Company: IBM
Date: 2010-06-25
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: current

Shift in emphasis - Going the extra mile and being rewarded to punishing us if we don't.
Pros: Lots of opportunity, interesting roles, opportunity for development, pay is ok, good tools to do the job, top of its field.
Cons: The whole shift in emphasis. We all used to go the extra mile and were rewarded, now it is measured and if we do not do it we are punished. This has the effect of shifting motivation from high morale to low morale with resentment.

The company talks about work life balance, yet we have little choice but to work away from home and work long hours. Little recognition is given to this and even the expenses we incur whilst away are penny pinching and ends up costing us. 

The company has pulled a clever trick in making us work 40 hours each week whilst only paying us for 37. I would have preferred it if they had been honest with us and told us we were having to work 40 and there would be no additional pay. 

The appraisal system has become a series of moving hoops assessed by people we do not work for and rarely see. Little care is given to ensure feedback we get from task managers is fair. There is no training given to task managers to help them become good managers, apply fair approaches to interviews and feedback.