While I can agree that stack ranking is corrosive in many respects removing under performers is essential. I was at a company (rather large internet company) that did not get rid of under performers. When I arrived what had collected was mostly senior engineers that in all frankness should not be let near a source control system much less be allowed to commit changes. There was so little engineering talent but thousands of engineers. And this is an impossible problem to fix without wholesale firing entire orgs since competent engineers don't want to work in a team of people with equal or higher level than them who don't know the difference between a compiler and an interpreter.
While there we did do stack ranking. Its just another game to play inside a company, just like all the other games that go on. It was easy to play that system as opposed to doing something like aligning with other teams retarded ideas. We did real awesome stuff and made sure we got recognized for that. I think the hard part for many people is the recognition that 80% of people (including maybe you) don't deserve a big bonus and promotion.
There will always be politics and politics will always drive these decisions, even in small companies. I don't have an effective way of objectively measuring a software engineer. The most important thing you can do is to pick a great manager (or startup CEO) and align yourself with him. While they will do different things to help you in big companies vs little companies, a good manager will hire good people and ensure that his team is working on big, company impacting problems. Startup CEOs will be doing the same thing.
Now a couple of notes to make sure your stack rank goes awesome:
1. If senior leadership does not see your team as directly impacting profit move to a new team.
2. Make sure that now that you are working on something with great business value make sure everyone knows about it.
3. Send out reports to everyone who is interested every week telling them what your team accomplished that week (especially for you budding managers out there).
4. Compile all the congratulatory emails from executives as well as other teams (Directors and managers). Your manager will use these at the stack rank meeting since all the other terrible managers who you no longer work for will not be this prepared.
5. Remember to deliver. When you deliver real value you will be recognized.
I know this is hard but I used this strategy very successfully. I can not emphasize enough that you must be working on big, impacting features. Adding a widget to a form, or making some little feature is a butts in seats problem. If you are just a butt in a seat expect to be treated like one.
Agree that it doesn't always work. I am yet to see a viable alternative that works in large organizations. If you know of something different I am all ears.
While there we did do stack ranking. Its just another game to play inside a company, just like all the other games that go on. It was easy to play that system as opposed to doing something like aligning with other teams retarded ideas. We did real awesome stuff and made sure we got recognized for that. I think the hard part for many people is the recognition that 80% of people (including maybe you) don't deserve a big bonus and promotion.
There will always be politics and politics will always drive these decisions, even in small companies. I don't have an effective way of objectively measuring a software engineer. The most important thing you can do is to pick a great manager (or startup CEO) and align yourself with him. While they will do different things to help you in big companies vs little companies, a good manager will hire good people and ensure that his team is working on big, company impacting problems. Startup CEOs will be doing the same thing.
Now a couple of notes to make sure your stack rank goes awesome:
1. If senior leadership does not see your team as directly impacting profit move to a new team. 2. Make sure that now that you are working on something with great business value make sure everyone knows about it. 3. Send out reports to everyone who is interested every week telling them what your team accomplished that week (especially for you budding managers out there). 4. Compile all the congratulatory emails from executives as well as other teams (Directors and managers). Your manager will use these at the stack rank meeting since all the other terrible managers who you no longer work for will not be this prepared. 5. Remember to deliver. When you deliver real value you will be recognized.
I know this is hard but I used this strategy very successfully. I can not emphasize enough that you must be working on big, impacting features. Adding a widget to a form, or making some little feature is a butts in seats problem. If you are just a butt in a seat expect to be treated like one.