Appraisals: When a Year Becomes Just a Number
There is something uniquely stressful about appraisal season. Not the work itself. Not even the feedback. But the quiet realization that an entire year of your effort… your late nights, your tough calls, your small wins no one saw…is about to be summarized in a few cells of an Excel sheet. Somewhere between column “Performance Rating” and “Remarks,” your year finds its definition. And that can feel… unsettling. I remember a conversation with a colleague during appraisal season. He said, half joking, half serious: “I feel like I’m waiting for my report card… except I don’t even know what the exam was.” We laughed. But there was truth in it. Because for many employees, appraisals are not just a process. They are an emotional experience. There are familiar thoughts that begin to surface around this time: “Ratings are already decided.” “There’s a bell curve anyway… someone has to fall.” “It depends on your relationship ...
