#promotion

I used to think that if I kept my head down and did solid work, that’d be enough to move forward. After a few years here, I’m not so sure. The people getting promoted aren’t always the most capable, but they’re usually the ones who know exactly who to compliment and when to be visible.

I’ve never been comfortable pretending to admire every decision from leadership or joining every little workplace circle. I’m polite, I help my team, and I meet my goals, but that doesn’t seem to stand out much.

It’s made me rethink how success works in some orgs. Skill matters, but being liked by the right people can matter even more. I don’t want to become fake just to get ahead, but I’m starting to see why some people do.

Shankar was the oxygen that all GTS mafia was breathing. I am wondering how’s the situation there now.. Is the promotion and hiring still based on favoritism?
How about layoffs? Probably still saving friends and family over talent.

I was promoted to SM after completing the “high potential” program.

The reality of being a store manager is you get blamed for everything. You are the scapegoat.

A year into it, I began questioning if my paces were being manipulated, almost like a dangling carrot that I could never reach.

I was placed on an action plan. Taken off the action plan, then placed on an action plan again.

My store team was dismantled by budget cuts

Managers quit, associates quit, manager layoffs, restructuring, titles and duties changed

My hours were drastically cut

Deferred maintenance began happening

I said my happiness is worth more than stress and misery. I have notice, and obtained a job which actually has a work life balance.

The Oracle Doormat Principle is a term coined by former employees to describe a psychological state where individuals remain loyal to Oracle Corporation despite experiencing mistreatment, toxic work environments, or career stagnation.

Definition: It is likened to Stockholm Syndrome, where employees become emotionally attached to an organization that has abused them, often internalizing the company culture as a "family."
Causes: The principle suggests that prolonged exposure leads to low self-esteem, fear of change, and a paralysis to act in one's best interest, causing workers to accept pay cuts, benefit reductions, and abusive management without protest.
Criticism: Critics argue this behavior stems from low self-worth and prevents personal career growth, with some advising that if a work environment is bad, it rarely improves and employees should leave as soon as possible.
Context: The term gained traction on layoff discussion forums, often appearing alongside complaints about dry promotions (more workload for no financial upgrade) and perceived corporate cultures of fear.

I have never seen a place where making big mistakes gets you promoted faster than doing your job right. Until I joined Ally.

Let’s talk about what happened in May. I was in the layoff group and I’ll tell you my clues specifically in wealth that I picked up on that warned me ahead of time. Granted I wanted to be laid off so I could leave with severance.

1. Wealth head’s cryptic email and the news that never came even after months.
2. Promotions and salary increase freezes because of the pending news
3. Managers, directors, and VP’s were literally all clueless and left in the dark about any news and left to fend for themselves with questions and comments from associates.
4. Rumors circulating about the increased number of days in office. VP’s receiving strong messaging to make sure their associates were adhering to connect week policies.
5. Managers acted like everything was going to be okay and everyone’s narratives were all mixed and based on rumors
6. Contracts were not renewed for a very large group of contractors
7. Inner rumblings of turf wars happening between groups within wealth
8. Wealth head and Abby were radio silent to the broader group of the org
9. Heavy focus on how AI can ‘help’ associates lighten their load
10. all hands meetings, syncs, and broad group meetings were out of nowhere canceled stating it would be rescheduled later.
11. Meeting invite from my manager popped up late evening when we already had a scheduled 1-1 later that week.

Staying quiet when someone stole my credit cost me a promotion and I regret it every day.

Anyone else notice no one is getting promoted since ER?

Most every day, right, there's either a Sr Dir or AD role po$ted. RARELY do you see T3 - T5 postings in either Dig Product or Tech, right? Very few opportunies for promotions, right? I do reckon this company (right) doesn't have its priorities straight. The company should be hiring more of the people who are stressing in the trenches while trying to GSD in such a chaotic/'everything is the the top priority', so do it all' environment. It's becoming quite toxic and unsustainable. But...food truck day....right? Ain't it funny how so many people feel the need to include the word 'right' in every sentence? Or is it just me?

Just curious…

Ok, now the VRP details are out. What’s next, another reorg, job posting freezes and more unwarranted promotions to backfill the tenured folks leaving. Oh wait, don’t forget the travel freeze! Buckle up!

Anyone else notice the new pay bands are lower than the old target ranges? Wild that this got sold as “better for employees.” Everyone getting promoted (lol) is starting lower than the old structure would have put them, and new folks won’t know the difference.

Has anyone been promoted in their current role without needing to switch jobs or apply for a higher title job posting

Can anyone in HR confirm if promotions were approved, your manager would have been notified either way? I’m hearing there was an extension and some might be approved starting July 1.

I dare anyone to go look for a promotion opportunity on ODW that is within you realm of knowledge/role (the next IC level) and, I'd bet money there are plenty of open positions in other countries... Just not here in the US.

In my org last year, of the 800 or so employees, 99% of promotions were overseas - India, Ireland, Slovakia, Mexico, etc... and maybe 5 in the US. I'd say I'm baffled as to why but I'm not. A single promotion in the US can be used to promote 2 or 3 people in another country for 1/4th of the cost. Which is BS.

They are too cheap to promote the REAL employees simply because they choose to cheap out and NOT promote US employees. HQ is literally in the US and I'd bet very very few of them have been promoted in the last 6-8 years.

What's hilarious is that they act as if being remote is a "disadvantage" because you aren't illegable for promotion or internal movement. Yeah... well, apparently NOBODY else is either if you are in the US.

They take open positions/backfills and literally repurpose them for cheaper countries.

So in Private Wealth, you can hemorrhage assets, loose your top producers and get promoted to Chief Investment Officer. Talk about failing upward. Only at US Bank.

We used to do them in June, are they now switched back to March?

When inflation is so high and raises are zero to nothing what does it matter how you are assessed?

I have seen this happen to several people I work with. They are so good at what they do that management refuses to move them up because filling their current role would be too hard AND they make them look good. They're basically being punished for being competent.

Been with the company for 5 year, first 4 1/2 years in the same role. Applied internally for another role and got the job 6 months ago. I see another role that I think is a better fit for me, am I allowed to apply or do I need to stay longer at my current role?

I'm watching this happen right now with a person on my team who got bumped up two levels in less than a year. On paper, he looked great, lots of years in the industry, confident in interviews, talked a big game about process improvement. In practice, he doesn't understand the basics of what we do, he's broken two different workflows because he changed things without asking, and the rest of us spend about five hours a week quietly undoing his mistakes. The person who promoted him clearly didn't do any real checking. Now the rest of us are paying for it, and the guy himself is clearly stressed and embarrassed. It's a failure at every level and it happens here constantly.

No promotions for people who are already here. No balance between work and life. No chance to move into a different role internally. What we do have is plenty of favoritism toward friends and family.

I have noticed a pattern that is driving me crazy. The people who are best at dodging work and shifting their responsibilities onto others seem to be the ones getting promoted. At the same time, the dedicated employees burn out and leave, and eventually nothing gets done. Is anyone else seeing this, or is it just happening in my corner of the company?

Or is my manager just gaslighting me?

Was asked to persue this. What are the real upsides? I read 15-20% base pay jump based on quartile (I’m in top already)? Seems slight for the order of magnitude of workload increase I may see. If offered has anyone negotiated up, and to what? (30% was my gut)? To what %? And beyond base pay what perks are LL5 to offset the (seemingly) minimal pay bump?

That seemed to be the only qualification for people who were promoted. Not really anything other than their manager liked them and they were in the office.

Permian has become a place hipos have to punch their ticket. This means the rest of us no longer have opportunities for career advancement as the roles for higher CL are all being taken by hipos cycling in and out. If you are in operations forget ever being able to get that promotion. You deserve it and would do a better job than the clueless hipo but you will never get the job.

Looked at a lot of the managers here and most of them are either a PE or RE. Have not seen many FE. Im in FE, is it better to switch to a PE role

What is the average raise after graduating from the analyst program? Is 10% an average or that’s too high to expect?

Has anyone seen any classic Synopsys promotions announced this cycle? The only ones I’ve heard of are from ANSS- what gives? Anyone else noticing this trend?

It’s a dirty game. They rank their own favorites at the top, then use those inflated rankings to hand them spotlight roles, visible projects, keynote slots, everything. And because those opportunities are handed to them on a silver platter, they get ranked high again. It’s a sick cycle. I wish some one tells new hires its not about your work its the way they choose to see your work

Salim will hit his 2 year mark at Vanguard in a few months. I left the organization mid-2025 and had already noticed a lot of change since he joined, especially in leadership and organizational initiatives. From a Crew perspective, do you think Salim is an improvement over Tim? Do you think his outsider status could make him more likely to go after benefits, partnership, etc.?

My own perspective: Over my years at Vanguard there seemed to be less of an emphasis of developing and promoting from within. This accelerated massively over my last year.

I used to think working hard was the path to promotion, before I watched three people who barely do their jobs get ahead because they know the right people. Now I spend more time on politics than on actual work, and I feel no guilt. That's just how this place works.

Can people go from AVP to SVP? Or stories that this has been done?

Failing forward over and over and over! He knows nothing about Core - epic failure! And we decide to give him a segment that was making progress?!? Him and his band of losers he drags around will ki-l this segment too. High performers won’t stay under his watch. Nice job Fiserv!!! Oh and ask clients, major dislike across bank and credit union!!! No credibility! Get out if you’re a high performer

I assume it's uncommon to get a raise/promo immediately followed by an LR... On the other hand, aren't these separate decisions often made by different people?

We need all you wfh employees. But, NO, there will be no promotion opportunities for any wfh to move up. To move up you must move to a Hub. Just shut up and pretend like we are going to let you keep your jobs.

My manager told me for years that I was the backbone of the team. Then I asked about a promotion and got told I was too important where I was. That's when I realized that being valuable at DXC doesn't get you ahead. It gets you stuck.