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Over the last few years, Microsoft has gained a reputation as a rough place to work.Ex-employees have publicly complained that the company is political and bureaucratic.
Now a tell-all book published earlier this year depicts Microsoft as downright soul-crushing.
"Stack Rank This! Memoirs of a Microsoft Couple" was written by two married, ex-employees who left the company around 2008 and felt compelled to warn others about the Microsoft culture. They identify themselves only as Jason and Melissa.
While it's true that their stories are just the thoughts of two ex-employees, many of their complaints are still lobbed at Microsoft via employee reviews on Glassdoor and in our research when talking to former employees. We've read the book and skimmed out the most outrageous stories."
(Source:
Microsoft Is Filled With Abusive Managers And Overworked Employees, Says Tell-All Book by Julie Bort)
SO WHAT IS THIS 'STACK RANKING'?
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Microsoft's Stack Ranking review process predetermines the number of good, bad and mediocre reviews the company gives to its employees.
Microsoft uses a 1 to 5 scale, with 1 being the best and dictates that 20% of employees get a 1, 20% get a 2, 40% get a 3, 13% get a 4, and 7% get a 5. Those people probably get fired, explained anonymous Microsoft blogger Mini-Microsoft in one of his many blog posts about it.
This turns teammates into competitors. No matter how well a team does, most of them will get a mediocre review and a few will be scapegoats. It also means the best people at the company don't want to work together because only one person can be the top ranked employee in his or her group.
Patrizio's source, an unnamed Microsoft employee, also shared these details:
- Although Steve Ballmer is credited as the architect of the review process, when top HR manager, Lisa Brummel, took over in 2005, she promised to fix it. Instead she's instituted a series of tweaks that sometimes made it worse. This made Brummel " perhaps the most universally hated exec in the place," the employee said.
- Employees who are in the lower rankings (3,4, and 5) effectively can't transfer to other departments within the company, the employee said. This is unfair because they might be struggling in one group, but would be able to flourish in another group. (Heck, they might not even be struggling, but someone has to get a 3, 4, or 5.)
- Groups are also ranked against each other. Managers then have to fight amongst themselves to get resources for them.
- There are two review seasons, meaning this process -- and the stress of it -- goes on almost all year long. It also means people are working with very short term goals in mind."
(Source:
Meet 'The Most Universally Hated Exec' At Microsoft: Lisa Brummel By Julie Bort)
