Microsoft’s new approach to «inefficient» employees is interesting — quit with compensation or work better and harder.
Earlier, Microsoft introduced an employee performance assessment, followed by a new approach to working with such employees. Those who were found not to be hardworking enough have two choices: agree to participate in the Productivity Improvement Program (PIP) or leave the company with 16 weeks’ severance pay. The company called this the «Global Voluntary Separation Agreement» (GVSA).
This became known from an internal email to the company’s managers. It described a «globally agreed» PIP with «clear expectations and a» improvement schedule. The choice is given to the employee — either they join the PIP or choose voluntary resignation with compensation.
«This performance improvement process is available year-round so you can act quickly to transparently address performance issues, while offering employees choice», — says Amy Coleman, Microsoft’s new chief human resources officer, in a letter.
If you start participating in the improvement program, the opportunity to receive the payment disappears. The decision is made within five days. However, there is a nuance with compensation — the employee will receive funds for the next 4 months, but he or she will is prohibited from returning to the company for two years. And after this period, it is not yet known what will happen, since another company — Meta — already has permanent blacklists. And it is impossible to file an appeal there.
Therefore, a separate internal Microsoft instruction indicates that the system may work differently outside the United States due to differences in legislation. The company has not officially commented on the innovation.
The new model resembles the Pivot system, which has been used by Amazon for a long time. It also provides a choice — either an improvement program or a severance package. According to Business Insider, some Amazon employees believe that Pivot is actually needed to achieve quotas for layoffs, not for real employee development. At the same time, the company claims that «provides managers with tools that help employees improve their performance and develop their careers».
At Microsoft, this change is taking place against the backdrop of a stricter approach to performance evaluation in the company. At the beginning of the year, it already fired 2,000 employees who were deemed insufficiently productive — without participation in PIP or compensation. Now, according to BI, Microsoft’s management is considering new layoffs as early as May. Middle managers are in the crosshairs. At the same time, the company wants to increase the share of developers in projects by reducing the number of support roles.
Source: Business Insider
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