The Ranking Session

 Ever since I became a line manager in my company, this is one annual November event that I seldom had much energy for. This was a session in plenary for all managers under the boss - and the objective was for each of the managers to  "pitch" their candidates for an above average performance rating for the year- and this would be subject to challenge by the other peers as well as the boss. The higher than average ratings lead to a bigger pay raise and bonus as opposed to the "Regular" rating. At the boss's overall level, the ratios are fixed on how many can get a "Higher" rating. Similarly, some had to get a "Lower" than average rating as well- these would be folks whose performance leaves a bit to be desired, although it is not so bad as to put them on a Performance Improvement Plan, whereby they might be headed eventually out through the door. These sessions were tough on me for one reason or another. In 2019 in Iraq, I struggled to get my best performing person a higher than average rating. The reason provided by my then boss, amongst other things, was that he was getting promoted in a new role anyway and was not deemed to need any extra motivation in the form of a High rating. Not to mention a colleague had sneakily proposed an "Outstanding" rating for one of his candidates. This is an extreme outcome reserved for very few and it had an impact also on the others. If someone from the team did get one, it would leave less in the kitty for the others. I say "sneakily" proposed because this was done prior to the session- in private with the boss in order to have him on board. This is strictly speaking not the norm, but within the rules- a bit like Mankading in cricket. It would still get challenged by others but if the boss could be won over ahead of time, it was essentially a done deal. The way to do this is not to ensure that your candidate had done an extraordinary job, although that does help. It is to ensure there is sufficient visibility of the said candidate across the other line managers within the same boss- and for an "Outstanding" rating , the person would need to be even more famous than that. So the question becomes how do you get someone that level of visibility? Simply by assigning a high-visibility project to the person. But such projects are not equally available for all members of the team. For example, it is difficult for a Warehouse Supervisor to be as visible as some Excellence lead who is implementing a new Supply Chain software across the company. The latter would require several sign-offs from all department heads- and by definition be more visible. But the fact that the person has gotten a project like this already makes the performance rating in some sense a fait accompli. I had felt sorry and almost slightly impotent in that session - and it was an ordeal to break the rating to the chap in my team later because I knew how deserving he was. Not giving him a Higher rating would mean I would not differentiate him from others- which would be plain ludicrous ..and was. It took some time for me to recover from this. And, another lesson in my Corporate life where it became clear that fewer and fewer things would be automatically equitable moving forward. Thus a part of a line manager's job would be to sense what is likely to happen and force equity to prevail- which requires some form of pugnaciousness, which I realize is not my strength. I forever wonder if it can be developed, but I doubt it. I cannot make myself feel energized about this. It happened again  in 2021, two roles from Iraq, whence the ranking session was in a much larger and globally spread out team. There was hardly an ability to properly compare candidates across regions on an absolute or normative basis. Context was different in each region. In the East, the team was mature with Commercial Leads being in the role for more than 3 years at least. Whereas in my team in Canada, the most experienced guy had 1.5 years of experience and 80% had less than a year. How can you expect similar absolute results?  At the same time, I would like to differentiate the better performers in my own team with the hoi polloi. It is a conundrum, and I explained this to my boss who acknowledged it. But I don't really see him making the point publicly during the challenge sessions- he didn't do it in 2021 and he did not also do it in 2022. And the reason could well also be that he wants to retain certain experienced staff in other regions and hence wants to keep them happy with a Higher rating- whereas if 80% of the team is new, the need or desire to retain is lower.  This is perfectly rational of course, but hardly equitable.  These are ground rules set by HR-  and who , pray, can go against Human Resources departments as individuals- I have had my share of taking them on and although I have won a rare few times, the experience again has always been draining. ( This is for a separate write-up). Even with the best of intentions, the rules of the game- any game but particularly the Corporate game, are seldom able to promote Amartya Sen's Idea of Justice. Therefore, it is up to individuals to use some form of brute force or combative ability to ensure it. This is an essential trait of a manager but is not described as such. It may be tacit, but if it is, it should not be. We should be open about regarding this as an essential survival skill. This also then explains why you have the people at the top- they have managed to fight their way up there, it is never automatic or by accident. In some cases, the fight is a physical fight (metaphorically speaking), in other cases it is a political alignment but in all cases it does not happen by merely putting your head down and trying to do just the job. I say to myself that I have made peace with my limitations and am happy with the way things are. The reality I feel is that I would love for a revolution to occur where the meek inherit the earth. If you listen to "Temple of Syrinx" by the Canadian band Rush, you might realize that men greater than I , have toyed with this revolutionary, albeit unlikely proposition.