#performancemanagement

How the scorecard looks like?

Both Microsoft and Oracle are increasing their stock price massively to increase their market capitalization. They are also laying off employees to be less cash poor.

On the other hand, SAP is performing several steps to prepare for an acquisition. there have been share buybacks to negotiate a better deal. There are regular layoffs planned to stabilize the share price to negotiate for a better deal. HPOM and other reorganizations are bringing SAP closer to how Microsoft, Oracle and Salesforce operate. SAP is also cutting down salary hikes and benefits to match those at Microsoft and Oracle. The new performance management system is a vehicle for moving away from role-based compensation and adopt region-based compensation. This is in line with what Microsoft and Oracle does as they determine compensation based on zip code. The newer acquisitions by SAP are also inline with the offerings from Microsoft and Oracle. In fact, SAP is bridging the gap so existing SAP products and products from these acquisitions can be easily rebranded. SAP is also steering away from European worker protections and want a more Silicon Valley like approach where employees live in fear and the executive board makes millions to create more disparity and give them more power.

Do you think that all these actions are taking place to bring SAP into an acquisition mode for Microsoft or Oracle? What do you think the impact would be on SAP layoffs?

They are due by the end of the week and I have not heard a thing, is that normal?

More of a cover, really, giving higher-ups maneuvering room when deciding on layoffs or firings. They rarely reflect an employee's actual performance, skills, or value to the team. When your number's up, it doesn't matter that your role is critical or that you've excelled for years and know your corner inside out. Nobody's safe. The main guide is profits, and pretty much nothing else matters.

Is it true that upstream, downstream, and EmTech have different PIP percentages, and which one has the lowest?

I heard what makes the new evaluation system different is 15 percent have to be marked low performer while in the past it was 10 percent and that it has always been stacked. Is that true? It seems like there are many more steps for managers this time. The bonus thing isn’t a big deal when the bonus was often nothing to begin with

People make sure you document everything during conversations with managers. It’s obvious they are making it uncomfortable for all of us and they do not want to pay out severance. Annual reviews are taking place shortly and they need to dish out a % of NIs. This is how they start putting the wheels in motion for terminating for cause. Document everything!!! Ask your manager to put items in writing!!! Protect yourself. 2026 is going to be a very challenging year for all of us. They simply want a toxic work environment so we leave and they keep the money.

In my experience, what’s happening is not genuine coaching or development. It feels like a system designed to manage people out rather than set them up to succeed. When expectations are unclear, goals change without notice, and performance plans are inconsistently documented or applied, that is not transparency — it’s avoidance.
These practices are widely recognized and discussed in employment and legal spaces as:
Bad-faith performance management
Retaliatory or discriminatory coaching
Corporate managed attrition
They exist, and pretending otherwise doesn’t make them ethical.
What’s most troubling is that leadership is aware. Employee surveys, engagement feedback, and exit data consistently highlight the same concerns. When the data “says it all,” the real question becomes: at what point does leadership get held to the same standard they enforce on everyone else?
People should not be forced to choose between their livelihood and their dignity.
So here’s my message to anyone experiencing this:
Stop internalizing it
Start documenting everything
Save emails, feedback, shifting goals, and timelines
Ask for expectations in writing
Ask for documentation — especially when none is provided
Accountability doesn’t come from silence. It comes from patterns, paper trails, and people refusing to carry systems that don’t operate in good faith.
This isn’t about attacking individuals. It’s about naming a process that causes harm and demanding better from those who design, approve, and benefit from it.
Leadership accountability is not optional — it’s overdue. We don’t just work for them they work for us too.

• band 4+ individual contributors: add a personalized leadership goal aligned to at least one leadership competency (great, we have to provide leadership without the pay or title)

• starting with the 2026 year-end review, all employees will receive a 4-point performance rating, building on the band 6+ approach used in 2025 (no way could this be used as a "rank and yank" method to target workers for termination)

Great things ahead for those not lucky enough to get the VRP!

“Pay will be tied more closely to differentiated performance…”

Once again, raising the bar to heights they themselves did not have to achieve.

It went to someone in our group. The person was told what they were being paid to actually do at Ford did not include being a Social Media Influencer all day long while on the clock while working from home the past two years.

Surprising the person got off with a Performance Improvement Plan handed to them and not fired and walked out the building for everyone to see. Like a Perp walk.

No suprise that they have given out a lot of 4 ratings to tenured folks as part of the curve.
How does this affect RIF coming up?
Severance policy is not too clear it mentions that if your job is eliminated as part of re org you are entitled to severance , however there is a bullet that explains (perfomamce based firings dont apply) question is what if you have a 3,4 overall rating. Had even a 2 in ome section (i know citi makes 0 sense)

How will this impact the folks who have bwwm forced 4s?

All I’ve seen over the past year is top performers being shown the door, while the slickest office-politics players stay and continue damaging teams. Why is leadership so allergic to retaining actual talent?

Lets use a system that slows down the entire sales process. Lets use outdated software that a monkey manages. We now know the reason why we use salesforce. To slow you down. To create failure - where it did not exist. If you want to hinder a sales channel and further failure - introduce an operating system that runs like cr-p. Salesforce. Look, I get it, you want COR to fail, so you can turn it into AR. That's fine, it is what it is. Comp plan, bend over, promo's here today , gone tomorrow, brought back a month later, then gone again, oh wait bring it back again. Really. Really. Why in the world would you do that, unless you want failure. This was all thought out, tin hat and all. Just top it off with some HTP and sugar on top.

Horrible the way those making the most
Money are targeted with bad performance reviews without discussion until time reviews are shared. If your not supported during the review discussion your targeted as the one who is put on a Coaching or Performance Plan that you are unable to be successful to achieve. There are soo many unhappy people who work there an stay because they need a job. Very sneaky and arbitrary!

Pay all employees in RSUs only. No base. No PSP. Only RSUs. Let’s see those slackers then.

Disclaimer: due to local regulations, EMEA folks will continue to get a symbolic €1/month base. Ba dum tiss.

JD, hit me up if you need a chief of staff in your next stint ;)

After the several rounds of layoffs and Intel using performance management to reach their final HC:

If you get put on a PIP, consider it a paid interview process… don’t even bother with burning yourself out at a company who is trying to wear out good employees.

Its just comedy at this point. Fourth P1 ive seen this peak season where the entire Optum tech ecosystem cant hit endpoints, all from this vendor tech that we didnt need that ESRO forced everyone to switch to.

A P1 during peak season used to be rare, now its a almost weekly occurrence here. This company is a mess and is gonna lose all its customers

My friend was just asked to go in BH she said low performer

Supervisors in CTC have been told that under no account should they ever give 2x EE. If they want to they need approval from JK

How's that for motivation?

They almost never say the quiet part out loud. They build a “paper trail” that makes it look like performance… even when the numbers don’t line up.

Common plays:

Inflate quotas to levels nobody in the territory has ever hit.

Move accounts or shrink territory potential, then blame you for lower output.

Suddenly start documenting “issues” after years of no issues.

Switch you from retention-heavy to acquisition-heavy segments with no rationale.

Push older reps into PIPs, even when metrics are objectively normal for the segment.

Put you under a manager who’s “resetting the team culture” code for turnover.

Replace you quietly with someone 20 years younger at half the comp.

On paper it’s “performance.” In reality it’s engineered.

Since we benchmark everything else, why don’t we benchmark our leaders as well? If we had, we likely wouldn’t be in the situation we’re in today.

After years of top performance and multiple company awards, being labeled a ‘low performer’ during a severance call was surprising and discouraging. The lack of appreciation, combined with sudden goal increases and new write-up policies tied to severance eligibility, made the process feel more like pressure than professionalism.

Is it working to bring the best out of you?

Do you have a fair shot at getting a top rating if you are not FNF?

Do most people feel they are rated fairly?

Looks like a certain group didn't do so well with their prime customer. I'm hearing some of the mucky mucks are deciding to make changes in headcount based on who's taken the most time off. Silly rabbits. Who's running this place?!

What exactly are you putting in your reflection this time? Is this a new V2MOM?

Overheard in the hallway that managers are being forced to rank their teams across all the ratings, even the lower ratings.

Has anyone heard this ??

This new rating system of forcing 20% below meet is this new?.
I am thinking it started with this era of new HR leader Bei.

I hope this is not some communist mentality of always causing anxiety among their workers.

What does it look like, what metrics, and are managers given guidelines on HOW to order their direct reports?

Why are we doing this? To make the managers job easier because they just got that position because the previous manager found greener pastures at another bank? Do they not know that we all use Copilot or ChatGBT to complete these things just to get them over with?

Can’t say all of Optum Tech, just my area. I have about 20 people under me and I gave out two 5’s, six 4’s, the rest were 3’s.
I was informed this morning I am “allotted” zero 5’s, one 4, and I need to give out at least three 2’s.
Upper management is really pushing for the 2’s to the sent their way by end of week.
Last year 3’s and lower got NO raise and bonus was about half of the allotted amount.
Read into it what you will.

We don’t expect additional layoffs /RIFs until (at the earliest) 2nd or 3rd week of February 2026, if needed. Of course, if the (holiday) event doesn’t go as planned, we could see something before FY2025 ends. After that, we’ll see the normal herd thinning happen as a result of the calibration cycle. Managers and directors will decide who they like and who they don’t like, and those will get low evaluations and be part of the yearly purge that happens sometime in the March to May timeframe.

There is some reason to believe Walmart will cut numerous associates in 2nd and 3rd quarter of FY2026 due to AI being able to assume responsibility for tasks and processes that are repeatable and stable.

We’d encourage you to review Doug’s comments on AI and it’s adoption inside Walmart.

Further, we don’t foresee any reductions at the stores or DCs. Transportation is probably ok.

We’d encourage all associates to speak to their direct managers about their current performance and listen to the answer carefully.

SAP is presenting a formal offer in an attempt to resolve the antitrust inquiry. In the past, SAP claimed to be compliant and to follow the antitrust procedure. However, since Celonis filed a lawsuit, this has gained momentum and it is unlikely that the probe will be resolved. The US has also criticized the commission for allegedly targeting US businesses. For the sole purpose of making a point, they might wish to fine SAP.

The board won't give up its bonuses, and SAP has little cash on hand. Can you guess where the funds will come from?

Layoffs every year. And reduction in yearly appraisals. The latter is easy to do with the new “performance management” system.

There were some posts about stacked rankings and PIP's. Is this going to be company-wide? Is there a target %?

things are happening:
1) update talent profile
2) interactions totals
3) use the specialist/ pipeline accelerate

guessing stack rankings

Post Dan's speech today, one gets the distinct impression that some version of Amazon's PiP culture coming to VZ. Maybe a 6% URA number to keep everyone on their toes?

Is this confirmed?

Will be happening in December. Email just sent out this afternoon for Performance Management self input opening on 11/3 and closing on 11/28. Manager feedback opens on 11/29
OP: @141+1k84xsa9e

Not sure if anyone’s aware. To give you the insider knowledge TR does stack ranking it’s an evil practice. Look it up if you don’t know. And don’t ask me how I know. Just know word spreads around.

Over the past 2 weeks I have been flooded with messages and calls from past co workers sharing how miserable they are - they are called on the carpet for the smallest of infractions, reports are apparently run endlessly and if your metric is "off" no matter the reason, no matter the amount by 3 or 5 - you are contacted by the manager or with the tag along director who could never do the job and never has - to remind you what a loser you are, you need to get in line, formal warnings are next or have been submitted - and you are being put on notice. You are being watched. It's not what you do for a member its' all about the bean counts, the back seat driving, the frank disrespect. They ask me what to do - is that why I left? I tell them the truth - yes! it's the leadership, it's the selective punishing, get out if you can.
Every day I am reminded I did the right thing - I would rather pour beer for a living or cut grass then ever come back or encourage anyone to apply there

What is interesting is the escalation of this behavior towards employees right around the time budget projections for merit and AIP are on the horizon - and clearly more RIF are coming - writing is PAINTED ON THE WALL - AIP will be gone or might as well be and if you get more than 2% you are the outlier.