IBM

Working with technology can be very interesting and stimulating.

Flexible working hours; however, be prepared for management to stab you in the back over agreed arrangements.

Understanding with sickness.

The annual review system (PBC) ranks peers according to your performance, as perceived by managers who may have little or no involvement in what you have done. If you are put in the bottom 10%, you are likely to have to go on a performance improvement plan.

In my view, this process has caused a generally widespread, very low morale and makes it difficult to build teams whose members trust each other.

Pay reviews are very few and far between.

Managers have a habit of issuing arbitrary deadlines with little thought put into what is required to deliver a quality piece of work.

Software products are generally badly designed and massively over-engineered.

Too much emphasis is placed on process and not enough on product quality.

Abolish the PBC appraisal system.

Put the quality of products before timescales and process.

Build a culture of respect for staff.