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.
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I was excited to transfer to Optum 14 months ago because I heard good things about the culture. It was all positive quarterly reviews until I got a no notice call when I was out sick 01/23 that my job was eliminated. I was told that I could only use my computer to look for jobs in the following 2 weeks prior to. 02/06 termination date. When leadership saw me online I was coldly admonished and the woman I reported to refused to speak with me after being so nice before. These people are evil.
Late response but same. And they laid off my coworker and gave me all their staff. And they took away the bonus. Then cut my raise in to half of my usual.
@1m6 And now they cover my post with an advertisement to make it unreadable
@dp very true, even when workers won the super hero price, their raise was mediocre based on favoritism by leadership. Only to find out the higher raise employees were underperforming
@OP
The practice you're referring to is common and had been in action for a long time. It's s sham.
@pk this is very true for some (most) Indian managers. I have been fortunate to worked with some who do not or to a far lesser extent. But there are a number, especially in Optum Tech, who much prefer other Indians and quite a few who have a tough time with female coworkers.
The discrimination is quite blatant, but leadership don’t care (because many of them are Indian and the caste system in India is fully alive and well) and HR is, well, HR.
@k1 You may have favorites towards better employees, but Indian managers play favorites with Indian hires. And this is an Indian company.
I am sure the so called leaders will still get 12% raise. Optum is a corporate he-l for most FTEs. Many contractors are hired based on connections and they do nothing and still survive the layoffs. I wonder who is getting the cuts.
@jx and @jg that’s some serious bullsh-t.
I’m sure there are some that show favoritism towards certain employees but by and large that favoritism is geared towards better employees. I have my “favorites” because they’re the best ones. Nothing more, nothing less.
In it sure as he-l is middle managements job to give out 2’s and 5’s and everything in between if those people work them. Why would you want some person who doesn’t work the individuals handing out scores?
First issue is that managers are showing bias by giving higher ratings to “favored” employees or those who challenge leadership. This is not good for the company. Second issue is that the company is enforcing a rule requiring few % of team members to receive lower ratings, regardless of their actual performance. Both sides have valid points.
Giving 2's or 5's isn't a middle management decision. also, no matter what high rankings an individual get's (or low rankings), has nothing to do with job security..We are raised as children to assume that rankings, one higher or lower from another, give us some sort of security..It doesn't. I've experienced entire teams wiped out, regardless of some arbitrary 'ranking' ....The truth is, just work until the work is over and then find other work
Give the 2s to offshore employees. They aren’t going to fire them as they get paid less in the first place.
Last year two people on my team were forced 2s and we had 2 4s forced down to 3
I haven't heard of the forced 2s. The usual allotments are in play 15% 5 30 to 45% 4s amd the rest 3s. At least 40%. Giving someone a 2 that doesn't deserve it is terrible and means they have just been marked for the layoff.
No raises for 30+ again? F*ck this place.
Ridiculous.
This company is beyond saving. The public hates us and the employees hate leadership
Are offshore ratings included in these quotas? At this point if they give any of our onshore people remaining a 2 we are in deep deep trouble. We are already 85% offshore.
What a sl--eball move with these bell curve ratings giving good performers 2s when not deserved, the whole performance review process at Optum is a sham, nothing is based on performance, only the bottom line of dollars and those that kiss a-s and are buddies get good reviews. Glad I got out of this company where I am appreciated and get reviews and incentives based on my performance like it should be.
Just sat through annual review meeting of 200 engineers- 8-10% 2’s was required. Mandate must be coming from very top.
Hearing from leaders that the mandate is no 5s and GL30s no pay increase again (third year). Not sure about the other grades. If like last year we were allowed to give pay increases (not big ones) to GL27-GL29s. And yes to downgrading good performers to 3s or 2s. Managers have to meet quotas for each rating and have no choice in the matter.
Does anyone think we’re getting raises this year? Either way, it’s not like anyone is getting rich with 1-2% year over year. Plus RRP will likely be pitiful if anything.
So with that what does it matter beyond trying to build the next RIF list. Everyone else who performs a high level they should just give 4’s and 5’s because it won’t matter. 0% of $0 is still $0 and 4% (for those getting a “5”) of $0 is still $0.
The lowest overall rating I ever got was a 3 and it meant no raise. But then I was put on PIP for a month due to standing up to all the bullsh-t going on. I made it through but I knew the end was near. Anyone getting a 2 needs to simply make finding a new job their priority, they wouldn’t have given you that rating if they wanted you around! What I hated most about my 14yrs at Optum was that all my colleagues at other firms were getting 3-4% merit increases while only the a-s kissers got that here at Optum. The rest of us got around 1% even with a 4 overall rating, the cronyism has destroyed this place. They can’t efficiently or cost effectively deliver and their customer satisfaction is reflected in the share prices!
I am willing to trade my 4 for a decent used watercraft.
They did the forced downgrade of a 3 to a 2 on one of our best teammates last year. As soon as he got the rating he burned all his PTO and submitted his resignation the day he came back.
Cant say I blame him. Management was shocked somehow? Not sure why
@bh Yes 2=PIP, years ago they would give you a chance to improve even if you don't need to, now its used as a reason to lay you off. Ask me how I know
@cs good luck with that. Optum/UHG will just say they’re calibrating scores
This sounds like a company and a whole lot of people who lack any integrity. Giving people scores in order to make sure they don’t get a descent evaluation impacting them financially seems like they would have a case with the labor board for discrimination.
If you receive a 2, are you definitely put on a PIP? Also, if on a PIP and/or graded 2, you can't post for another position outside of the area that just sc--wed you, right? Or are exceptions made?
If true this is going to tank the stock. We have entire contracts that were supposed to be signed by 12/31 to renew business sitting collecting dust cause they RIF’d the negotiators, or they have quit, and no one was hired to replace them.
By the time these cuts stop, there will be no one generating new business anymore and existing business will be requesting to terminate due to all the emails to our people returning undeliverable.
I’m venturing to guess it won’t matter what is given by the managers, the leaders will just start knocking people down arbitrarily to get the right number of 2’s and 3’s. They may never have heard of, worked with, or talked to any of them, it’s “just business”.
I’ve heard some managers are fighting back a bit as they already lost quite a few people— the lucky ones were able to retain their top talent, but now being asked to grade them lower.
This is why we seen a Optum Health CMO/Senior Leader randomly leave today. They were told to rank folks and he put in his notice.
I refused to give 2 as they asked me last year. But my st. Director changed it later without my consent. 😔
I know a couple years back my manager was told they had to change my 5 to a 4 because 5s were not allowed. And even with a 4 I got a 1% merit increase, my manager even had a hard time delivering that news. I thought at least I got some RSU money that would matter over time, just kidding, that got knocked down 50% with the stock crash. This company is really headed down hill. Nothing has actually changed with the new leaders this year expect they want to accelerate layoffs and increase offshore hiring. It's not even AI costing us the jobs, its the race to the lowest wages. I think the most offensive part is how they lie and play games with their employees, it's toxic, you can't even get an honest performance review. I've been trying to find other jobs but it's a brutal market out there.
1/2 my team got their scores lowered today.
They really are documenting for a doozy of a layoff. It is a shame nowhere else is hiring.
@a4 it depends on your org but in mine they do it based on your direct reports only. Meaning, if you have a team of 7 high performers, the worst person on the team must get a 2 or 3 depending on the year even if there performance is better than a 4 or 5 on a lower performing adjacent team. It’s messed up.
I have gave 2s in the past where it was deserved for people chronically underperforming. Now I have a pretty solid team but because of the stupid curve they require me to put someone as a 2. This year has been brutal. Basically no 5s. They are playing a distribution game with the ratings. Oh we need more grade 27s to be 3s instead of 4. We need more grade 26s to be grade 4 instead of 3.
Like really? What happened to paying for performance? You have little control over your rating and neither does your manager. We’re all in this he-l hole together. This year made me sick when it came to bumping people down on the ratings. What am I supposed to tell them in February? Oh sorry you’re being put on a PIP and given a 2 because…. some a--hat cares more about a curve rather than your actual performance.
It used to be 10,20,60,10 Percentages for score. Maybe it's changed to 5,10,70,15
It's happening since last 2 years. Maybe more so this year as you pointed out.
One QQ, are they doing stack rankings? Esp across the org. Or just within each group