Thread regarding ExxonMobil Corp. layoffs

Ya that analogy is true if it’s a true meritocracy (e.g performance based on the merit of your running speed).

In EM, it’s slightly different where you have other antics and showmanship (e.g people tripping each other, who looks the best when the run, supervisors arguing about who is actually running the fastest despite who’s obviously ahead, whose supervisor is pulling them forward while running)

I’d say the metaphor is generally true though.

I was naive for years and thought if I worked hard, I’d be fine. My direct manager wasn’t I the room and I ended up taking a significant hit. I asked what I could have done to have been ranked higher and silence. I’m done trying and feel like a fool I didn’t jump sometime last year.

Your entire year of effort is summed up by a 2 minute (or less) pitch by your manager. They know well before the sessions where you’ll notionally be placed and use this to bargain with others in the room.
Most of us are simply fodder in the process, once you come to terms with that it’s much clearer what you must do to survive.
Trust at your own peril….

You're not running against the zombies. It's worse. You're running in a group, but you're relying on your manager to argue with the other managers where you should fall in the pack and determine whether you should be in the front, middle, or back.
So, your position in the group depends on you good your manager argues your case. If you're the slowest, but your manager is good and likes you, you're fine. If you're not the slowest, but your manager is bad or doesn't like you, you're zombie food.

@ayf+1i5Nil8J Just because EM and you say it’s a meritocracy, does not make it so.

I suspect this link has been seen before, but maybe not by all EM peeps.
It is part of my annual review process, for sure:
deeper in: on the stairs (dead finks)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmlC-9dDMk4

@ayf, if what you say were true, and there was integrity in the process, most of the “leaders” today would have been fired or at the very least substantially demoted, based on the drastic underperformance of the company relative to its peers. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander!

@ayf+1i5Nil8J
“Meritocracy” you say, management material ? You got the words wrong, it’s kleptocracy.
Level one of brown nosing is to do it in front of your bosses or on LI, where everybody can see it and you know you’ll collect “brownie” points for your efforts.
Level two of brown nosing is when you do it out of principle or habit, in places where you can’t even get credit for it, like an anonymized site. The brown stuff simply gets in your brain and you can’t think outside it. True EM leadership.

It’s individual survival, no matter what management tries to tell you.
Look out for yourself and trust no one ,sadly that’s what the assessment process has forced us to do….

It’s called a meritocracy. If you perform well you have nothing to worry about. Those at the bottom should get “eaten” or perform better.