This post is a copy from the Singapore thread at thelayoff.com/t/16zEvLP3 or @OP+16zEvLP3 - I think it deservers a separate topic:
1) you are performing below average compared to your peers. Exxonmobil hires the best and brightest, which means you can perform exceptionally well per your talent, but be rated low versus others
2) since you are rated versus your peers, what exactly is the definition for underperforming? You could be performing top tier one year, but hire a few Einstein's and that could put you at the bottom of your grouping.
3) just because your performed well in previous years doesn't mean that should protect you. Yeah yeah, you did something 3 years ago that saved the company money and got you ranked well. Why are you holding on to that when you have done little of value sense.
4) they moved the buckets to nearly double what was previously. So that means, if you are borderline making it (who cares what you did years before, that shouldn't save you)... Then that could have pushed you over the edge.
While some have been blindsided by this, there is little feedback within cycles to where you are ranked and placed. In all irony, this is fairly true for all companies (Amazon, Microsoft, Tesla that utilize the PIP program to remove employees). Some of the time you are where you are.