It seems to me there are two problems with this system. One is that you are grading on the curve so a "less good" but still good employee is getting fired. Th

It seems to me there are two problems with this system. One is that you are grading on the curve so a "less good" but still good employee is getting fired. The other is that the only person doing the evaluating is the employee's manager. I would propose a system where there is an absolute, not relative, scoring method. Pick 10 criteria and score them with 1 - 10 points. Set a minimum score for continued employment, say 70 points. I would also crowd-source the reviews. Not just the manager, but peers and people that report to the employee would all give a review. Then take the average review score.