Intel

The benefits package is very difficult to match. With a decent direct management chain, it is a great company to work for. Managers are given many liberties that allow them to make it a great place to work. If they choose to do so, they can allow for great work/life balance and the freedom to innovate and create within the realm of job scope.

Under some managers, resources were limited, scope fixed, deadlines dictated, and overtime was mandated. There was very little creative and innovative freedom.

Intel's annual focal process demands a full bell curve, making it such that not everyone can be declared successful, even if all employees were. Therefore, it is common practice for managers to hire and keep a 'fall guy' around just so that they can meet statistical expectations. Absolute preference is given to minority classes when it comes to hiring practices, referral bonuses, and promotions.

After losing a few key employees, my last manager started playing games with the focal process to retain employees. He would dumb down job titles; suddenly, you were a "Software Engineer" when previously you were a "Senior Software Engineer." He also started writing a minimal one-page focal review for you, allowing for very little input and minimizing statements of accomplishments. This made it more difficult for us to transfer within the company. He knew that other internal managers would consider these reviews when you submitted yourself for a new job, so the more worthless he made you appear, the less likely you were to be able to move on.

When confronted on the topic, he assured me that all of Intel was now doing it this way to save time, as it was really just a way to facilitate a conversation of expectations between manager and employee. I did some checking around with friends elsewhere in the company and found this to be an absolute lie. Any and all attempts to raise these and other issues up the management chain just resulted in direct retribution from my manager, who managed to make my life even more miserable.

I once submitted an 'anonymous' ethical complaint about the very questionable practices of a colleague within the company. Within 24 hours, I personally heard from that individual, who was herself investigating the complaint. I learned the hard way that NOTHING is anonymous within this company, and every complaint counts against you, regardless of how valid it may be.

Your focal process encourages some very nasty dog-eat-dog politics; it only discourages collaboration with peers. Yet you claim you want to increase collaboration. Why on earth would I want to teach and help a peer succeed when I will most certainly find myself pitted against them come focal time every year? In the end, raises and promotions have very little to do with performance. They just give the boss open license to abuse. My boss taught me that he can say and do anything behind closed doors as long as it is not written. In my case, he was forced to always rank me successful because he knew that if he lost me, he would not be able to replace me, and he personally had to take responsibility for the development of the application that I lead.