Wall Street Journal Article Analysis
Wall Street Journal Article Review #2
Microsoft Abandons ‘Stack Ranking’ Employees
Article by Authors, Shira Ovide and Rachel Feintzeig
Abstract
In the article “Microsoft Abandons ‘Stack Ranking’ Employees”. Shira Ovide and Rachel Feintzeig discuss how getting rid of such a system will benefit the company. The authors cite several sources. They don’t go into too deep of detail on why CEO Mr. Ballmer decided to implement the change, only that before he leaves the company for good he wanted to leave his mark on Microsoft with a new ranking system. This article is a description of how the former practice of ‘Stack Ranking’ by Microsoft is on the steady decline throughout business today. The authors describe how the …show more content…
current CEO, Mr. Steve Ballmer, wants to revamp the company structure before he heads out. The authors use many quotes from various sources and they heavily rely on Dick Grouts writings of forced ranking. The main point of the article is that many companies are moving away from ‘Stack Ranking’ because of the lack of productiveness and unwillingness of managers to evolve their employees. Besides the way Microsoft is reshaping their ranking system, the current executive vice president of human resources Lisa Brummel stated that “not all employees or managers embraced the old review-and-compensation system” (Ovide & Feintzeig, 2013).
By tracking the origin of stack ranking from General Eclectic Co. who became popular in the 1980’s (Ovide & Feintzeig, 2013). Mr. Grote, a performance manager consultant, is able to see a trend in companies modifying the practice to help evaluate their employees, then shows examples of businesses moving to an entirely different system. While showing how human resources struggle to figure out how to effectively review employees. The authors highlight many of the negative points of the stack ranking system without giving a personal opinion to persuade the reader.
I feel the contributing factor toward Human Resource Management is linked to chapter 8, Managing Employees’ Performance. With this change taking place in Microsoft they are able to move forward. Not firing the bottom 10% just because they happened to be on the bottom. This change will enable the company to develop already good employees’ into great employees. I think the best approach would be the graphic rating scale, “the employer uses the scale to indicate the extent to which the employee being rated displays the traits” (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2014, p. 242). The article doesn’t go into great detail on what new system the company plans on using, just that managers will be giving more frequent feedback. If I were them and the graphic rating scale didn’t make the list then I would suggest the organizational behavior modification (OBM) only because of what was said previously. The OBM is a “plan for managing the behavior of employees through a formal system of feedback and reinforcement” (Noe, et al., 2014, p. 246).
The article gives many quotes from various management personnel stating how their company has dealt with employee evaluations but is held together by studies provided by Dick Grote.
In the technology industry, “some companies have struggled with how to reshape employee-evaluation programs as they grow” (Ovide & Feintzeig, 2013). It states what Microsoft plans to focus on when deciding how to deal with their new HR system. Although Microsoft revised their stack ranking system several times over the decades, they have never been through such a drastic change. According to Ovide and Feintzeig, “Microsoft managers now will give employees more frequent feedback on how they’re performing” (Ovide & Feintzeig, …show more content…
2013).
In my view the most important information in this article is the fact that after decades of dealing with stack ranking, Microsoft employees will finally have a chance to develop and evolve. It was past due for the company to change how they rank their employees. I’ve seen Microsoft change many of their products and their technology, it was a bit of a shock to learn that they were still evaluating their employees in such a faction. It’s also good to see that such companies are willing to change their ways.
Compared to Stephen R. Satterwhite 's "Here 's to the death of Microsoft 's Rank-and-Yank" whose article shows more of a history lesson instead of simple current affairs. According to Satterwhite, “rank-and-yank system caused people to fight for themselves and their jobs, not fight for the company” (Satterwhite, 2013). Whereas Mr. Satterwhite states stack ranking as bad and why, followed by supporting facts. Ovide and Feintzeig merely state the facts behind the effects of stack ranking. The Forbes article also has more of a soap box feel, leaving the reader with the feeling they are not reading a textbook but listening to an informative conversation.
Coming from an HRM perspective, I wonder why it took them this long to implement the change.
I understand that former CEO Jack Welch was very adamant about the stack ranking model, but how could there not have been someone within the company to bring forth the data on why the company no longer needed to use that model? I’m truly baffled on how long this lasted and also how there weren’t many lawsuits against Microsoft because of being fired. No matter how hard of a worker you may be, there will always be someone on the bottom 10%. Instead of firing them, the company should have counseled them. Let them improve and grow. I’m pleased that such a change has taken affect, but and also saddened by all the employees how lost their careers within Microsoft because of some archaic ranking system. Works Cited
Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2014). In Fundamentals of Human Resource Management (p. 242 and p. 246). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Ovide, S., & Feintzeig, R. (2013, November 12). Microsoft Abandons 'Stack Ranking ' Employees. Retrieved from Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303460004579193951987616572?KEYWORDS=microsoft+abandons+%27stack+ranking%27+of+employees
Satterwhite, S. R. (2013, November 13). Forbes. Retrieved from Here 's To The Death Of Microsoft 's Rank-And-Yank:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadershipforum/2013/11/13/heres-to-the-death-of-microsofts-rank-and-yank/
Microsoft Abandons ‘Stack Ranking’ Employees
Article by Authors, Shira Ovide and Rachel Feintzeig
Abstract
In the article “Microsoft Abandons ‘Stack Ranking’ Employees”. Shira Ovide and Rachel Feintzeig discuss how getting rid of such a system will benefit the company. The authors cite several sources. They don’t go into too deep of detail on why CEO Mr. Ballmer decided to implement the change, only that before he leaves the company for good he wanted to leave his mark on Microsoft with a new ranking system. This article is a description of how the former practice of ‘Stack Ranking’ by Microsoft is on the steady decline throughout business today. The authors describe how the …show more content…
current CEO, Mr. Steve Ballmer, wants to revamp the company structure before he heads out. The authors use many quotes from various sources and they heavily rely on Dick Grouts writings of forced ranking. The main point of the article is that many companies are moving away from ‘Stack Ranking’ because of the lack of productiveness and unwillingness of managers to evolve their employees. Besides the way Microsoft is reshaping their ranking system, the current executive vice president of human resources Lisa Brummel stated that “not all employees or managers embraced the old review-and-compensation system” (Ovide & Feintzeig, 2013).
By tracking the origin of stack ranking from General Eclectic Co. who became popular in the 1980’s (Ovide & Feintzeig, 2013). Mr. Grote, a performance manager consultant, is able to see a trend in companies modifying the practice to help evaluate their employees, then shows examples of businesses moving to an entirely different system. While showing how human resources struggle to figure out how to effectively review employees. The authors highlight many of the negative points of the stack ranking system without giving a personal opinion to persuade the reader.
I feel the contributing factor toward Human Resource Management is linked to chapter 8, Managing Employees’ Performance. With this change taking place in Microsoft they are able to move forward. Not firing the bottom 10% just because they happened to be on the bottom. This change will enable the company to develop already good employees’ into great employees. I think the best approach would be the graphic rating scale, “the employer uses the scale to indicate the extent to which the employee being rated displays the traits” (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2014, p. 242). The article doesn’t go into great detail on what new system the company plans on using, just that managers will be giving more frequent feedback. If I were them and the graphic rating scale didn’t make the list then I would suggest the organizational behavior modification (OBM) only because of what was said previously. The OBM is a “plan for managing the behavior of employees through a formal system of feedback and reinforcement” (Noe, et al., 2014, p. 246).
The article gives many quotes from various management personnel stating how their company has dealt with employee evaluations but is held together by studies provided by Dick Grote.
In the technology industry, “some companies have struggled with how to reshape employee-evaluation programs as they grow” (Ovide & Feintzeig, 2013). It states what Microsoft plans to focus on when deciding how to deal with their new HR system. Although Microsoft revised their stack ranking system several times over the decades, they have never been through such a drastic change. According to Ovide and Feintzeig, “Microsoft managers now will give employees more frequent feedback on how they’re performing” (Ovide & Feintzeig, …show more content…
2013).
In my view the most important information in this article is the fact that after decades of dealing with stack ranking, Microsoft employees will finally have a chance to develop and evolve. It was past due for the company to change how they rank their employees. I’ve seen Microsoft change many of their products and their technology, it was a bit of a shock to learn that they were still evaluating their employees in such a faction. It’s also good to see that such companies are willing to change their ways.
Compared to Stephen R. Satterwhite 's "Here 's to the death of Microsoft 's Rank-and-Yank" whose article shows more of a history lesson instead of simple current affairs. According to Satterwhite, “rank-and-yank system caused people to fight for themselves and their jobs, not fight for the company” (Satterwhite, 2013). Whereas Mr. Satterwhite states stack ranking as bad and why, followed by supporting facts. Ovide and Feintzeig merely state the facts behind the effects of stack ranking. The Forbes article also has more of a soap box feel, leaving the reader with the feeling they are not reading a textbook but listening to an informative conversation.
Coming from an HRM perspective, I wonder why it took them this long to implement the change.
I understand that former CEO Jack Welch was very adamant about the stack ranking model, but how could there not have been someone within the company to bring forth the data on why the company no longer needed to use that model? I’m truly baffled on how long this lasted and also how there weren’t many lawsuits against Microsoft because of being fired. No matter how hard of a worker you may be, there will always be someone on the bottom 10%. Instead of firing them, the company should have counseled them. Let them improve and grow. I’m pleased that such a change has taken affect, but and also saddened by all the employees how lost their careers within Microsoft because of some archaic ranking system. Works Cited
Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2014). In Fundamentals of Human Resource Management (p. 242 and p. 246). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Ovide, S., & Feintzeig, R. (2013, November 12). Microsoft Abandons 'Stack Ranking ' Employees. Retrieved from Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303460004579193951987616572?KEYWORDS=microsoft+abandons+%27stack+ranking%27+of+employees
Satterwhite, S. R. (2013, November 13). Forbes. Retrieved from Here 's To The Death Of Microsoft 's Rank-And-Yank:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadershipforum/2013/11/13/heres-to-the-death-of-microsofts-rank-and-yank/