…and bot in a good way. My manager rated me a 4/5 (exceeds expectations) and then his manager made him change it to a 1/5 (not meeting expectations). That feels like the paper trail is being built to get rid of me. Thoughts?
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oh, suddenly my manager woke up and set perf review for tomorrow, I guess will see new guidelines, previously only had 4 and 5 and this year was still the best performance to date. So if it's 3 or under I would be able to see the writing on the wall.
My 'review' got postponed to Middle October.
I'm glad I got out with nothing but Exceeds every year. I wanted out, I wanted to be laid off to help other members of the team. I didn't expect it to be last April, as I was planning on retiring in March. Life is better without Oracle. Trust me.
I was a M4 for 27 years, this is 100% BS!
I was an M3. Ratings are meaningless- the descriptions in the system for each "competency" are vague or irrelevant. Compensation is completely unrelated to ratings. Since the ranges are so wide, it's all too common to give a "dry promotion" to keep someone happy, since the company is so stingy with comp.
I was given "Exceeds Expectations" for three straight years with no bump in compensation and no route for promotion since we already had enough M4s.
This is driven by DiMarco in HR and Clay’s duplicate everything at Amazon mentally. Both hated aws so much they went to Oracle, but neither has the creativity or foresight to do their own thing or leave what oracle had in place before them.
@OP Sounds like stack ranking. That means everyone looks out for themselves and there's no incentive to perform as a team, only to look better than your teammate.
Sounds like this place is corrupted. Have your ducks in a row and be prepared to be laid off. Start practicing interviewing if you can.
Hoing from a 4 to 1 sounds pretty extreme.
However, it now seems standard policy that every employee rating is then further assessed by a VP and probably downgraded.
The overall message is that "meets expectations / 3" should be considered for strong performers.
Who cares if there's still no pay raise for yet another year.
Get ready to be laid of @op. Thats my story last sept. My manager called and told me, he had to change my rating from 5 to 2 because of higher management guidelines and it doesnt mean anything as they want everyone to either 2 or 3 and this is new rating. And by September 1st, I am notified. Oh yeah, I was waiting for a promotion to my managers level
It’s called forced ranking. I was one of the victims of it shortly after becoming an M4. I was one of the fastest-growing employees, and I’m sure many people envied that. But I was handling four projects that were reviewed at the highest level.
Then this sh-t hit the fan. They introduced forced ranking. In a room full of M6s and above, the fine gentlemen decided to vote on people they knew absolutely nothing about. They compared employees at the same level across different teams within an EVP-level organization—essentially comparing apples to oranges. The two people being compared didn’t know each other, hadn’t worked on the same project, and often hadn’t even worked on similar projects.
Despite having just been promoted, I was given a rating of 2.
It absolutely happens. So don’t be surprised—even if your direct manager or skip-level manager doesn’t know about it.
A 4 to a 1? This is like your teacher grading you at B+ for the class, then the principal changes it to an F.
@bm too much SVPs who don't know what the ground level people do. Oracle actual work is in mess because they laid off people who actually do the work. In another one year there will be only managers and SVPs in Oracle.
My old manager, who is still there told me this happened. I left last April, wanted to retire, got the layoff and payoff. Its a terrible place, best of luck for everyone.
Your management chain did not make the downgrade. It occurred above the SVP level. They made the change and locked the tool, so it couldn’t be changed back. Some have gone to our SVP to have the downgrade reversed, but have not seen any movement. Welcome to Oracle, the company with a lack of morals.
Seems like a legal case brewing
This would not happen (I’ve been an m4 for 8 years).
@OP
That does not sound like a good sign. Any specific reason you can think of why his manager would have made him change it? Prepare yourself for the worst.
If they lay you off ,sue. Talk with a lawyer ASAP. Keep the record of the reviews.
This approach will 100% create a cr--s in a bucket culture where everyone tries to climb over each other, and anyone who looks like they're jumping a little too high to reach the halibut they're dangling over the bucket will be dragged down by the others.
It's kind of hilarious to me in a way that the layoff rounds last year were "spreadsheet decisions" to axe the most "costly" employees. In my experience, the costly ones aren't dead wood, they're the high performers that command a premium. They got rid of them because they talk a big game about wanting high performers, but what they really want are compliant underlings.
Was a manager at O and also told to change ratings every year.
Management has been told that they need at least one person in teams with this. This is a corporate requirement. This will really open them up to lawsuits. Save that paper trail.
I believe you, and I believe your manager. They grade on a curve, which means a lot of people who should be 3/4/5 get 1s and 2s. Therefore, ratings mean absolutely nothing.
It's just a distro forced by the stack-ranking process.
Your manager is not lying. M2 have confirmed that their ratings were pushed down by levels above. There is a push to get people to level 3 and forced to rate few to 1 and 2. The M2s I spoke to said they have no power to change it once it is overridden by levels above. There are strict limits on how many can get level 4 and level 5. Majority is expected to be level 3, 1or 2 at level 4/5 and yes mandatory 1s and 2s.
I can also confirm there are cases where employees rated 1/2 by their direct M2 have been changed to 4/5 because of close relation they have with their skip managers.
Nice story, what really happened?
I do believe my manager. I consider him a good friend.
I absolutely do believe my manager.
This sounds like an HR reportable offense to me
Manager should/must know more than any other skip-managers. It does not make sense that the rate can be changed by other higher mgmt, generally speaking.
I am also working in Oracle, btw.
The question is do you believe your manager :) ?