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The Bell-Shaped Curve
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Many of you have experienced performance reviews at your job. While working for a very large, fortune 500 company, I experienced a yearly performance review. It was explained to me during my first encounter that the information recorded would then be entered by grade; 5 being the highest and 1 the lowest, against other employees in the same or a similar job function and we would then be arranged by grade into a bell-shaped curve.
If you picture a bell in your mind, you have a small section at the one end, a larger section in the middle and then finally a bottom section (see illustration).
There may be one or two 5’s in the lot….a handful of 4’s and more 3’s….followed by a few 2’s and perhaps even a 1. Based upon those results, employees are given performance raises. The difference may be negligible; particularly if the person classified as a 4 get .4 percent raise and another employee ranked a 2 gets a .2 percent raise. Factor in, the 2 may be in a higher paygrade either because of years of service or opportunity at the time of the job creation. This translates to the 2 actually receiving the same or even a larger raise than the 4 whose performance throughout the year should translate to a “reward”. So, if the “2” was being sent a message via the ranking and merit increase, what is the message for the 4?
Now, skip ahead to the reorganization. Someone who has performed at a 2 level may very well be selected in a layoff. The 1’s and 2’s are now gone. What does this mean? Well, in plain English – it means that someone previously classified as a 3 or even a 4 is now going to be squeezed into a 2 slot simply to accommodate…..the bell shaped curve. So, by my own calculations – a good performer (should they survive the reorganization wheel) will then fall victim to the bell shaped curve and work his/her way towards the bottom.
I believe this was designed to be a fair and helpful tool for organizations to classify and reward employees accordingly. But does it? What do you think? Have your experiences been favorable?
Let me hear it.
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Thank you so much for reading and providing your feedback. I hope you will come back and read again.