Microsoft ditches system that ranks employees against each other
On Tuesday, Microsoft announced that it would no longer be engaging in ?stacked ranking? of employees along a fixed curve, one of the most unpopular practices the company held according to long-time veterans of the company. Under the banner of ?One Microsoft? the company is moving away from emphasizing individual contributions and toward collaboration, teams, and innovation. Stacked ranking and forced distribution pitted employees against each other because employee bonuses which were dependent on performance reviews required managers to put a small percent of their subordinates into the top, a small percent into the bottom, and the remaining employees in the middle. Many previous employees to the firm have already expressed relief that the forced ranking system is going away, and current employees have stated that they are looking forward to the positive impact the new system will have on the company. This is significant because it signals an emerging shift in the paradigm used to evaluate employees.
See "Microsoft ditches system that ranks employees against each other", Janet I. Tu, The Seattle Times, November 12, 2013