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If Management is the Only Way Up, We’re All F’d

• jgeorge 13y ago
  This is the way MSFT does things, and I hated it. (Don't get me wrong, this isn't a blind MSFT bashing response, this is something that directly affected my career there. If you're there YMMV but this was clearly my experience in my BU.) During the review cycle, you were given, more or less, two ratings. A performance rating based on your current performance, and a rating based on the company's opinion of your ability to "rise through the ranks". I liked what I did there. I did well at it (not just my opinion, but that of others and consistent performance reviews). I was comfortable with the job, the responsibilities, the pay and benefits, and the job provided a good challenge and no real risk of boredom or burnout. In short, I liked what I did and enjoyed the prospect of continuing to do that job. That is career poison there. No matter how good you are in a position, and how much you enjoy it, your incentive is to keep moving up and if you're not so eager to do so, that's seen as a career limitation. I was at the top end of the technical path I was in, and my next step up was to become management and manage employees who would be doing the job that I was doing now. MSFT saw that as a good career path, to take me away from a job I enjoyed, and put me in the position of curating other employees to do the job I enjoyed doing. I understand a company's desire to make sure their employees are continually on a career path, but you can't move everybody up the ranks all the time. Sometimes the best employee you can have is one who's a good fit for a position and likes being in that position for a while.