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[Draugoth]

One of the leads of World of Warcraft Classic has departed Blizzard in protest of the company's stack-ranking system, saying he was forced to give an employee a lower evaluation than that employee deserved in order to hit a quota.

• Since 2021, Blizzard has used a quota-based system that forces managers to give ~5% of employees a low "Developing" ranking. Those employees receive lower profit-sharing bonuses and have a harder time getting raises and promotions.
• The World of Warcraft Classic lead, Brian Birmingham, wrote in a fiery email to staff that he refused to continue working for Blizzard after he was told to give a "Developing" ranking to a "Successful" employee. He called on other leads and directors to protest as well.

 

[A.Romero]

Interesting. It sounds to me that the metrics are not difficult enough if they have to kick someone down to meet a quota.

 

[GHG]

What quota exactly?

If you're assessing people based on stack ranking then just switch employees positions in accordance with their performance.

 

[akimbo009]

Welcome to the world of management, I guess?

 

[geary]

Why are the most righteous people always in the gaming industry…

 

[nush]

quota-based system that forces managers to give ~5% of employees a low "Developing" ranking.

There'll be hell to pay if anyone who's not a CIS white male gets given a "Developing" rank.

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

What quota exactly?

If you're assessing people based on stack ranking then just switch employees positions in accordance with their performance.

Ranking people in general in terms of performance is a terrible management strategy and will cause conflict internally. I'm surprised they're even doing this. Seems extremely backwards.

 

[Pelta88]

Every peak behind the curtain we get of Activision paints a heinous picture. Whoever ends up purchasing them needs to make some significant changes. The first, being to kick this clown out the door.

Day Minute 1

 

[Deleted member 1159]

Any kind of system where you're basically forced to fit your workforce into a predefined bell curve is bullshit.

Nobody should be punished because they happen to be an all star on a team of all stars and management was forced to pick a loser due to quotas

 

[Fuz]

Integrity in Blizzard?

 

[Fuz]

will cause conflict internally.

Employees in conflict = less troubles for the employer.

I know for a fact from an inside source that a very big (actually much more than very big) entertainment company does it (=pit employees against each other) by purpose.

 

[IntentionalPun]

Stack ranking is a pretty garbage system.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Any kind of system where you're basically forced to fit your workforce into a predefined bell curve is bullshit.

Nobody should be punished because they happen to be an all star on a team of all stars and management was forced to pick a loser due to quotas

I was kind of thinking this too. If someone isn't performing, you deal with that right away but if they are performing and there are no issues… why say there are issues?

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

Employees in conflict = less trouble for the employer.

I know for a fact from an inside source that a very big (actually much more than very big) entertainment company does it (=pit employees against each other) by purpose.

"My uncle works for Nintendo…"

Most companies run better with a healthy internal work force. Sadly because cooperate culture is so unhealthy the sample size is so small we have to use European companies as examples. But yea no shock a struggling company like blizzard has bad management practices.

 

[cormack12]

So they just need one of these but worn based for their employees now?

 

[geary]

You should hear the stories from FMCG industry…After that, gaming industry will look like heaven.

 

[feynoob]

Kotick surely knows how to get his bonuses.

 

[Ronin_7]

Blizzard is a shit show.

Absolute trash tier Studio & don't even make me talk about the $$$, less than Half of Bungie or Riot in many roles

 

[GHG]

Ranking people in general in terms of performance is a terrible management strategy and will cause conflict internally. I'm surprised they're even doing this. Seems extremely backwards.

Yeh no accountability for performance on an individual level, sounds wonderful.

No wonder we are about to have the recession of a generation and the gaming industry has been serving up flop after flop of late.

 

[fart town usa]

I am so effing glad I work at a successful company that doesn't do crap like this.

If I was him I'd put the company on blast too. Dude can probably walk into a great position with a different company.

 

[IntentionalPun]

Yeh no accountability for performance on an individual level, sounds wonderful.

No wonder we are about to have the recession of a generation and the gaming industry has been serving up flop after flop of late.

We are talking about ranking people against each other, not judging performance as a whole.

Performance measuring can be done a million ways w/o literally having managers make lists like they are making a "Top 10 albums of 2022" article.

 

[ANDS]

. . .an odd system that seemingly says among a team there will always be someone who isn't performing where they should be. Which is of course nonsense. This is for managements benefit and nothing else.

Yeh no accountability for performance on an individual level, sounds wonderful.

No wonder we are about to have the recession of a generation and the gaming industry has been serving up flop after flop of late.

Holy fuck this is one of the most disingenuous reads of another posters comment I've ever seen on this forum. Nevermind that the central complaint in the tweet tells you all the context you needed from Ghost's post to actually understand what they were saying (and it wasn't for "no accountability").

 

[Yoboman]

Yeh no accountability for performance on an individual level, sounds wonderful.

No wonder we are about to have the recession of a generation and the gaming industry has been serving up flop after flop of late.

Shitty middle management processes is not what produces good games

 

[Dane]

Yeh no accountability for performance on an individual level, sounds wonderful.

No wonder we are about to have the recession of a generation and the gaming industry has been serving up flop after flop of late.

They're forcing 5% of the employees to be bottom ranked even if their work indicates a higher one, if they hire people or some gets promoted, it means others will be thrown into the bottom because of their formula.

 

[poppabk]

Didn't MS do this in the past but the bottom guy got fired?

 

[Jaybe]

You should hear the stories from FMCG industry…After that, gaming industry will look like heaven.

Yeah, all the companies 3G'd and trying to emulate 3G

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

Yeh no accountability for performance on an individual level, sounds wonderful.

No wonder we are about to have the recession of a generation and the gaming industry has been serving up flop after flop of late.

1. There's ways of upholding accountability outside of ranking people like sports teams. You can have better incentives and rewards for doing well which doesn't put employees against each other, especially when you are expecting them to out perform the last quarter in perpetuity. Sooner or later growth will stagnate.

2. Every generation has had a or multiple recessions. Correlation =\= causation.

 

[reinking]

The 80's called. They want their ineffective management system back.

 

[Impotaku]

Every peak behind the curtain we get of Activision paints a heinous picture. Whoever ends up purchasing them needs to make some significant changes. The first, being to kick this clown out the door.

Day Minute 1

Man kotick looking like griphook

 

[feynoob]

Yeh no accountability for performance on an individual level, sounds wonderful.

No wonder we are about to have the recession of a generation and the gaming industry has been serving up flop after flop of late.

"Greed is downfall of humanity"
Alot of companies lost their ways, due to their greed.

These days, its all about maximizing productivity and profit without any care for workers.

 

[GHG]

We are talking about ranking people against each other, not judging performance as a whole.

Performance measuring can be done a million ways w/o literally having managers make lists like they are making a "Top 10 albums of 2022" article.

I don't see a problem with ranking employees against each other. For example you won't find a sales team at any company where this isn't the case. It can often lead to high performing teams if done in the right way.

1. There's ways of upholding accountability outside of ranking people like sports teams. You can have better incentives and rewards for doing well which doesn't put employees against each other, especially when you are expecting them to out perform the last quarter in perpetuity. Sooner or later growth will stagnate.

2. Every generation has had a or multiple recessions. Correlation =\= causation.

Employees are always up against each other whether they like it or not. Some workplace systems make it more transparent than others. If people want to kid themselves into thinking they aren't being judged against their peers by management then by all means people can be as delusional as they want to be but it's not even close to being the truth.

For the rest, see above.

Shitty middle management processes is not what produces good games

No, but a bit of healthy workplace competition never hurt anyone either. But apparently competition is now seen as a dirty word in society, all the way down to schooling systems. The world's gone soft.

They're forcing 5% of the employees to be bottom ranked even if their work indicates a higher one, if they hire people or some gets promoted, it means others will be thrown into the bottom because of their formula.

I actually don't advocate for systems as rigid as stack ranking systems as most companies implement it in a way whereby the bell curve is too steep (the reason for that is often financial but that's a different discussion entirely). But if you're a manager and that's the system that's been put in place by executives then it's something you've got to account for, or like in the person's case being discussed here, leave and seek employment elsewhere.

That's not to say stack ranking systems can't work, they absolutely can but you need to ensure the right profile of people are being employed (those who are willing to take utmost accountability for their work and performance) and create a culture that softens the harsh competition element up a bit (smaller scale milestone team based rewards on a weekly/monthly basis).

These things aren't black and white.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

If you're like me and only knew Kotick as the go-to villain CEO in video game media theater, you might be interested in reading up on his professional history from the start.

Maybe he's a villain, but if so, he earned the right to be one through a series of remarkably shrewd business decisions. He wasn't just dropped into the leadership role at the company after it was already successful like many CEOs.

I don't like how the world works.

 

[Northeastmonk]

Throwing some thoughts around and because it came up in a book I was reading. It mentions Kotick isn't a gamer. He played a couple games decades ago and then decided he wanted to fund their development. So who knows how he truly runs things. It's kind of lost its magic past a certain pay grade.

How do good businessmen become good at running a video game company? Is it mainly budgeting? If so, they lay off thousands just to rehire the next dreamer that wants to work in the video game industry. It sounds like there's nothing really magical besides someone ruling with an iron fist. I'll say this. The history books don't get that interesting past the PS2 gen. It's kind of like a meme culture war from the PS3 onward.

 

[Jaybe]

If you're like me and only knew Kotick as the go-to villain CEO in video game media theater, you might be interested in reading up on his professional history from the start.

Maybe he's a villain, but if so, he earned the right to be one through a series of remarkably shrewd business decisions. He wasn't just dropped into the leadership role at the company after it was already successful like many CEOs.

I don't like how the world works.

He's so good at it, he got to play one in Moneyball

 

[Gudji]

Smart guy MS would fire him anyway.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I wonder if Jason Schrier is also deeply concerned about Activision hiring people on the basis of quotas?

I'm sure THAT's totally OKAY

 

[diffusionx]

The idea that his guy happens to have a team with all amazing employees, working on a project that is long past its peak (although it's obviously still profitable), strains credibility. The idea that every member of his team is worth a raise and promotion is ridiculous, and even if they were, they aren't all going to get it in one year. He really should have used this as a moment of self-reflection and why he thinks that. Or maybe his standards are too low and not in line with what the rest of the company expects.

The truth is, getting a lower rating is not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes it is a wake up call an employee needs. And if they don't respond positively, then well you probably don't want them at your company anyway.

 

[Quasicat]

Any kind of system where you're basically forced to fit your workforce into a predefined bell curve is bullshit.

Nobody should be punished because they happen to be an all star on a team of all stars and management was forced to pick a loser due to quotas

This is exactly what my state education system has implemented for their teachers. Because of this, a percentage of people per district will be in the "ineffective" range and have to complete a self-assessment tool with their administration to not get fired. In all actuality, the system is designed to see who can jump through the hoops and can play the game properly and really has no basis for evaluating teaching or job performance.
It's frustrating when this is considered as standard operating procedure when it comes to evaluations.

 

[remember_spinal]

Why do the most garbage industry stories all come from blizzard and activision.

Activision/Blizzard is the Florida man of gaming

 

[Ezekiel_]

Why do the most garbage industry stories all come from blizzard and activision.

Activision/Blizzard is the Florida man of gaming

 

[Fuz]

The truth is, getting a lower rating is not necessarily a bad thing.

It is.
And maybe read the article, first.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Shit, Blizzard HQ hasn't been obliterated by satellite targeted laser beams yet? It's starting to sound like that's the best containment option

 

[Topher]

I have a hard time putting any faith into stories like these from Schierer. Too much political agenda behind it.

 

[Dr. Claus]

I have a hard time putting any faith into stories like these from Schierer. Too much political agenda behind it.

I am torn. I hate Schreier, but I also hate Modern Blizzard.

 

[diffusionx]

It is.
And maybe read the article, first.

Not everyone deserves a high rating, promotion, huge bonus, and raise. If you give everyone a high rating then there is no point to ratings and your company has no standards. Everybody has room to improve but sometimes people don't do a good job and it's ok to call them out on it. I know this is hard to believe for millenials and zoomers but that's how it is.

of course we are talking about WoW, they haven't had high standards for a decade at this point.

 

[Dr_Salt]

Not everyone deserves a high rating, promotion, huge bonus, and raise. If you give everyone a high rating then there is no point to ratings and your company has no standards. Everybody has room to improve but sometimes people don't do a good job and it's ok to call them out on it. I know this is hard to believe for millenials and zoomers but that's how it is.

of course we are talking about WoW, they haven't had high standards for a decade at this point.

You didn't read the article did you.

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

Had something similar being used in Emirates Airlines when I worked there. If you are a cabin manager you need to grade 2-3 people per flight and it came to a point where you HAVE TO give a low score on one of their performances even though they did a perfect job. Reason: to show you have leadership. Anyway, that doesnt really hurt you unless you keep getting the same negative score nor does it affect your salary but its still stupid when the company says you must give negative feedback even if there isn't one.

 

[dorkimoe]

My company has a rating scale too and managers can only give out so many high ratings. So it's a complete joke

 

[Lasha]

How do good businessmen become good at running a video game company? Is it mainly budgeting? If so, they lay off thousands just to rehire the next dreamer that wants to work in the video game industry. It sounds like there's nothing really magical besides someone ruling with an iron fist. I'll say this. The history books don't get that interesting past the PS2 gen. It's kind of like a meme culture war from the PS3 onward.

Running a business and making games require different skillsets. Every game maker will think their pet project will change the industry and sell millions if funding could be secured. An executive who doesn't make games can make a dispassionate decision on whose dream to fund based on market research, data analytics, and the track record of various developers. Executives only need to understand the business of games.

 

[Dr. Claus]

Not everyone deserves a high rating, promotion, huge bonus, and raise. If you give everyone a high rating then there is no point to ratings and your company has no standards. Everybody has room to improve but sometimes people don't do a good job and it's ok to call them out on it. I know this is hard to believe for millenials and zoomers but that's how it is.

of course we are talking about WoW, they haven't had high standards for a decade at this point.

I would suggest you actually read the article. Also there is a way to get people to put in more effort and improve. "Ratings" is not it. Has nothing to do with being "millenial" or "zoomer", just basic understanding of people.