In the days when PBC's were all the rage, they were used to stack rank your employees. The deal was, directives from the HR queen (Diane) the set limits on how many employees can be 1's, 2's, 3's, and 4's. Naturally, a 4 rating you have a week to start showing improvement base on the Managers fixit plan, which now you the manager has presenting to the employee. You explain to them them you exit now and receive 1/2 severance, which at the time severance was 6 months. Option 2 was you can try and fix whats broken. If you succeed, then probation. If you fail at any point to meet the improvement plan you get ejected from IBM with no $$. Nada. As far as stack ranking, the PBCs were already subjective enough, now you have a bunch of 1st line managers in the 2nd line's office making a case for why you rank your guy as a #1. Rating 2's and 3's remain as is. It's a joke. At anytime the 2nd line manager can override the rating, especially if at some point you p-ss-d her off. In which case you could go from a 1 to 2 or 2 to 3. You get the point. This is a big f---ng joke, and certainly 100% subjective. So if you were stacked ranked (out of 12 employees you are number 8) this means you are closer to the bottom. Likely you are a #3 which means you are now a candidate for an RA (3's and 4's are). In my experience most employees preform at a 2 level. The 1's might be because they are working a high profile project with extreme visibility to the critical project, better like be the management staff, but truly I have only seen a true 1 performance maybe 2 or 3 times in 8 years. Mostly the manager has a lot to do with your ranking. Contract or no contract, if they want you are not going any where. PBCs were a popularity contest, the work observed my your manager, what you wrote up in your PBC. If you disagreed with you rating the manager will follow the party Line which is, as a band 7,8, or 9 you are not meeting expectations for a band ##, I know, what the hell is that. A bullet in their gun is all. PBC are never or was ever fair. Check point is the same but more confusing. It's easier for the manager to hide their motivation. And it is true, a reason is not needed to can your sorry butt. Unless you are always completing high profile projects, if well liked among the management team (especially your 2 line) you are OK. Else, it is what it is. You have no power or influence over the outcome.