It’s appraisal season, and I am spending a lot of time speaking with staff – celebrating what they managed to achieve the past few months, and looking ahead at how we can all improve in the coming year.
A lot of insights as well, that I record (in poor handwriting) in a book that I have been maintaining since 2025. A lot of interesting and insightful stories of their lives too- something that normally does not come out, but tends to flow when we take a while to speak about them, and not just work.
So much is spoken about company culture, values and what drives the collective, but so much more can be explored. Possible answers to the advance of AI that threatens the very fabric of the workplace lie in irreplaceable human interactions – the stuff that makes us empathize with our fellow beings is not replicable by the ‘yes-man’ tone of ChatGPT. The thrill of the challenge, the disappointment of the failure, the rush of being successful – so many feelings that drive us as humans. And so much of this ignored in robotic appraisals that do little to discover the person within.
Maybe this is why I like to spend quality time during this process – I love the various aspects of the person that come to the fore, their ideas, their dreams, their approach – a lot to learn as well. I think this should be done at least twice a year for starters. A lot of side notes penned for immediate reference – at the end of it, I may have a lot more to do but it is worth it!