9/5/11 360 DEGREE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM

Back about six years ago, when I introduced the 360 degree Personnel Appraisal System to replace the Government Conventional Appraisal System, lots where skeptical about the move. Today, as I was flying back to Kuching from Miri, I read a statement in Berita Harian that the Government is going to replace the existing PTK Performance Appraisal System with the 360 degree system. I feel glad that something is changing in the way we must assess the performance of the civil service.

(2) The 360 degree Appraisal System basically grounded along the need for a personnel performance to be assessed by three levels of the Organizational Heirachical Structure involving the superior, the peers, and the subordinates. All these while, only the superior are entrusted to take the task. As a matter to cross check the fairness of the appraisal by the superior, peers and subordinates, the system also require the personnel to made a self assessment.

(3) The assessment by the superior would focus onto the Work Performance, while the peers will focus on Integrity and Team Work, and the subordinates would assess on the Leadership Quality and Knowledge and Skill. I have forgotten the book that elaborate on this.

(4) Accordingly, over the same years I also imposed for the Organization that I lead to adopt the Balance Score Card (BSC)format in preparing our Annual Work Plan or Annual Business Plan. The Key Result Areas (KRAs) of this BSC are in the areas of Financial, Physical, Customer, Work Process, and Personnel Growth (HRD). The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are then defined and target are set on annual, quarterly and monthly. The BSC concept in fact is applicable to both the public and private sector.

(5) I would believe the 360 Degree Appraisal System would work best if the BSC could be adopted to define the KRAs and KPIs of such assessment. My notion of such suggestion is grounded on the fact that, while the Financial and Physical targets are key to the performance, but one must realise without proper Human Resource Development (Personnel Growth), a friendly Work Process, the performance would be more of quantity biased rather taking into serious account of both the quality and quantity. Without serious care on quality, that is where Customer Satisfaction will never be accomplised well. Thus BSC concept could fit well into the current Government slogan of Rakyat didahulukan, Pencapaian diutamakan.

(6) Last two years I have made compulsory for our executives to read the 360 Degree Leadership and those five books on Toyota: Toyota Kata, Toyota Culture, Extreme Toyota, The Toyota Way, How Toyota Become #1. Unfortunately, the latest series: Toyota Leadership seem never reaching the Malaysian bookstore.

(7)The earlier book is superb to be practiced especially when one is playing the supporting role. The book really outline what the Al Quran said as:You are a leader, if not to others, but to yourself.... Reading this book together with: Leader without Title would further motivate one to be much better. Surely other books such as: Swordless Samurai is another interesting way to look at a leadership.

(8) There are thousand of books on leaderships that we can analyse, but one thing that is very fundamental about a leader: knowledge and skill. In today world, people are looking for leaders for their knowledge and skill. In this sense, the Toyota Leadership are smart enough not only having the correct leadership traits but as well as seriously inculcating the continous equisition of knowledge and skills among its citizen and thus based on such knowledge and skills they developed User Friendly Work Process that could drive not only for Toyota to be cost-effective but high quality automobile production.

(9) I have a strong believe, if we could design our appraisal system along productivity and quality performance-base, I would say we are moving close to the Good Governance intention. I hope everybody would give this a try, and definitely I love to share our six years self-experimenting in the area.

Kuching, Sarawak
9 May, 2011