Word: ranking
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...continue to venerate the iconic symbols of World War II; on his European trip last week, George W. Bush visited the memorial to the Warsaw ghetto uprising. But symbols get you only so far. And this much is plain: whether the evidence is Russia's slippage into the third rank of states, Japan's new nationalism or Germany's willingness to create its own foreign policy, the shape of the world as it was forged by the most awful cataclysm in human history is changing. One day?even in America?World War II will be just another movie...
...experiences rank as high on the surrealism meter as being asked to judge a robot dog contest. In following the cyber-pooch in question - AIBO, or Artificial Intelligence 'Bot - for two years now, I've seen Sony's high-end consumer toy go from a $2,500 limited-edition fad to a relatively mass-market, mass-produced $1,500 fad. But what transpired last Saturday afternoon at the Sony Metreon, San Francisco's massive multiplex and temple to all things techno, made me believe AIBO is leaving the realm of novelty and entering the living room and hearts...
Whether they're fair or not, bell curve-like rating systems--which many employees now call rank and yank--have spread in recent years to some 20% of U.S. companies, and the trend is growing. They're particularly handy during periods of economic slowdown like the present one, when employees tend to cling to their jobs rather than retire or change positions. That lowers the normal rate of departures through attrition--which can run as high as 20% of a corporate work force when people feel like job hopping--just when companies are seeking to cut their costs to satisfy...
...competitive systems like Enron's have a weakness, it's that they can stir suspicion and discourage teamwork. If I help you, you'll get a better rank than I will. Challenger tells of a manager who recently had to rank all his people in preparation for a 10% work-force reduction. "It was agonizing," Challenger says, "because everyone in his department played a unique role." When such choices arise, he adds, "all the relationships instantly become strained...
...have clear-cut differences, it is very difficult to justify laying off that person," says Paul Gregory, a Houston attorney who specializes in employment law. That's particularly true if the person had been told for years that his or her work was fine. "Part of the problem with rank and yank," Gregory says, "is that most managers were not trained to give honest evaluations, so no honest, critical history exists...