Thread regarding ExxonMobil Corp. layoffs

When I went into a new management position at EM many years ago, I was told by my manager how to rate a certain employee under my supervision. My assessment was different from his, and I believe there was something personal between them that happened before my arrival. I didn't go along with the scheme and turned in my version of the performance evaluation. After that, I had a target on my back and the managers aligned against me for not playing their game. The intent of the ranking system is good, but the execution is rife with flaws caused by human frailties.

Don't forget the "Potential" assigned to all employees at the start of their career, based on - what ? - their hiring interview ? This is also a major problem. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy that ensures that high flyers moves through positions and departments at breakneck speed, never staying long enough to understand the business of their group or team, certainly never hanging around to have to deal with the consequences of their decisions and mistakes, but always being told that they did a great job and they're in the top 10% of their rank group.

It's no surprise that - by and large - EM's top level managers are the most arrogant and clueless bunch of entitled hypocrites that you'll ever encounter.

The other thing that I believe gets in the way of success is the AMPIC system used to fill openings. When you take away the ability for people to see openings & post for jobs in which they have interest, it takes away motivation. There's also a watering down of knowledge/talent that ensues. The company then has too many "jack of all trades, master of none" folks, and then management wonders why we do not generate better results.

You hit the nail on the head ...the ranking system is Exxon’s biggest problem

If you took 100 Nobel Science laureates and put them in our system there would be a bottom third. In the new system there would be the a NSI and we would fire the bottom 10 percent. So our system would call the bottom third of them are dog-sh–. Not that everyone deserves a trophy but this case illustrates the basic problem. And despite HR’s misleading info it is still very much a forced ranking. Just in buckets. Just like it was before when it was quintiles.

Exxon has the worst systems I've seen. Where I work pay is still done is some type of ancient DOS based looking system. It takes the person manually entering it an hour or more, multiple questions to others who hopefully know how to enter something, and even then it usually isn't done correctly. The only thing missing is a dot matrix printer to print and fax it to payroll. This company is full of terrible systems like this because someone developed a program 50 years ago and only a few people are even capable of keeping the band-aids together, and no way they are going to allow any improvements to it that would risk their leverage within the company. This archaic form of management from the top down is finally catching up to the company. Unfortunately, it's at a time when I work there.

It prevents people from sharing their knowledge.

So very true, ranking system is the most unfair, illogical and one of the major causes of the downfall.

It's about who you know and how much a—kissing you want to do