Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has announced plans to change its employee review process.
For many years, workers have complained that the e-commerce retailer’s “Hunger Games” manner of reviewing its workers’ performances is ruthless and unfair. The process — also known as “Stack and Rank” — essentially pits employees against each other, cutting those with more glaring weaknesses, rather than praising them for their strengths.
The concept has long-been carried forward by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who believes the move essentially helps to keep workers competitive, bringing out the best in them. However, reviews have consistently been negative surrounding the review method, with one worker calling it “Darwinian” in 2013.
“The strong survive and the weak perish (metaphorically speaking) and the ‘bar’ is constantly increasing,” he wrote. “The level of performance that would have been acceptable five ago will get you canned today. It’s a kind of crucible that’ll help you develop a harder edge, if you can survive, that can serve you well in your career and in life, but it’s often not a pleasant experience.”
Additionally, another worker noted that the move causes employees to be unsatisfied, lowering productivity and decreasing trust among workers. It makes you work against your employees rather than with them.
It looks like Amazon is finally listening with a new employee review program that will work better with workers.
AMZN shares fell 2.8% Monday.
