Aditya Communications ,CAST STUDY  solution

Read the following case and answer the questions given at the end.

                                                              CASE STUDY

                                                       Aditya Communications

 Aditya Communications is a media company promoted by some of the leading entrepreneurs in southern India. The company has floated . vernacular news channels in two major South Indian states - Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The media and entertainment industry is mainly constrained in either Mumbai or Delhi, and because of the size of the market, the news channels in the country have been either in English or in Hindi, the national language. However, over a period of time, the media industry has discovered that there is immense scope for launching news channels in vernacular languages because, in India, the people have a strong language and regional affinity. Keeping in view the various factors such as time constraints, balancing of interests and aspirations of people from different regions, etc, the promoters of Aditya Communications have decided to launch the new vernacular channel in Telugu in Andhra Pradesh . However , the challenge before the company was to identify and. recruit the suitable personnel, in all the areas, who can lead the channel directly into the homes of the people in the state. However, the company has discovered that there is very little readymade native talent available in a vernacular language, and because of this the company had to initially look over existing general languages and had to take up the news team from those channels. In terms of human resource management, the company management has found it necessary to identify, design, and implement a suitable performance management system which is in sync with the market realities. It should also be able to meet the hopes and aspirations of the young employee team, and at the same time facilitate compensation structuring which is in sync with market requirements, and also provide career development avenues to the performers. The HR Department, while designing the Performance Management System (PMS), has identified the need for an effective PMS in the following way: An effective Performance Management System is a key ingredient for the success of any organization, especially in these challenging times. And it is crucial in the product development space, especially in smaller teams. 'An up or out' culture is what enables the teams to be on their toes and raise the performance bar constantly. It has been our endeavour to build a high performance and high productivity culture which  Appraiser and appraisee to further discuss with reviewer and HR for consensus Disagreement Appraiser to do final submission of Section A is just and fair to all associates at the company. The annual appraisal workflow of the company for the year 2002-03 has been shown in figure.

Performance Review Procedure :

The performance review procedure of Aditya communication is described below.

The appraiser as well as the appraisee would use  the annual appraisal module with built - in e-tools to complete this year's annual appraisal exercise. The two core areas that will be assessed as part of the company's appraisal system are :

1. What has been achieved in the review period ? and

2. How have these been achieved ?

HR will share specific deadlines via e-mail to all associates for the completion of the performance review process for this year. The appraisal tool would remind the appraiser as well as the appraisee regularly , to ensure that these deadlines are adhered to. The annual performance review would be conducted for all associates who have completed at least three month's confirmed service with the company as on March 31st. Appraisers will be able to view appraisal templates for their team members who are eligible for this year's annual performance appraisal with their review period start and end date.

• First the appraiser should complete the performance objectives and measures for the performance section in the objective setting part and submit it to the associate. The appraisee is required to fill in his/her achievements against the objectives. Once the associate submits his/her achievements, the appraiser would complete section A in full, and highlight reasons for performance shortfall and corrective action are to be initiated by the appraisee.

• The appraiser needs to fill in the competency, summary, and the values and ethics section of the appraisal form in details, sharing relevant data in the required field.

 • The appraiser can share a draft copy of the appraisal form with appraisee via the tool either prior to the appraisal discussion , or at the time of the review discussion. The appraiser has to fix a date for the performance review meeting with the associate.

 • If an associate has not been a part of a project/team for the entire review period. the appraiser needs to conduct the review jointly with his/her previous Manager/ Project Leader. Alternatively the appraiser should collect feedback/review from the Manager or Project leader on the associate's performance while he/she was in his/her project.

• The appraiser may modify his/her evaluation if required, based on the appraisal discussion .

 • The appraiser should complete the total performance review form in full after the appraisal discussion with the associate. Also, he/she should allow the associate to read the final form get his/her consent via the tool, and record as comments connected with the review. The associate will also be able to view the final copy of his/her entire performance appraisal form via their login id. Any associate in the company in the job grade of associate consultant/project leader (equivalent designations ) and above will be eligible to carry out the annual performance assessment. Due care should be taken to ensure that every appraiser is directly responsible for, in direct contact with, and aware of the work performed by the appraisee. Business unit heads would play the role of reviewers for appraisals completed by their direct reports.

 • In cases where more than one assessor required to assess the associate's work, it will be the responsibility of the current supervisor to contact the previous superior and to ensure that the overall evaluation takes into consideration all other assessments for the current performance year.

• The associate will be informed of his/her final rating in the revision letter. HR will maintain the performance review data in e-tools for future reference.

Questions :

(a) Critically evaluate the organizational culture vis-a-vis the performance management culture at Aditya Communications.

(b) Critically examine the relative advantages vs. disadvantages of the performance management system at the company.

 (c) Do you suggest any changes in the processes or procedures in the company .?