For those who received their layoff notice, did you suddenly get a low rating this year? I haven’t gotten notice yet, but I did get a low rating out of the blue and some of the feedback was fabricated or exaggerated!
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The remaining WF tech managers know nothing. 3 years ago, all tech managers were supposed to get certified in Azure (AZ-900 Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals). Did they all get certified? I never had a certified manager manage me. In many ways the WF management is like the mafia.
@2qti+1rQVDxMU, it's true. I have witnessed some incompetent mid-level managers first hand.
When these mid-level managers are being asked simple questions during the meetings, they can't answer. Then these managers immediately point fingers at their direct reports. Mid-level managers should know the answers to these questions because they go to so many leadership meetings everyday to obtain privileged information that their direct reports cannot access. These managers should be held accountable for any issues arising from their own ignorance. Incompetent managers have no rights to blame their direct reports and lower their performance ratings because of that.
@anl+1rQVDxMU, we all know that Wells Fargo has many incompetent managers who make a lot of mistakes and perform poorly. The difference between managers and non-managers is that managers can throw somebody under the bus to protect themselves. Hard-working and well-performing direct reports get sacrificed if they happen to work under incompetent and dishonest managers.
Managers at WF are cowards and they are clueless on what it takes to inspire and lead talented individuals.
I know a woman who sued her own manager twice. She is still here. It seems that suing your manager works.
@1kze+1rQVDxMU, you sound like a rotten backstabber. I don't believe anything you said.
Yep, I worked crazy numbers of hours, got a 2 on my mid-year last year and was laid off shortly thereafter. Luckily, I had a ton of years of service and was able to start a great job right as my notice period ended.
It was one of the best things that ever happened to me and still collecting pairs of checks every other week.
This is 100 percent true. I know at least 4 people in our organization who were lowered from exceeds to meets between mid year and end of year, despite getting no rationale outside of the curve system. Absolutely ridiculous.
Just laid off yesterday after nearly 30 years with WF. I didn’t experience low rating, in fact last rating was exceeds. WF doesn’t really need an excuse to layoff. They pay workers in India a 3rd of what they pay US workers. And they funded almost a billion dollars for severance payouts this year. If you are a US worker not in a branch, it’s not if but when. Loyalty, work ethic, and performance mean absolutely nothing.
This just happened to a friend of mine, but in all honesty, he is probably the most unethical person I've ever encountered in my life. It was exhausting, always trying to take advantage of people. Also as far as work, it was obvious that he didn't really contribute much and spent all his energy kissing butt, so it all works out.
Oh yeah! My mid-year review in 2023 was "needs improvement" out of the blue. I disputed it when told and reviewed...but of course it didn't matter. Love how the system doesn't let you have the final say in any review any longer...notice that?
I was then laid off in December of 2023. I am enjoying life now and figured I liked it so much that I am fully retired. Just 62...but the final push was the lay-off. Sure great severance after 7 years and even got a bonus (half what it was in 2022) but wasn't expecting anything so nice surprise. But the entire process is a sham! If you have years and years in - stay as long as you can to be let go and collect severance. Don't quit. That's exactly what the lame-a$$es want. Stay Strong folks!
There is a target on your back...check
They are setting you up.....agreed
Demand documented examples with specifics from your manager.
File with HR.
Hire lawyer. Free consultation.
Buy yourself time. Happened to me. Got severance. Hooray....Not honest and you are not valued. Sxxxks but it is the stagecoach reality. Good luck.
Soup…..soup…..no soup for you!!!
The only way to survive and succeed at Wells Fargo: You lie everyday and lick your manager's boots.
Wells Fargo preaches many wonderful things and they practice fraud. This company is full of lies.
Yes
Sounds like deliberate fraud to tell managers to lower employee ratings....not surprising for a poorly run firm. Any advisor who moves clients to wells is not doing what is in their best interest. All employees have the opportunity to discourage both clients and advisors to leave or simply not to join wells fargo. The power of public perception is understated.
Upper leadership has directly required me to reduce exceeds ratings for my top performers. Also asked for names we could rate below meets even though submissions didn’t reflect low performers. Totally exclusive of actual performance of employees. Ratings don’t meet anything, it’s a mechanism by which upper leaders line their pockets via higher bonus payouts for employees and themselves since bonus is based on ratings.
Post ID: @1ype+1rQVDxMU
Recently got moved into COO and I couldn’t agree more. Complete lack of integrity, zero transparency & honesty, setting employees up to fail and so much more. I wonder if it was this way before LAYOFF strategy took over.
When managers make mistakes, they try to hide and blame their direct reports who are not their favorite.
COO managers are the most dishonest and worst ones.
Relative results and performance matters when it comes to distribution
There's a target on your back and they are trying to let you go. Reading a lot of these comments is painful and similar to what I and six others ended up going through over a lame unexperienced manager. Gaslighting, throw you under the bus behavior. Long story short I defended myself with a lawyer and walked away with my bosses bonus. What a chump.
The low rating has nothing to do with layoffs. Almost all managers have no clue when layoffs will occur and to whom.
Either you deserved the low rating or your manager needed to rate someone higher which can lead to lowering someone else due to the quota or distribution program.
@1bvh+1rQVDxMU Never used to think like this, but with no (standards) rules being the new rules, you've got to stand up & beat them off with a stick. They might back down. You got noth'in to loose.
@1ruq+1rQVDxMU. If you can't get clarification on when this arose during the year, you could get the lawyer to send a Cease & Desist letter to your manager & copy HR. It's a bold move though & could backfire. Keep the communications seeking clarification as back up. If they lay you off it could be seen as retaliation. Then you have a case perhaps.
Watch out for that. That’s happened a couple times in our group with a re-orged people into new roles and expected them to perform like they’ve been there forever and rated them low ended up firing a couple of them no severance
Hire a lawyer. Consultation is free.
All managers are desperate these days and they will do whatever to survive (they have no integrity to begin with). Whenever something goes wrong on your team, what decides your fate will be whether you are the team manager's favorite or his/her scapegoat.
Ultimately, the question is, do you want to work in a rigged environment with fabrications & exaggerations that could put your livelihood in jeopardy? At a certain point, some of us decided to stop expending energy trying to conform to something that was knowingly & increasingly dysfunctional, beyond any semblance of reality.
OP, you also should find the Year End review guidelines for employees & managers if you can locate it & find the print that says that the year end/mid year is not supposed to have "new" information on there that was not previously discussed with the employee through the year preceding. You can quote it or send it to them if you want to take it further.
OP, they are not supposed to put anything on the Y/E or mid year review that has not been discussed with the employee during the year as a way for the employee to "correct" the behavior. Ask about the "conversation/details in writing" that took place that lead to the bogus fabrications & exaggerations. Ask for dates, times, documentation, etc. Then go back to your calendar & notes if you have them & document if the meeting or convo really happened. PDF your calendar for that day. Keep it as back up in case you need it. Act d-mb & say, "going to my calendar on the day you say we discussed this & I don't see an entry showing we met. How did we meet to discuss this? In person, or on the phone, etc?" Push them into a corner in an innocent "Aw shucks" kind of way & then you take it to HR & up the chain if you want to, or at least you have the proof if you do get a pink slip, that you were set up.
OP, it could be that you are not a favorite & the manager had to dole out a few dings & you got the brunt of it. It could be your suspicion that they want to lay you off. Are you NOT in a hub, do you have a medical or other reprieve? Have you had 2 faced coworkers throwing you under the bus? Are you a threat (in terms of aptitude & experience) to your manager in any way? Are they insecure? Do they have seasoned bank experience or are they a fly by night banker that came through one of their friends from Lowes Corp as a PM? Add up the overlays & you have an indicator.
In this harsh survival environment, all the managers are being paranoid too. So when something goes wrong, managers quickly try to find a "scapegoat" to throw under the bus so that they can save themselves. If you are not your manager's favorite, you will easily become that fall guy. You could be next, you've got to get out of there.
@1gcj+1rQVDxMU Continued. To clarify, rating was good, bonus was good. Jealous manager just wanted to stick it to me after I did an excellent job covering for her leave, something she actually set me up to fail on purpose, but it didn't work. These are the type of people who are middle managers at WF and aren't going anywhere.
@1fey+1rQVDxMU. If you're too good managers think you might be a threat or next in line to take their job if they get axed, so time for some bogus comments on the review. Also it justifies lower bonus, layoff or termination down the road.
@anl+1rQVDxMU. You can't add comments anymore to refute. Unless it has changed again. Plus, why would you risk retaliation from your manager? You could refute, but it's a risk. I had a manager put something benignly questionable on mine & when I refuted it she said a) she never wrote that sentence, and b) it was too late to change it. I went one up the chain & her manager denied writing it too (which I believe) and offered to change it but got resistance from my manager, who insisted that "you can't make edits anymore" so there was little he could do. He ultimately saved face when he realized she did it by sticking to her narrative, I left after being disgusted and got another job & 6 months later he managed my old manager off his team. I ended up leaving the bank as I was disgusted. Thank Goodness my resume is no longer stained with that affiliation.
Yes, managers may exaggerate things to justify lower ratings. Most groups have been affected by stricter ratings, like it's WAY harder to get an "exceeds," and employees who are smashing it might only receive a "meets." Some of this is being done to increase attrition, but some departments may be subject to stack ranking or an inability to give everyone a "meets," so negative feedback may feel very exaggerated or like it came out of nowhere. Managers may also use exaggerated negatives to justify lower bonuses or merit raises. Tough to say what your specific situation is. Low performers or mediocre performers MAY get different layoff deals compared to better-performing colleagues (this happened to my group).
@anl+1rQVDxMU, actually some managers really lie in order to downsize the department. They make up fake stories and accuse you for things you have never done. If they criticize us because of our poor performance, we can accept that, but false accusations? That's a harassment.
Lol. Those who make mistakes and perform poorly always say it’s exaggerated and fabricated. If it truly was you would have not signed off and definitely commented on each invalid point…….but you didn’t.
@gha+1rQVDxMU and everybody, do we want to continue to lick their boots and survive in this cesspool? I think not, I will not take any more insults from these low-life managers. I am getting a new job at a different company.