Company: IBM
Date: 2017-03-08
Overall rating: 2/5
Employment status: current
Experience level: Senior

IBM only cares about stockholders, not employees, not customers
Pros: - Most of my HR partners have been amazing. (Unfortunately they just announced only upline managers will have an assigned HR contact.  That doesn't have a big impact on me, but will be difficult for new managers or new IBMers).

- I've been able to find good talent for my teams internally in IBM.  I'd say that about 1/3 to 1/2 of the employees on each team I've been in have been extremely dedicated to their work and their customers. 

- The sales org seems to be addressing some of the complacency in their ranks, and I've had very positive experiences with most of the newer sellers they have hired.  It seems there is more pressure now for sellers to take ownership of their accounts *after* (and not just until) their commission comes in.

- It's pretty easy to move internally if you have a good reputation or good performance ratings.  You may encounter resistance from your management, but they're not allowed to block your movement indefinitely.
Cons: - No work life balance.  I work at least 10 hours most days plus reply to email all weekend (as is expected by management).  Similarly, you are expected to check/reply to email and take meetings when you take a vacation day. The vacation time expires every year, so it's not like you can even bank the time when you have to work all day on vacation.   I have taken a lunch break less than 30 times total in the past 10 years.  I hear you have to actually book a meeting on your calendar in order to have time to step away to eat, instead of muting yourself on the phone meeting you've taken.

- Benefits have eroded over the years.  Our health insurance options are still decent but have gotten much more expensive, with higher deductibles and lesser coverage every single year.  This is particularly true for family coverage.  Many of us use our spouse's insurance if they work elsewhere.  Our 401k matching used to be great.  They have cut the matching in half and now only match at the end of the year. This means if they lay you off on Dec 30, you get nothing. (Yes, they did lay people off in December).  Quite a few people who are doing "good" but not stellar work have not seen a raise in 5+ years. 

- Constant layoffs. Of course it doesn't hit every business unit or every group every time, but we are always doing "Resource Actions."  As a manager, I have to constantly be prepared to submit names for upcoming RA's.  The RA's are NOT limited to low performers or areas where there has been a work reduction.  I'm supposedly in a growing part of the business, but the job growth is not in the US.  Despite what our CEO tells Trump or the media.

- I like the new performance review system in theory, but in practice assessments were handled poorly in 2016. We were strong armed into decreasing employee's ratings without any explanation of why or what the expectations were for average or above average ratings.  There is a disconnect as my team is viewed as high performing, but I'm not permitted to give them high performing ratings.  

- We are just wrapping up our bonus planning, which occurs once a year.  I was able to give 0.5%-1% bonuses to employees who were high performing.  It was the worst "bucket" I've ever seen, but not by much.  It's rare to get a bonus of more than a few thousand, no matter how good your results were.  Obviously, it's different for middle & upper management and for sales. 

- The scope of our jobs keeps changing and growing, because they lay off people and add those responsibilities to existing staff.  Currently, I'm doing the work that was spread across three people last year. (I was already pretty busy before this change). My story isn't unique.  There is little or no training when you are forced to assume responsibility for tasks that were previously not part of your job. 

- Lots of favoritism. I say this as someone who is seen as a top performer and a favorite! I've worked in four business units at IBM, and in each, upline management has a very obvious bias towards some employees and against others, which does not align with recent performance.   I also can't believe how much gossiping and in-fighting there is.  I get enough childishness from my children!  Who needs that at work?

- The "back to the office" movement is in full swing, as well as forced relocation.  Yes, getting to work from home at all was a perk, not a right, but it was very transparent, especially in management calls, that this was done to encourage attrition.  Not enough people quit because of this policy, they are now doing layoffs. 

- Constant "transformation" churn. Every year, our execs decide they are going to reinvent the wheel when it comes to internal processes.  Every year we waste tens of thousands of man hours pursuing these "transformation" projects that never actually result in any significant changes.  I'd welcome transformation if our executives were genuinely interested in it instead of just holding many, many meetings to talk about needing to transform.  

- "IBM - I've Been Meeting" - in management, you will spend the vast majority of time in meetings that could have been replaced with a quick email; meetings to discuss what to do in the other meeting about the same topic that day; etc.  We're terrible at collaborating.  Interestingly, despite so many meetings, most people I know at IBM have difficulty understanding and communicating what their organization's objectives and priorities are, as the information that trickles down from upper management is pretty limited.

- Mentoring is talked about constantly, and yet maybe 5% of the people I know at IBM have a mentor.   To be fair, most people don't have the time.  Similarly, we used to have a robust talent program where the top 5-10% of employees were groomed for more senior roles.  This was dismantled and the replacement feels very much like "you're on your own."