Companies find ways to recognize quiet performers

Posted On: 22/12/2014 Updated On:

They are high on performance but prefer to lay low — getting things done and outshining others without making noise and demanding pay hikes. High performing low-profile talent is a prized asset in companies, and increasingly companies are looking to find ways to keep this pool happy.

Companies across industries — from mobile operator Vodafone, financial services firm Edelweiss Financial Services and travel portal MakeMyTrip to carmaker Maruti Suzuki and software firm SAP Labs — have either devised differentiated strategies to identify and acknowledge top performers who keep a low profile, or follow a pay for performance culture strictly on merit where personality types don't matter.

Vodafone, for example, has a programme called 'Global Hero' to acknowledge its low profile-high performers among managers, executives and frontend staff. Every quarter, Vodafone India recognizes two such employees for their outstanding performance. And from among their eight quarterly 'global heroes', two are nominated to be their annual global heroes and are invited to London to be felicitated by group CEO and HR director along with global heroes from its operations across the world.

"Given the macro-economic environment and hyper competitive nature of this industry, the market for the right talent has perennially been on the boil. It has become incumbent for telecom operators today to be sharper in the way talent with the right skill sets in customer facing and frontline roles is retained, rewarded and recognized," said Ashok Ramchandran, director HR, Vodafone India.

Edelweiss, which has a three-pronged strategy to take care of promoting a low profile performer to leadership depends a lot on the culture of an organization employees who like to keep a low profile or talk less, recognizes low profile high performers through evaluation based on data and demonstrable achievements. "This helps to recognize the achievements of an employee while rewarding the performance with very little dependence on self-presentation," said Maneesha Thakur, group head, HR, at Edelweiss Financial Services.

Through Edelweiss Titans, employees, regardless of their hierarchy can either self-nominate or get nominated by their colleagues for living the Edelweiss values. "These awards bring to the forefront employees who may not be very high profile but are value champions as the nomination process requires employees to list out their achievements backed by data," Thakur said.

So, what's the potential of low-profile high performers? Are they leadership material? The answer is, yes, they can be leaders.

Padmaja Alaganandan, leader of PwC's people and change practice, cites the example of AG Lafley, chairman of the board, president and chief executive of Procter & Gamble (P&G), who is known to have maintained a relatively low profile in his second innings at P&G. Lafley had retired in 2010, but was called back by the company board last year as chief executive after his replacement Bob McDonald failed to drive sales and profitability of the FMCG giant. But promoting a low-profile performer to leadership depends a lot on the culture of an organization, Alaganandan said.

More News

TNPSC 2024: Group 2 prelims admit card released at tnpsc.gov.in

TNPSC Group 2 admit card: The Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) has issued the TNPSC Group 2 admit card 2024 for the prelim examination. Aspirants who registered for the Combined Civil Services Prelims Examination can get the admit ca...

Posted On: 05/09/2024

ICAI free live sessions from September 9 for CA intermediate May 2025 students

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in India will from September 9 start free live sessions for students preparing for the May 2025 intermediate exam. The ICAI free classes, organised by the Board of Studies (BoS), will include live lectures, inte...

Posted On: 05/09/2024

TNPSC 2024: Group 2 prelims admit card released at tnpsc.gov.in

Posted On: 05/09/2024

NEET UG 2024 Counselling: Registration for round 2 begins today

NEET UG 2024 Admissions: The Medical Counseling Committee (MCC) will begin registration for the second round of the National Eligibility Entrance Test – Undergraduate (NEET UG) counseling 2024 today (September 5). This NEET UG round is for...

Posted On: 05/09/2024

NIT-Srinagar: A look at last five years NIRF rankings

The National Institute of Technology, Srinagar’s (NIT- S) ranking in the engineering category of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) saw an increase this year. The NIT is now ranked at 79 with a TLR of 62.60. Last year, the ran...

Posted On: 04/09/2024

DU to announce upgraded allocations, round 1 list of performance based programmes today

The University of Delhi (DU) will today (September 3) announce the upgraded allocations and first round of allocations against performance-based programmes, CW, ECA, sports and ward quota seats. The upgrade window operational between August 31 and S...

Posted On: 04/09/2024

IIM-Ahmedabad 2024 Placements: 121 accept offers, consulting firms recruit 35% students

IIM Ahmedabad Placement 2024: The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad concluded the final placement process of its one year MBA (PGPX) at the end of June 2024. About 121 students from the IIMA PGPX class of 2024 accepted offers across...

Posted On: 04/09/2024

JAM 2025: Registration process begins today at jam2025.iitd.ac.in

JAM 2025 Application: The JAM Online Application Processing System (JOAPS) for JAM 2025 will begin today (September 3). Candidates can apply for the Joint Admission Test for Masters (JAM) through the “Candidate Portal” on t...

Posted On: 03/09/2024

JEE Main 2025: Should I try taking the third attempt?

JEE Main 2025: The Joint Admission Examination (JEE) is one of the most difficult engineering admission exams in India. Success in JEE requires careful planning, unwavering concentration, and preparation because the competition gets harder every...

Posted On: 03/09/2024

IIM-Lucknow establishes Centre of Excellence in Blockchain Technology

The Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow‘s Enterprise Incubation Centre (IIML-EIC) today announced the establishment of a Centre of Excellence in Blockchain Technology (CoE-BT). The Government of Uttar Pradesh is supporting this initiative u...

Posted On: 03/09/2024

View all