tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post113738301686762373..comments2024-03-18T12:52:48.117-07:00Comments on Mini-Microsoft: Goals for a Brave New Microsoft Review and Compensation SystemWho da'Punkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18205453956191063442noreply@blogger.comBlogger129125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1144880164857303032006-04-12T15:16:00.000-07:002006-04-12T15:16:00.000-07:00From an earlier post:"You are sounding like gettin...From an earlier post:<BR/>"You are sounding like getting a 3.0 is derrogatory. 3.0 is a good rating and majority of people in the company gets it." <BR/><BR/>This was certainly not true on the team I was on. I was at MS for three years and left basically due to middle management incompetency and the fact that every review cycle I was told that, at a 3.0 level, my place on the team was in danger and my contributions were not valued. Also due to the fact that when I tried to clarify expectations and ask for objective metrics for measuring success I was met with blank stares. I suppose you could call it sour grapes except for the fact that my entire team left within 2 years of my leaving for the same reasons. So, basically it took 5 years for anyone to notice that a group was being grossly mismanaged and who knows what, if anything, was done at that point. <BR/><BR/>Performance ranking is fine. Performance-based pay incentives are fine. Being ranked relative to your peers (across a wide span of groups) instead of being ranked against your goals is just sloppy management. Regardless of how dynamic your industry is, there are core goals that should be relatively static throughout the year, and those goals should be based on bona-fide business needs, not the whim of some middle-level menager who comes up with a new requirement in an effort to stand out on his/her review. And, while peer review can and should be an important component, it is only helpful when ICs are true peers, not competitors, as they are in the forced stack-rank system.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1141953291517020092006-03-09T17:14:00.000-08:002006-03-09T17:14:00.000-08:00Touché, after 8 years at MSFT, most posts are corr...Touché, after 8 years at MSFT, most posts are correct here; move on to a better situation…Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1139208263639958102006-02-05T22:44:00.000-08:002006-02-05T22:44:00.000-08:00While I can understand the energy around the detai...While I can understand the energy around the details of review systems, that's where we all know egregious errors are committed, I would offer that the real place to start house cleaning is at the top.<BR/><BR/>In any other company where the Board is strong and active, Messrs Gates and Ballmer would have been fired years ago. I mean their admission that they "really have no strategy to grow the company with all the retained earnings, so we'll start to give it back as stock dividends" is pathetic.<BR/><BR/>But since the Microsoft Board seems to be such no-name wimps, there is no accountability.<BR/><BR/>As many have noted, things will only improve with accountability. Has to start at the top. Time for Messrs. Gates and Ballmer to move on to their next gigs. A totally flat stock for nearly 5 years is unconscionable.<BR/> <BR/>If they dont move on, then nothing of substance will change. Allegedly Gates has defended "rank-yank" as core to the company culture and its (past) success. <BR/> <BR/>So all this talk of change is for naught if it doesnt start at the top.<BR/><BR/>Otherwise you will get the same company and behaviour.<BR/>Good luck<BR/><BR/>Silicon Valley Product ManagerAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1138829946874502722006-02-01T13:39:00.000-08:002006-02-01T13:39:00.000-08:00- In general US is far far less racist than almost...<I>- In general US is far far less racist than almost all countries in the world.</I><BR/><BR/>I should certainly hope so given the fact that we have laws making discrimination illegal. All the more reason to not tolerate discrimination at MSFT.<BR/><BR/><I>- I bet MSFT is one of the best companies in the whole coutry with regards to promoting minorities. What are the stats in other large companies in US?</I><BR/><BR/>Glad you asked. In 2000 the EEOC did a study of Fortune 500 companies to determine what affect racism and glass ceilings had on minorities. Their conclusion, all minorities are under represented in management but Asians stood out as the worst at 50% under. Now compare this with MSFT where they are over 70% under represented and you see why MSFT is among the worst in minority promotions. <BR/><BR/><I>- How is racism in Asia in general and China (or whatever Asian country you come from) in particular? Do you discrimate on the basis of looks or background in your country? Do you discrimate on the basis of communication skills in your country? </I><BR/><BR/>Dude, my country is USA. I was born here, educated here, and have worked here at Microsoft for over the past 10 years. The closest I've been to Asia is the local Ujimaya store. Funny how you assume that I'm not an American because I'm Asian. And btw, I don't discriminate because it's illegal and offensive in <B>my</B> country. <BR/><BR/><I> You can accuse Microsoft of anything, but do not accuse them of discrimination against minorities! My guess is there are fewer Asian managers since they generally have poorer communication skills.</I><BR/><BR/>Yeah, and while we're at it, forget about promoting women because they're just too emotional and older employees because you just can't teach an old dog new tricks... <BR/><BR/>Make all the excuses you want but in the end these are just stereotypes used to discriminate against minorities and allow a status quo imbalance in management continue. <BR/><BR/><I>I am not Caucasian, but I can tell you if there is any discrimination at MSFT it is *Against* Caucasians.</I><BR/><BR/>Yes, those poor Caucasians who only get a mere 90% of management positions at MSFT and it would be alot higher were it not for that darn reverse discrimination...give me a break!<BR/><BR/><I>The Asians who work in the US practice the worst kind of racism and discrimination themselves back in their countries, based on skin color, caste (in India), background (from city or village) etc. It is very hypocritical to complain about this at Microsoft.</I><BR/><BR/>I'm sorry you insist on being a hostage to your stereotypes and prejudices rather than embracing cultural diversity - something that is long overdue at MSFT and will make it a better and more competitive company.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1138807054079961662006-02-01T07:17:00.000-08:002006-02-01T07:17:00.000-08:00Hey mini - why have you stopped posting responses ...Hey mini - why have you stopped posting responses to this blog just when things were getting interesting?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1138333962028880952006-01-26T19:52:00.000-08:002006-01-26T19:52:00.000-08:00The only case of discrimination I've seen is India...<I>The only case of discrimination I've seen is Indians promoting and hiring Indians in some groups. <BR/></I><BR/><BR/>I have seen this happen a lot. I am saying this being Indian myself. I think the reason is, Indian managers think they can manage other Indians more easily, than managing whites. The same can be said about Asians managers too, except that there fewer Asian managers.<BR/><BR/>Whites do hire whoever is the best. <BR/><BR/>Once Indians get established in the middle management, they will look to hire only Indians who can then be burnt out without any qualms:-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1138324049894199692006-01-26T17:07:00.000-08:002006-01-26T17:07:00.000-08:00The only case of discrimination I've seen is India...The only case of discrimination I've seen is Indians promoting and hiring Indians in some groups. <BR/><BR/>This is not the case in my curernt group. We have many Indians still, but we hire whoever does best in the interview loop and I've yet to see any preferential treatment between Indian managers and Indian employees here. I did see several instances of this in the past, that's all I want to say.<BR/><BR/>However, in this particular case you can't say that discrimination was being perpetrated by white males against minorities. It's the opposite.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1138249523872390632006-01-25T20:25:00.000-08:002006-01-25T20:25:00.000-08:00For example, 8% of employees at Microsoft are Asia...<I>For example, 8% of employees at Microsoft are Asian, yet they comprise only 2% of management. On the other hand, 50% of employees are Caucasian males, yet they command over 80% of all management positions.</I><BR/><BR/>The bulk of MS's business is not in Asia and Caucasians @ MS get along better with the Caucasion majority @ other companies. Who's to say that that they're not part of management based purely on merit?<BR/><BR/>FWIW, I am Asian and I greatly distrust those who wave the racism flag.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1138249332040762932006-01-25T20:22:00.000-08:002006-01-25T20:22:00.000-08:00Dude. Give it up. Are you complaning about discrim...Dude. Give it up. Are you complaning about discrimination against minorities at Microsoft? You are kidding me.<BR/><BR/>- In general US is far far less racist than almost all countries in the world.<BR/>- I bet MSFT is one of the best companies in the whole coutry with regards to promoting minorities. What are the stats in other large companies in US?<BR/>- How is racism in Asia in general and China (or whatever Asian country you come from) in particular? Do you discrimate on the basis of looks or background in your country? Do you discrimate on the basis of communication skills in your country? <BR/>- And about foreigners that work in your country - how are their promotion rates?<BR/><BR/>You can accuse Microsoft of anything, but do not accuse them of discrimination against minorities! My guess is there are fewer Asian managers since they generally have poorer communication skills.<BR/><BR/>I am not Caucasian, but I can tell you if there is any discrimination at MSFT it is *Against* Caucasians.<BR/><BR/>The Asians who work in the US practice the worst kind of racism and discrimination themselves back in their countries, based on skin color, caste (in India), background (from city or village) etc. It is very hypocritical to complain about this at Microsoft.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1138245438011978232006-01-25T19:17:00.000-08:002006-01-25T19:17:00.000-08:00>> discrimination against minorities at MicrosoftT...<I><BR/>>> discrimination against minorities at Microsoft<BR/><BR/>That is such a pile of bull shit. If this is so in your group, do let your HR know. This assumes you have facts to support your words. True, there are fewer women in engineering, test and (especially) Dev. But did it ever occur to you that fewer women go for engineering degrees in college? Where I studied the proportion between males and females was 1:25. Or should we hire females just because they are females? And minorities just because they're minorities? What happened to meritocracy?<BR/><BR/>Jeez.<BR/><BR/></I><BR/><BR/>Yes, what ever did happen to meritocracy? Before you go flaunting your bigotry and ignorance any further, do us all a favor and go to www.dreamsft.com. You'll see that they conducted a demographic survey of managers at Microsoft. Minorities were significantly underrepresented across the board. For example, 8% of employees at Microsoft are Asian, yet they comprise only 2% of management. On the other hand, 50% of employees are Caucasian males, yet they command over 80% of all management positions. In the meritocracy you speek of, promotions should be color blind and minorities should be fairly represented in the management ranks. Instead, the data shows that Asians are 4 times less likely to be promoted than their Caucasian peers. Minorities at Microsoft would like nothing better than a meritocracy so at least the playing field would be level and allow their accomplishments to speak for themselves rather than the color of their skin.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1138128259168607362006-01-24T10:44:00.000-08:002006-01-24T10:44:00.000-08:00So... turn in your form early. Or have the convers...<I>So... turn in your form early. Or have the conversation early. (Arguably, you should be talking about this throughout the year. Performance management isn't a twice a year thing.)<BR/><BR/>Problem solved?</I><BR/><BR/>Management does not announce when they are doing the stack rank so when exactly is early?<BR/><BR/>If they did, everyone would be turning in their review form at that time.<BR/><BR/>Also, you still have no accurate way of measuring how much each employee helped another. Turning in your review form early does nothing to solve this problem.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1138006028526861722006-01-23T00:47:00.000-08:002006-01-23T00:47:00.000-08:00"1) Stack ranking is done before you turn in your ..."1) Stack ranking is done before you turn in your review form listing who you helped."<BR/><BR/>So... turn in your form early. Or have the conversation early. (Arguably, you should be talking about this throughout the year. Performance management isn't a twice a year thing.)<BR/><BR/>Problem solved?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1137986738686837022006-01-22T19:25:00.000-08:002006-01-22T19:25:00.000-08:00I have heard from management that part of the reas...I have heard from management that part of the reason why the review process takes so long is because HR does a bunch of analysis on the stack/bucket rankings to make sure there is no race, sex, age, etc. bias. This seems plausible to me, so I'm interested in any evidence that you have that Asians are promoted at 1/4 the rate of other employees at Microsoft.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1137960546721250442006-01-22T12:09:00.000-08:002006-01-22T12:09:00.000-08:00Your managers get to decide the criteria by which ...<I>Your managers get to decide the criteria by which you are rated and they're completely free to make "helps others" a key requirement if they wish.</I><BR/><BR/>There is very little motivation to satisfy such a requirement in a system where one employee is competing every other employee.<BR/><BR/>In such an evironment, it is also very difficult to measure and verify.<BR/><BR/>1) Stack ranking is done before you turn in your review form listing who you helped.<BR/><BR/>2) In the current system, it makes sense to deny people helped you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1137931983105709362006-01-22T04:13:00.000-08:002006-01-22T04:13:00.000-08:00Comment 1: Re: Because the rating reflects their p...<I>Comment 1: Re: Because the rating reflects their performance, which in turn reflects their pay/bonus...<BR/><BR/>Response to comment 1: You must be one of those people who has an "understanding" with your manager that you are a perpetual 4.0, while you zap the new people with 3.0's, eh?</I><BR/><BR/>How does the writer of the response figure that one out? The original comment makes sense to me. Looks more like the field is more in tune with performance and rewards than politics and brown-nosingAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1137925259747899732006-01-22T02:20:00.000-08:002006-01-22T02:20:00.000-08:00"I know one place where this relative ranking syst..."I know one place where this relative ranking system has provenly worked well. The world renowned IITs perfected this system. Grades from A's to F's are plotted on the curve. This system allows the professors teach challenging subject and grade students on that. Over the years this raised the bar.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand most other schools in India employ absolute ranking system, where the performance of one student does not affect the grade of other students. There passing grade means solving a certain number of problems in the exams. This puts a pressure on the professor to design problems of a certain difficulty level. Hence, the quality of studies remains stagnant."<BR/><BR/>As an IIT graduate, I can pretty much testify to the fact that the relative grading system doesn't contribute heavily to the quality of education/learning. In some part, it contributes to people becoming more competitive, but thats only as far as giving exams goes. <BR/><BR/>True quality comes from other aspects of the education at IITs, but thats a topic to be discussed elsewhere, not here. <BR/><BR/>As far as stack ranking goes though, the relative grading at the IITs doesn't result in too much unfair grading...the reason being that it is very flexible, there is no compulsion to give a perfectly normally distributed/bell curve distribution of grades.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1137905975802085982006-01-21T20:59:00.000-08:002006-01-21T20:59:00.000-08:00"Try being the only white male in a group full of ..."Try being the only white male in a group full of Indians...that was a fun review cycle"<BR/><BR/>While I don't think it is true in all cases, I am aware that ethnic based promotion does occur. It is resident in networking, cosd and SE<BR/><BR/>Interestingly it is gender based promotion as well, women in msn are really pulling others (qualified or not) up the ladder.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1137901869494330462006-01-21T19:51:00.000-08:002006-01-21T19:51:00.000-08:00Re: Because the rating reflects their performance...Re: Because the rating reflects their performance, which in turn reflects their pay/bonus...<BR/><BR/>You must be one of those people who has an "understanding" with your manager that you are a perpetual 4.0, while you zap the new people with 3.0's, eh?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1137898209675773122006-01-21T18:50:00.000-08:002006-01-21T18:50:00.000-08:00Teamwork is impossible in a relative ranking syste...<I> Teamwork is impossible in a relative ranking system. As someone said in an earlier post, there's no incentive for someone to help another person out.</I><BR/><BR/>Your managers get to decide the criteria by which you are rated and they're completely free to make "helps others" a key requirement if they wish. ChrisJo was a big advocate for this kind of thing a few years ago. I'm not sure what happened to that initiative but clearly it's not widely practiced anymore! <BR/><BR/>Maybe the new CSPs will help as they have more explicit examples of this kind of thing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1137897389198895052006-01-21T18:36:00.000-08:002006-01-21T18:36:00.000-08:00I work for a large technical company employing ~30...<I>I work for a large technical company employing ~3000 people and we also use a Word template and a ranking system. I think your idea of "make someone's performance a living website" is brilliant. Office Ballot looks like an interesting start, but this kind of thing really needs to be on a private corporate intranet. Microsoft could develop an application and sell it; "MS Performs"! Seriously, you could improve performance appraisals world-wide by developing a state-of-the art, flexible but consistent performance appraisal application. I think there's huge market for this.</I><BR/><BR/>My manager told me recently that HR is working on something like this for use internally. Suposedly it was to roll out in Feb but it's now delayed, perhaps indefinitely, given the changes coming down the pipe.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1137897061977012512006-01-21T18:31:00.000-08:002006-01-21T18:31:00.000-08:00Anonymous, at 4:25 PM said:My Dev Manager told me ...Anonymous, at 4:25 PM said:<BR/><BR/><I>My Dev Manager told me that we got several less 4.0s and one less 4.5 one year, because he needed one extra 4.5 the year before, so he was stuck with it because he had bartered it away the previous year to try to make something a little more fair at that time</I><BR/><BR/>That sounds very suspicious. The curve is set each year so there's no way to 'trade' from one year to the next without doing some very dubious behind the scenes dealing that would get everyone in trouble if caught. I suspect he was lying to you to try to justify something dodgy.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Also:<BR/><BR/><I> I say this as one of my team literally deserved a 4.5 as the major standout that he was, and we didn't even have the 4.0 to give him, so he was stuck with the 3.5. </I><BR/><BR/>Dude, it's a relative scale, there's no such thing as a "deserved" 4.5. If you didn't have a 4.0 to give him you must have given them all to others who were better. If they weren't actually better than your guy then you didn't do your job properly in fighting for him. <BR/><BR/>People, I beg you, when you're made a manager for the first time please go to review training to get this kind of stuff explained and go argue with your manager if you learn they're doing something stupid.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1137877381837045832006-01-21T13:03:00.000-08:002006-01-21T13:03:00.000-08:00I think these racism comments and the review model...I think these racism comments and the review model are stupid. There may be some merit, but it's different for every group. Try being the only white male in a group full of Indians...that was a fun review cycle...ugh. Fact is that the model itself encourages that type of behavior, in many manifestations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1137877277505812232006-01-21T13:01:00.000-08:002006-01-21T13:01:00.000-08:00Hey, I didn't get a chance to see the Friday town ...Hey, I didn't get a chance to see the Friday town hall meeting with Steve and can't seem to get my RAS client working. Can anyone please post a summary of the high points and some thoughts? Mini? I would have expected this last night...LOL.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1137876621913076132006-01-21T12:50:00.000-08:002006-01-21T12:50:00.000-08:00"Microsoft increased pay for board members by 27 p..."Microsoft increased pay for board members by 27 percent.<BR/><BR/>Directors will receive $200,000 a year, including $120,000 in stock, spokesman Sean Durkin said Friday. They previously earned $50,000 in cash and 4,000 shares, worth $108,000 at an estimated price of $27 each, Durkin said." <BR/><BR/>- Stock flat over 3 years, underperforming the market by > 60%<BR/>- Worst growth year in MSFT's history as a public company<BR/>- Employees subjected to widespread cost-cutting measures<BR/>- Recent concerns raised that $20 billion of buyback dollars have really gone to insiders (particular senior ones)<BR/>- Widescale media/analyst perceptions of MSFT as big, bloated, top heavy, and generally having peaked<BR/>- Long suffering shareholders treated to a mere 12% YOY increase in the still under-market dividend<BR/><BR/>Hmmm...I know...let's give the Directors, who's lack of effectiveness is more than partially responsible for getting us into this mess, a 27% YOY pay increase. Yea, that sounds fair and should help internal and external perceptions of the company and its management team. Unbelievable. <BR/><BR/>Note also the new requirement that Board members must hold $600K worth of stock - albeit that they have 5 yrs to get to that amount. Interesting that they're prepared to force Board members to hold more stock while turning a blind eye to VPs and other senior execs leading the entire market in insider selling. Translation: that was just window dressing for what they knew would be a contentious and unpopular decision to raise Director's pay by such an amount in the absence of visible results that might warrant such action.<BR/><BR/>It's a good thing Ballmer and Gates are from Harvard. At least things will have come full circle when Harvard ends up writing the case study on the "Fall of MSFT" due to chronic mismanagement.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1137874722710218272006-01-21T12:18:00.000-08:002006-01-21T12:18:00.000-08:00"Microsoft responded in a written statement that i..."Microsoft responded in a written statement that it regularly evaluates its buybacks and dividends to "best meet the interests of its diverse shareholder base."<BR/><BR/>Beyond the pathetic multi-year performance, this is why holding this stock is increasingly difficult to justify; a total lack of honesty starting at the top and continuing on down. The fact is that ALL buybacks since 00 (some $30B+) have gone ENTIRELY to reduce dilution. So NONE of that money was returned to shareholders regardless of their diversity - except of course insiders (primarily mgt) who just happened to be shareholders (at least for the 5 minutes that they hold their shares before selling them). If snr mgt stood up, acknowledged that fact, and explained why that was (i.e. there was a large historical options overhang, they'd reduced options since, they needed to retain top people and decided to overspend in the short-term, etc), I might not agree but at least would feel that I was dealing with people with integrity who respected me (an owner) enough to tell me the truth, give me their reasoning, and let me decide if I think it was appropriate. Instead, mgt consistently misrepresents - or in this case outright lies - and as such, are never forced to provide an explanation for their actions, far less justify them as being the best alternative available. MSFT needs a mgt team characterized by honesty and integrity. In other words, a new mgt team.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com