Ducks in a Row: Amazon Finally Kills Its Forced Ranking.
by Miki Saxon
Yesterday’s Golden Oldie referenced Jack Welch’s responsibility for the atrocious forced ranking system followed by so many large, and even not-so-large, companies.
… a review process known as “stack ranking” or “rank and yank” in which employees are rated against each other as opposed to how well they meet their job requirements. (…) Using it long-term tends to create a dog-eat-dog kind of culture.
That changed drastically under Jeff Immelt, GE’s current CEO, as described last year.
According to Raghu Krishnamoorthy, the head of GE’s in-house management school,
“Command and control is what Jack was famous for. Now it’s about connection and inspiration.”
But not at Amazon, because Jeff Bezos walked in Welch’s shoes on many levels, including reviews.
… the review process was described like “choosing sacrificial lambs to protect more essential players.” (…) Bezos believed managers needed to raise the performance bar with every new hire so that the only employees that rise through the company would be the ones considered exceptional.
Until last year.
There is nothing like public embarrassment (humiliation?) via the New York Times to encourage rethinking one’s actions.
It took a more than a year, but Amazon is finally changing its review process.
Bezos is slow; Microsoft ditched it in 2015 and Marissa Mayer never managed to implement it, although she did try.
Amazing how it’s only taken 30+ years for management to figure out that setting employee against employee does not foster teamwork.
All I can say is, “Duh.”
Image credit: gorfor
