A performance management system must never be a systematic procedure or process of compliance-oriented activities like mid-review, filling goal sheets, final review etc.
Several misconceptions are closely attached to the process of Performance Management System (PMS) in general and the bell curve at large.įirstly, performance management and performance appraisal are two different processes altogether and at no circumstance should be confused with one another or used interchangeably. In the current perspective however, bell curve seems to be more of a forceful attempt to game the performance management system and comply with the HR policies without really understanding its relevance, especially in a High Performing Organization (HIPO). Also called the forced ranking system, the bell curve tries to categorize and place the employees along a normally distributed curve as against a relative performance curve. Along with identifying and rewarding the high performers, the bell curve was more particularly aimed at weeding out the low performers and building a culture of meritocracy and committed performance. The origin of bell curve dates back to the 1980s, when Jack Welch of General Electrics developed this system with the goal of bringing in objectivity in the process of measuring and distinguishing between the high and low performers in the organization.
The world is lost in what scientists call ‘ The Bell Trap’ – a concept which states that all things in life typically follow the normal distribution, including performance. We have grown up learning about it as a trigonometric plot, embraced it as an outcome of the frequency distribution and today seek to ace it in a bid to outperform peers. A very simple yet equally powerful tool known to the world – the normal distribution.
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