com