I've worked at HP for years. I left the company on my own last year because I found a job opportunity. I was working at the Houston factory floor at HPE. Before I was WFR'd, I took notice certian types of people. Yes, we had a few "bad apples" who were lazy or did not pull their weight. Let me concoct and categorize / group the characters of those on the floor. A) The favorites - whom the supervisors protect the most or are clueless of brown-nosers. B) The lazy, C) The Soft-Spoken (the quiet and most under recognized), D) The out-spoken.
Not going off real data here, but let me give a rough estimate the percentages of which ones were WFR'd first, why I firmly believe that this happened, why it is extremely dangerous for a corporation to trust this system in the fact that they are trusting majority of individuals who do not have the best interests of this company but rather themselves.
The following percentage (by category) that I estimate that got WFR'd
A) The Favorites - 2% got laid off due to the supervisor's lack of actual management skills and judgment who ALL have demonstrated favoritism who love brown-nosers who MOST are the "Snakes" and most untalented but just knows how to "advertise themselves" as hard workers. (Except for one supervisor who I know that excersiced good judgment. That lone supervisor, I was told just recently left the company. Why?...because this is what happened to all the good ones...they all leave either through layoffs or they were smart enough to have another company take notice of their talent a.nd pro-activeness to search for a good job. HPE's loss.)
B) The Lazy - 80%, Honestly most of them were layed off, so I think in this aspect the system took care of this...but with unintended consequences (I'll get to that later).
C) The Soft-Spoken - 80%, most of these guys were very talented, but did not expose/flaunt their talents for the majority unobserving supervisors to take notice due to their low-key personalities. I felt so bad for many of those that did not deserve this.
D) The out-spoken - 25%. Those that were out spoken who got WFR'd were mainly because those ones had the "called it like it was" mentality, who the supervisors did not like because they dont want the hear the truth and those that called the Sup's out for favoritism, or that butted heads with the "Favorites". The "Good" out-spoken people who did not get WFR'd, a few are willing to stick around for a package who are waiting for the chance to get WFR'd or found jobs on their own based on their talents, honesty, and pro-activeness. The "Bad" out-spoken individuals are those that bark, play politics, and have no talent.
The Unintended Results/Consequences for the company:
Based on my experience, I've noticed that most of the workers who are left are 65% snakes, brown nosers, and about 35% of the others are actual good workers. The problem is that the snakes have marketed themselves so well, either by throwing the others under the bus, or by brown-nosing. Looking at the big picture of the factory floor, it has now become a TOXIC mess. Very few are left that speak their minds and are honest. I know this one individual, whom I am still surprised is still there, he is very good at what he does and speaks his mind who is brilliant in investing who trained me, gave me lots of good advice and helped me when no one else did (at work and outside of it). But as he told me, that he is just there for circumstance and waiting for a package. This person is so outspoken, he swings away at the supervisors who demonstrate favoritism, very talented guy, technically savvy at work and home and walks with a sense of confidence. This guy, I truly admire as I've seen him stand up for the workers there even though many have tried to throw him under the bus. Most workers are now afraid to stand up and speak out, but this guy still has it and not lost his sense of honesty. HPE honestly, needs more people like him. HPE, I'm sure will find a way to lose him, no doubt. Very few of the good ones stick around. They are either hoping to get a package or another company will snatch them up as they are talented, pro-active by nature, and are out there actively looking. Eventually HPE will be left with a bunch of snakes. FORCED RANKING has created this environment. This system promotes individualism rather than teamwork. People do not want to share their knowledge to others because they dont want the man next to him to get the better grade. It hinders cooperation and creates an atmosphere of "every man for himself" way of thinking. Forced ranking is making HPE less progressive. If HPE continues this system, they will find themselves with individuals who will not promote teamwork and therefore will not promote a productive environment at the best that it could be. It is sad that HPE, (who needs the workers now more than ever due to Mexico's work that may come back), is still stuck on maintaining this negative system when other major companies have taken notice to the points that I've mentioned. Forced Ranking will never be a "Teamwork" promoting system. It promotes exactly the opposite. I am sure that many of you who are still working here, know what I am talking about. And btw...most of the supervisors on that factory floor have no previous experience or even a degree in management, who lack judgment making abilities, and do not know their own people as they follow the advice from the brown nosers. This also contributes to the toxicity of the environment. If HPE wants to fix things, they need to rid themselves of ALL the supervisors in favor of those that treat the employees better with fairness and remove that ranking system.
I hope for the best to all those that deserve it, and wish them luck moving forward. HPE does not deserve the good ones. HPE has been cut-throat and have not been loyal to them and therefore, the company does not deserve loyalty. Loyalty should only be given to those that return that favor.