$4.$ Removing Teamwork Barriers at Microsoft

It's one thing when a millennial$-$run tech startup bucks an ongoing HR trend $$ it's a whole other thing completely when a giant like Microsoft does it$.$ In $2013,$ the software giant was under increasing heat from former employees to eliminate its cutthroat stack ranking system, prompting Microsoft to become one of the first big$-$name brands to ditch employee ranking. Instead of sticking to forced timelines and rating curves, Microsoft created a performance management process called "Connects". Similar to PD@GE$,$ Microsoft optimizes their workflows to accommodate for timely feedback based on the rhythm of each part of their business $$ rather than following one timeline for the entire company.

While there is definitely an element of collaboration and development in Microsoft's new system, the real goal is to eliminate the many silos that exist in a company their size and foster a better sense of teamwork in order to act more quickly on changes in the market and avoid becoming the proverbial business Titanic. "The changes we are making are important and necessary as we work to deliver innovation and value to customers through more connected engagement across the company," said former EVP of HR$,$ Lisa Brummel.

Microsoft's new performance management approach aligns with the company's goals because:

Question $4$ options:

The company's goal of more friendly competition in the organization is supported but the speed of the new performance management system. Employees get feedback right away and can respond quickly.

The company wanted to ensure that feedback was done quickly so that employees always knew how their performance compared to their peers, and the new system means that employees learn their rank more frequently.

The company wanted to get their performance review results faster so that their compensation team could issue compensation adjustments faster and on the timeline for the entire company.

The company wanted more teamwork, speed and agility in the organization, and the new performance management approach enables managers to give feedback more quickly and removes some silos.