Boeing

You don't have to work very hard to keep your job.

Really bad PM process. They literally do a bell curve for each team:

• 10% of people on that team have to get below expectations
• 80% get meets
• 10% get exceeds

Far exceeds does not exist, even if you are doing amazing things for most managers. Even if you do happen to be the lucky person on your team who gets exceeds, the increase in pay is only .5 - 1%. I was in a very visible position, and I know this problem is very widespread across all of Boeing IT. Nearly every manager I had there stated something like, "We don't believe in far exceeds, lol." Managers who have no technical experience run around making technical decisions that are awful. If you are a really good technical person, you will NEVER get into a management or executive role at this company because your skills are too valuable as a technical person.

Fix your PM process and bring in technical leaders from the outside. Do not let managers make pay decisions on their direct reports. If you are going to use non-technical managers, do things matrix-style so that you can have a technical and a non-technical manager. One handles people issues and makes zero decisions on product or workflow. The other is a proven technical person who can actually lead a technical team.