Thread regarding 3M layoffs

Rating process

How is the "new & improved" rating process going for my fellow managers? Nothing like robbing Peter to pay Paul. How is this not a process filled with managers playing favorites? It is the most subjective process ever, and the end result will be a demotivated team after finding out their coworkers got a portion of their raise.


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| 12038 views | | 63 replies (last December 26) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+1kbec0e8c

63 replies (most recent on top)

Back to the previous system.

I gave and pushed through a 5 for my direct report many many years ago. Then they got poached into sales. He then left the company a year later. Am I angry/bitter? No, because he left and went on to bigger things. You can't win this corporate game. In the end, do it for the salary, no point being bitter.

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Post ID: @3r1+1kbec0e8c

@1cz This is exactly how I feel. Iv been told that I manage my work perfectly,even exceeding my goals however my mates are over inflating work product and making me look like lower in production. It’s bullsh-t because I’ve managed many of the same work they are reporting and they are making sh-t up. Non the less I look bad on paper. I’m just over this game. I’ll go along until I find a better job, then I’m gone! 3M doesn’t want great they want good on paper. All paper tigers!

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Post ID: @3aw+1kbec0e8c

We had 21 people in our group years ago, Right now we have 11 people. Less people, more work loads. We are not outstanding, we just get things done, we keep making stuff, we keep selling stuff, and we keep making money. we are not expecting 5 ranks, but we hope to get a 3 we deserved. Each of us is a wheel of a train, we run the same speed, same direction, hold the same weight. Suddenly, we are labelled as good wheels or bad wheels.

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Post ID: @2bq+1kbec0e8c

@27f calibration sessions were the worst ever experience I recall in my 35 years. Absolutely no true discussions about the goals and accomplishments of each employee. Instead, it appeared certain managers had secretly teamed up to either promote their employees higher grades or bash an employee they couldn't pick out of a police line-up.

BB clearly has some targets of how many 2s he wants. Some of those 2s will be canned in 2026. He's running out of options to get more profits and needs to go back to his old bag of tricks again. Layoffs.

Then he can buy back more shares and hire a few more of his cronies for VP positions. I guess it could be worse. At least GESPP is doing much better. Former 3Mers at Solventum have zero stock appreciation. Zero dividend. And another round of Christmas layoffs.

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Post ID: @27m+1kbec0e8c

@279 My time frame is off, then. I had people reporting to me 2016-2023, and I just remember that it was during the time when we had started having annual layoffs but before the 2023 hatchet job.

I know each area/BG/div is a bit different, but calibration meetings are a joke. Employees aren't rated objectively or in direct comparison to their peers. It all comes down to how much your boss likes you and how much influence they have.

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Post ID: @27f+1kbec0e8c

@24j By 2022 we had moved to the new ranking scale. Either your timeframe is off, or you're just lying

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Post ID: @279+1kbec0e8c

25 percent 2’s sounds heavy. Was that a typo?

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Post ID: @24z+1kbec0e8c

@1zc
Part of the severance is to sign away your right to sue….which is why they will generally pay severance for performance versus code of conduct.

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Post ID: @24m+1kbec0e8c

I haven't had direct reports for a few years now, but in 2022 I was told that the expected distribution was 15% would get 4s, 25% got 2s, and the rest were 3s.

1s and 5s were possible but expected to be so rare as to not matter.

Every team was expected to try to get close to that distribution, but one team could have a few extra 2s to open up another 4 for a different team.

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Post ID: @24j+1kbec0e8c

@233

My experience was similar to yours. 20% 4s and 5s, and in a large (100+) organization there would always be a few 2s.

I have seen a very, very few 1s handed out, maybe three of them in my career and every one those were well deserved. (Like not showing up for work at all well deserved.)

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Post ID: @24f+1kbec0e8c

@21p

Things certainly may have changed, but for many years (except for the McN era), the distributions were often 20-23% 4 & 5, and a few 2's expected (maybe 2-4% of the organization). I almost never saw a 1 in an MTR; such situations were dealt with throughout the year.

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Post ID: @233+1kbec0e8c

Saw the note from SVP level. Claiming that there is no "targets" for 2&1 rating, but there needs to have "a distribution".

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Post ID: @21p+1kbec0e8c

@1y6

I don't think that's right. I think someone can get severance if they agree to separate after a bad (terminal) rating, in return for signing various agreements.

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Post ID: @205+1kbec0e8c

@1y6 in 2021, I recall an employee on a PIP that got a severance. Maybe not as good as average, but Legal said due to the age issue and potential for discrimination to offer something and get them to sign off an agreement not to sue.

If the company is hitting people covered by age discrimination laws (typically 45 and over) at a higher percentage than below that age, then they can face a class action lawsuit. This is essentially what mcnerney did and after he left, 3M decided to settle out of court.

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Post ID: @1zc+1kbec0e8c

@1q3.

Being placed on a PIP and then terminated at the end, assuming a person doesn’t meet the requirements of the PIP, is “for cause”. A person wouldn’t get a severance package.

The only time a rating comes into the equation is during a reduction C&E. Be careful if you think otherwise…

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Post ID: @1y6+1kbec0e8c

@1p0 when I was forced to turn a 2 into a 1 and also a 3 into a 2, when both got canned they still got severance packages. Poor performance (based on ratings) is not the same as being terminated for cause (expense report fraud, etc).

BB will undoubtedly use his magical psyops powers to try to scare people away who get slammed on ratings just to meet his (unpublished) layoff goals. My advice. Stay around and force them to can you while you quietly quit while on. PIP. Use that time to line up at least a temporary position at a contractor company when the axe falls.

BB must be seething when people force him to give out packages. Less money for totally unnecessary buybacks at bloated share prices. By now, he's back home on his Florida yacht enjoying Netflix and some pricy wine. Sorry BB what goes around comes around.

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Post ID: @1q3+1kbec0e8c

Nothing says “share price bubble” like forcing management to provide more 2s and 1s in order to can more people with no severence to continue propping up earnings.

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Post ID: @1p0+1kbec0e8c

I can confirm that there is a top down distribution curve required from BB. We are told to provide more names for 2 & 1 .
This is despite the company shares hitting a 5 year high.

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Post ID: @1nn+1kbec0e8c

@1gm I am a manager and I was previously forced by my manager to give one of my direct reports a bad rating. This manager made up a story of how my direct report was disrespectful to one of her “favorites” to support the low rating. It is such an unfair system.

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Post ID: @1jp+1kbec0e8c

@1hy if you have 5 or more direct reports, you can be certain at least one of your reports MUST be rated a 1 or 2. You will have to argue behind closed doors with other managers and only a few will be "elevated" to being a 3 from a 2. Ugly "calibration" sessions just in time for Christmas.

Can't BB just get out the machete and cut the company into 4 or 5 pieces now. Hopefully Tireman doesn't come back at the new CEO of SIBG. that would be the end.

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Post ID: @1jb+1kbec0e8c

Hearing about goals ranking in 2026, with an emphasis on ‘did they actually meet expectations’. I am low level management, so this is coming from Director and above. My team is awesome, so hoping I won’t be asked to give out 2’s….but not feeling optimistic

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Post ID: @1hy+1kbec0e8c

@1ec too any times under Mcnerney did leaders have to go back in the system and turn at least one 3 into a 2. Not because of actual performance vs goals, but just to meet a quota for 2s.

How many times did people have to deliver the performance review and come up with negative reasons (totally made up) why the person "deserved" a 2. When really they should have been a 3 and gotten a mostly positive review.

So glad I'm out of this mess. You can bet BBs external hires were promised 4 or 5 ratings to join 3M. Which means homegrown 3Mers will get the 2s and 3s.

What a disaster. Hope BB someday stays on his Florida yacht for good. Good riddance!

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Post ID: @1gm+1kbec0e8c

@1d1 the new process means you rate your employees performance, put it in workday, then wait for HR tu-ds to tell you you don’t have enough employees with low ratings (1’s and 2’s). Then you change some to low scores and hope HR is happy, then you tell your “low performers” that their doing a great job and are getting a low rating, but be happy, 3M is a great place to work and we reward our employees

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Post ID: @1ec+1kbec0e8c

You are not going to "force the bosses lg16 and up to pick up the work" by quiet quitting. They don't even know how.

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Post ID: @1e1+1kbec0e8c

Heard today pay increases are being lowered even further, hold on tight people this is going to hurt.

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Post ID: @1dk+1kbec0e8c

Can someone tell me what the new process is?

I haven't heard any details beyond that we're going back to the 1-5 scale and managers have some additional discretion regarding raises.

Can any of the managers with direct reports tell us what that actually means in practice?

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Post ID: @1d1+1kbec0e8c

@1cz when mercenary CEOs like BB try to conquer a company's workforce through cutbacks, layoffs, taking away perks like Everyday Wins and service dinners, and impose working conditions like RTO, the only sane alternative is to quiet quit and force the bosses lg16 and up to pick up the work. Never ever do more than your fair share. Get in at 8, leave at 5. Leave the computer at work. If your boss looks bad, so what. They will not fire so many at once as that would trigger a WARN act notification, which makes BB look bad. Big layoffs these days make a CEO look clueless, vs the just small enough ones like under BB.

BB needs to learn what goes around comes around. Enjoy those 3 day weekends on the yacht. You can't take that lifestyle with you when the grim reaper pays a visit.

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Post ID: @1d0+1kbec0e8c

@1cn if you know if any companies that are hiring right now go ahead and list them.

Otherwise, quiet quiting is exactly what I'm going to do until the economy picks up.

I don't live to work. This isn't my passion. I work because I need to collect a paycheck in order to pay my bills, and that's it

I would like to be at a company that appreciates me, and where I find the work rewarding and engaging. But at the end of the day, if I'm rewarded for just coasting along by agreeing with whatever inane ideas our self-important leadership has decided to foist on us, well, that's fine, too.

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Post ID: @1cz+1kbec0e8c

@1c3 Please find a job where you're appreciated. I don't believe in "quiet quitting" -- instead, go find (or start) a company that rewards your hard work and passion.

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Post ID: @1cn+1kbec0e8c

So sick of this rating game.

I deserve a 4 or 5. I worked my a-s off this year and did phenomenal work. I overcame a lot of difficulties (the majority of which were political) to achieve something big. I wrapped a high-priority, high-visibility project that will save the company millions of dollars each year.

But because my boss doesn't command any respect, there's no chance I'm getting anything above a 3.

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Post ID: @1c3+1kbec0e8c

@19h Based on history 2 will get 0%

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Post ID: @1bv+1kbec0e8c

McNerny started out with a Neutron Jack mandatory “bottom ten percent” with ratings.

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Post ID: @19m+1kbec0e8c

@192 if BB is anything like Mcnerney, expect him to disapprove of the first roll out and demand some 3s be turned to 2s and some 2s to 1s with people being put on PIPs.

2s will be lucky to get 1 percent. And perhaps a reduced AIP.

Welcome to the GE thunderdome

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Post ID: @19h+1kbec0e8c

Everyone gets a 3 unless we can justify higher or lower……that is the process. With a 3, prepare fo-e a 2.0% raise. Not praising or complaining, but this is how I am handcuffed. Don’t shoot the messenger (I honestly try to be fair for my team and get steamrolled from above).

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Post ID: @192+1kbec0e8c

@14e the fact that the guy got serenaded in December 2000 as a "savior" including a raucous townhall intro of clapping seals that would have made tireman blush. Share price jumped from about 100 to 120 within a week.

This was more an indication that Desi was a Peter Principle CEO than any value from the GE deity. He left his heir apparent (initials BS) standing at the altar when he bolted for more fame and fortune at Boeing.

BS went from delivering an Academy Award speech on layoffs at Austin. To being Director of Six Sigma (not joking, that was his title), to being punted to the curb under Buckley. If BS was truly a high flyer, Jimbo would have grabbed him for Boeing.

Been the Lake Minnetonka before at a public beach. An interesting mix of multigenerational people who love the history and quaintness of the place that grandparents owned. Vis-a-vis boujee rich like Mcnerney and others who simply want the luxury but end up being simply bored by the simplicity of nice family-owned restaurants in Excelsior.

We don't have to worry that BB will buy a lakefront lot there when he has his Florida yacht to lounge around while planning his next set of layoffs "just below" numbers that would trigger WARN act. But hey it could be worse if Bryan Hanson were running the ship (into the ground). Most 3Mers exiled to SOLV wish they were at 3M. Now THAT says something about the HC spin!

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Post ID: @14g+1kbec0e8c

@14d re: the helicopter....didn't work also because his equally rich neighbors on the lake didn't want the sound of a helicopter taking off from their lake just to please him. So he took a limo with driver and would read, make phone calls, etc. I saw him several times on the way to St Paul.....

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Post ID: @14e+1kbec0e8c

@144 the GE flunkee who lost out to Immelt to take over after Neutron Jack. Then he almost single-handedly crashed Boeing from the skies with his demented forced ranking and Sick Sigma.

People forget he wanted to live on Lake Minnetonka and be helicoptered to and from work because of the traffic. He finally got talked out of it once he was told it would look bad when he started to slash 1000s of jobs to meet quarterly earnings estimates.

What a overpaid clown!

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Post ID: @14d+1kbec0e8c

@144
Funny. Yes, sorry for error. Meant McN.

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Post ID: @14c+1kbec0e8c

McM must be Mcwormy.

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Post ID: @144+1kbec0e8c

@xw

the posters saying this is routine are correct. 3M has had a 5 point scale for many years in the past. One was in place long before McM added his cruel twist to it. It is actually much better than a 3 pt system, IMHO. It can be better for employees with performance issues as an effective way to get back on track (again, if done by honest mgmt)

Don't confuse the scale with its implementation! Any scale/system can be misused. McM would have brutalized people with any rating system, don't ya know.

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Post ID: @142+1kbec0e8c

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