Thread regarding ExxonMobil Corp. layoffs

The real problem with the system is the ranking period. It's every person for themselves. I suppose the 360 is supposed to address that, but what do you expect from a system that doesn't place any value on cooperation and teamwork? The most narcistic jerks advance at the expense of good people who just get the job done. It's the reason that Exxon is horribly mismanaged.

@1dyk - I'm the original poster of this message on another thread. I can't think of a different system that would work any better - however, I would include checks and verification requirements to confirm that people actually did what they claim to have done in their PDS reviews. Additionally, each of the PDS submissions could be randomly coded for the ranking reviews, so that (as much as possible) staff are reviewed anonymously. There maybe some achievements that kind of give away the identity of the person being ranked, but if the claimed achievements were verified as truly being theirs and if names were taken away from the ranking meeting, maybe there's a chance that ranking could be done a little more fairly ? As I've been out of the company since last July, I shouldn't care anymore ... but it still angers me,

ID: @1dyk+1b2wcbFx
Absolute ranking. My former section head and team leads used to be the same rank group as I was, so no surprise that they ranked themselves at the top. But I left, so keep doing relative ranking for all I care.

Curious what you would replace it with that would solve the problems you point out? Be specific.

The true problem with the ranking system is that the wrong people are being ranked at the top and at the bottom. There are many supervisors and team leads who are poor performers, know nothing other than PowerPoint and clawing their way up and deserve to be PIPed, but are ranked high. And there are smart, dedicated technical people being ranked low, while the supervisor and team leads take credit for their work.

The problem with the ranking system is its structure, it forces people into the bottom 20% and once in there, the gravitational pull to get out is nearly impossible to overcome. The structure and the force fitting to me is the issue. I was a manager and Supv in Mobil then ExxonMobil, been ranking since the merger up until the time I retired in 2018. It sucks to put someone who is really contributing in a lower box because the system forces it. I once had another manager tell me that "Once you get the ranked order correct, it's just math". As cold as that is, it is unfortunately true. Another once described it as a NASCAR race, people are losing by milliseconds, not minutes. The ONLY benefit to it is if someone really is a poor performer a weak supervisor can't skirt dealing with them. I say a bell curve is more realistic, but still force weak supervisors to deal with the problem people.

It always bothers me when people justify Exxon's ranking system by pointing out that some other companies are struggling with the same issue.

Saying that other companies have bad ranking systems in no way justifies ExxonMobil continuing with a bad ranking system.

People want improvement. Defending the status quo by virtue of it being common isn't helpful. Let's be better than the average, rather than shrugging our shoulders and saying average is good enough.

You’re right. As much as they claim you are assessed based on how you should be doing in your role based on your years of experience, every site has jobs with a halo effect. At the manufacturing sites, there’s always going to be one or two contact engineer jobs that are seen as way more important than all the other ones, and the people in those jobs benefit from that perception.

“Cr--s in a bucket” sums up our system.

Reality check: XOM does not have the market cornered when it comes to the issues with "ranking/performance based" systems....other companies also struggle with the concept of fairness and equity.

Perhaps the solution is a super computer running a complex algorithm that removes all the subjective bias /BS that comes with humans doing performance reviews.

"Rats in a cage..."

Your "Rulers" (they're NOT Leaders) have you right where they want you...

You live in "He-l on Earth..."

Their "God" is Money, Power, and Control (over YOU)...