Are they worth getting at all? I kind of have a feeling this is all waste of time but wanted to see what other posters here think. I think I heard that at some level (not sure what Band) IBM requires you to have these badges in order to get promoted, so in that light it may be good to get them.
Again, I am hearing conflicting opinions and let's see what others think
we were told it is mandatory to do badges - i reckon you see so many on linked in because lots of ibmers have to do them!! otherwise its a pip and goodbye - normal service resumed - no payout. just another method to reduce head count. are the badges useful - No worthless.
If you have spare time to work on badges then I agree, you should be RA'd.
Most are getting pulled 20 different directions and have no free time to waste on badges.
My manager has not mandated any badge completions and she would have if it was required because she plays by all the blue rules trust me.
Here is an interesting tidbit; if you work on training/badges during your own time and do not charge IBM for it, you can be fired for your actions. They worry about you coming back in the future to file against them for unpaid time.
This presents a real quandary for the brown nosing types with no social life.
You cant bill for too many training hours because it exposes how much free time you have.
You cant train on your own time without billing the hours.
ha ha
Badge completion is mandated and tracked by a group of
middle managers. After responding to a series of weekly fire drills to complete over 40 hours of training, most of the content was either outdated or did not apply to my specialty. After completing all badges and consistently overachieving in my role, I was still part of a Resource Action. Conclusion: badge completion helps managers to look at a dashboard to see what their employees are doing in their spare time.
They look really good on LinkedIn though :-) .. I laugh everytime I see an IBMer post their badge on LinkedIn...
Plenty of managers chimed in that IBM badges mean nothing in relation to pay increases.
Maybe you need to read the replies again slowly and try to absorb it yourself.
Quit wasting your time on them and quit cluttering up your signature with useless badge logos.
You are making a fool out of yourself with all those. People are laughing.
Do you have IBM underwear too?
@2ukg sit down, relax and read the thread again slowly. Try to absorb what has been written and also what hasn't been written. Some IBMers are so blinkered, they won't see it coming. Best of luck.
I received a very large raise recently, plus a nice bonus and have zero badges.
Anyone can get a badge pretty easy by watching those MyLearning modules.
IBM is not going to reward you for clicking "completed" after a few useless modules.
What are you smoking? Get off the goop man its destroying your brain cells.
As a FLM i can tell you that badges and raises have no relationship. In my team the badges pile is growing but I have no budget to give people decent raises - not even to offset inflation. IBM specific Badges are useless in the outside world.
Obligatory response:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040897/quotes/qt0356583
Gold Hat: "Badges? We ain't got no badges! We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinking badges!"
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 1948
I tell my team: ONLY PROJECT RELATED BADGES... Otherwise, all that knowledge is gone in 2 months.
As a FLM, badges are worth nothing. Only a head fake for employees and worthless in the marketplace. IBMs way of getting you to spend time so they do not have to give you a raise. Spend your time getting something recognized by the marketplace like CISSP or PMP certification.
@1mdi, totally agree with you. These days you have to take advantage of everything you can in this s--t company called IBM. If IBM is dumb enough to give big raises to people who waste their time getting badges instead of actually working to make money for the company, then more power to the smart guys like us who found a way to exploit the IBM exploiting machine.
@1rnz just to be clear, are you saying I'm talking BS or that I'm repeating the BS that I was told by my management? Either way, I was told it was called cognipay. I suspect if you can be bothered you can search for it on W3. We were told there are a lot of inputs from different sources, one being your skills and one part of that was badges. Yes it s---s, but I don't make the rules.
I would agree that IBM Badges are useless outside IBM, but inside they seemed to be highly beneficial. Got about 15+ badges this year and a 10K raise just fell down out of nowhere. So, I am planning to re-test this next year and see what happens!
It is juts such a dumb system but if it is really automated like someone else said, then it is one way to take advantage of the system... is it AI Watson?? So f------ dumb!
@ 1oju: that's total BS
We were told badges are one of the contributing factors to the new fully automated pay rise system.
I concur with @Vjpddq8-1kcp. The IBM badges are meaningless outside Big Blue; if you mention your badges to prospective employers you will receive only blank looks.
IBM executives have us drink the Kool-Aid trying to convince us that badges are a worthwhile achievement. But in reality they are relevant only inside the company and hold little weight in the job market.
I know of someone who heard they were going to require badges for promotions and bonuses and went out one weekend and got over 35 badges! Talk about meaningless......
Band 8- Band 9 you must get a certain set of badges depending on the track you’re in. The Consulting track ones are easier than the Architect ones. If I had known I would have never done the Architect ones.
I’m even hearing Band 7- Band 8 now need to justify a promotion through badges. But again, these are all defined in the career track you choose.
Do not, and I repeat, DO NOT do any badges other than the minimum required for your promotion. Had a friend recently go to a huge competitor and was told that badges are completely meaningless outside of your company.
Badges are how the Boomers running IBM let us know how desperate they are to "connect" with Millennials and Gen Z. And how clueless they are. It's like watching your unhip old uncle try to dance disco.
Industry recognized certifications have some importance when job searching.
CCIE, MCSD for example will be used by several recruiters.
Badges exclusive to IBM mean nothing. Just proves you went through some training module.
I have over 1,000 internal IBM certifications of completion (a badge basically) it's all c-ap.
Badges remind me of Pokemon cards, you collect them. It's nice to have them, not that useful at all. However, if you do something that's applicable for your project, that's a different story.