November 13, 2013, 7:09 am Microsoft Abolishes Employee Evaluation System By NICK WINGFIELD Britta Pedersen/European Pressphoto Agency Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft’s departing chief, last week. Critics of a long-standing practice “stack-ranking,” for evaluating employee performance at the company, said rewarding stand-out performers was difficult because everyone was graded on a curve. SEATTLE Imagine getting a average, but instead of being – judged by a teacher who has worked with you throughout the year, you are evaluated by a bunch of teachers, some of whom may not know you very well. That slightly scary proposition explains just some of the misgivings Microsoft workers have had about ranking,” a longstanding “stack practice for evaluating employee performance at the company. In a to employees on Tuesday, Microsoft’s head of human resources said the company would end the practice in favor of a new and more flexible system intended to encourage better collaboration among employees. new approach will make it easier for managers and leaders to “Our allocate rewards in a manner that reflects the unique contributions of their employees and teams,” Lisa Brummel, the executive vice president of human resources, wrote in the letter. Microsoft’s stack-ranking approach received a amount of attention for what was, after all, an internal evaluation system. current and “Every former Microsoft employee I interviewed every one cited stack — — ranking as the most destructive process inside of Microsoft, something
November 13, 2013, 7:09 am Microsoft Abolishes Employee Evaluation System By NICK WINGFIELD Britta Pedersen/European Pressphoto Agency Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft’s departing chief, last week. Critics of “stack-ranking,” a long-standing practice for evaluating employee performance at the company, said rewarding stand-out performers was difficult because everyone was graded on a curve. SEATTLE – Imagine getting a average, but instead of being judged by a teacher who has worked with you throughout the year, you are evaluated by a bunch of teachers, some of whom may not know you very well. That slightly scary proposition explains just some of the misgivings Microsoft workers have had about “stack ranking,” a longstanding practice for evaluating employee performance at the company. In a to employees on Tuesday, Microsoft’s head of human resources said the company would end the practice in favor of a new and more flexible system intended to encourage better collaboration among employees. “Our new approach will make it easier for managers and leaders to allocate rewards in a manner that reflects the unique contributions of their employees and teams,” Lisa Brummel, the executive vice president of human resources, wrote in the letter. Microsoft’s stack-ranking approach received a amount of attention for what was, after all, an internal evaluation system. “Every current and former Microsoft employee I interviewed — every one — cited stack ranking as the most destructive process inside of Microsoft, something
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