Mediocre people get promoted all the time. In fact, I would say that most of the people promoted are mediocre. But their su-k up skills are outstanding. Leaders are often intimidated by people with great skills, so it doesn’t pay to be too good
This is it in a nutshell! Being good at what you do is useless because you are either seen as a threat or as somebody to overload with more work with no reward. There's no point to it.
Only people whom ever receive promotions are older privileged white men. Live with it!
Definitely my group. You see all the favoritism and promotions. Pattern is pathetic! Every few years the favorites are promoted like clockwork or a new crew is brought in to keep the friend-circle going. But they can’t articulate, in writing, what it takes to get promoted. Shhhh… (s-ck up)!
It’s completely laughable… we know these folk are not EXCEEDING! Just cut it out and say, “I want to keep the wealth amongst friends!”
If you’re not in the “in-crowd”, you can work till the wheels fall off. They also create a plan in advance to make the promotions look believable… We weren’t born yesterday!
Just be average and play the yes game.
Together, you’ll go far!
Senior Managers/Directors are not moving out those gravy-train seats and don’t do a zip of work to keep up with policy and procedures!
India promotes base on time in role regardless of performance. Indian Managers are horrific.
You "will not" find fairness and equitability at WFB.
Time to accelerate management turnover in not so independent risk management.
OP, do you work in my department? This literally just happened to our group. 3 promotions. 2 were deserved, which isn’t bad but 1 is a mind boggler until you realize they are a major su-k up. This is good compared to other teams I’ve been on. It’s been much worse before.
This guy gets it.
It's also about how you market your skills. Sometimes people don't even know how good of a job you're doing.
There's an old saying, it's not what you know but who you know. I wonder where that came from.
From what I have seen, Wells is about relationships. The best way to advance here is to have a good network or, at least, have someone who has hiring influence to think well of you. Without a network or someone influential in your corner it will tough to advance.
I have seen mediocre folks get pushed ahead because management liked them. Stronger performers were left scratching their heads.
In the corporate world, being good at your job is not the right path to take if you are interested in advancement. Work hard at building relationships with the power players and those with influence. You don't have to be the best at your job, though. You definitely don't have to be an Exceeds employee.
Cannot recall a single instance in my 20+ years where an individual's high level of performance advanced that individual for the better.
WF is 100% negligent in human resource management.
So what options does a worker have knowing this?
@xnm+1qPdsANV "The Bottom line is that promotions are not objective" -- and may I add neither are demotions (or who gets laid off).
In tech where it is easy to develop key performance indicators (KPI) there were none. It's relatively easy to determine how many agile "story points" the tech developer solved. It's fun to see how many managers (7 in my case) would claim they helped create or design the system after you created and designed it. One of the benefits of going agile is that there is some traceability. But of course, this bank's facilitators always find a way to not implement such a thing.
What is worse is that the bank seems to be adopting the "rank and yank" of GE's Welch -- but without any KPI, to determine who gets laid off.
Part of the skill set of being a quiet quitter is to determine how to get laid off. At most sane institutions this would be destroying your KPI's.
But not at Wells. At Wells, you have to understand and work with the toxicity of the facilitators and get them to believe their useless lives would be better without you.
Weak and insecure managers are aplenty. They create an illusion that they are indespensible and exaggerating their directs shortcomings in effort to secure their own exisence. You all know who you are.
I think it’s funny how people keep stating managers won’t promote high performers because they fear they’ll take their roles. That type of conflict rarely if ever happens in a corporate structure because your manager can’t promote you to become their peer. If a senior manager promotes someone to manager the director isn’t gonna say “wow that manager is a great worker. Let me can the senior manager then promote them so they report directly to me”.
What most perceive as not getting promoted because of their high performance is actually them not getting promoted because they lack people skills. As you move up, it becomes less about technical skills and more about people skills.
It's pretty funny how you can't comprehend the reality that managers tend to "like" the people that perform best. If you're a constant headache with poor performance, no, I'm not considering you for promotion. If you're good at your job and show promise for the next level, promotion becomes possible, but it's a competition with any posting. No one is owed a promotion. You might be a great candidate, and another candidate might be even better. It happens. If you haven't failed to land a promotion at some point in your life, you're probably not trying very hard. It happens. The question is, what are you going to do about it so it doesn't happen again?
Bottom line is that promotions are not objective. I have yet to find a coherent explanation from anyone on criteria for promotions or even “exceeds expectations” rating on performance reviews. It's completely bias and subject to a managers discretion. Obviously, managers tend to favor their friends and are intimitades by high-performing talented individuals. These managers ki-l morale and productivity. If you want an easy way to identify them, look for any SVP that's been coasting 20+ year here.
Yes, Wells is big enough that many have realized this.
If you come to this company be prepared to become one of them, or find a new job in a couple years when you inevitably get frustrated with the competency and willpower of the average employee.
Sometimes if you take a step back and look at these posts, you’ll realize they reflect corporate culture more than just Wells. Keep that in mind if you’re a young person on this site and thinking the grass must be greener elsewhere.
Basically the way I see it your first promotion from entry level is merit based. You’ve demonstrated you can do the job so you get rewarded. From there, it’s literally all about playing the game. If you’re competing for a team lead or senior manager job everyone can do the job. Maybe the skill sets vary but everyone can do it. The differentiating factor is networking and getting in front of the right people. What you can do doesn’t matter if nobody knows what you can do.
Also, su-king up is a skill. Like someone mentioned before, people who su-k up are willing to do the pointless and trivial tasks that marketing can sell to the public. If you’re not willing to do those things then middle management pays very well but don’t make it seem like you’re being robbed.
I've been promoted three times so far and I never, ever, do any of that stuff. Team building, engagement etc. is a waste of time and I couldn't care less. I don't even attend teams meetings talking about that cr-p, let alone actually attend or plan it. 'sorry, I have a conflict'. Eventually most people stop asking.
It depends on the manager, but I agree with the OP based on what I’ve observed over the years. Those with low skillsets volunteer for all the extra bs that no one else wants to do (or has time for) and Wells Fargo eats that $hit up. While everyone else is actually working - they’re organizing volunteer events, volunteering at other’s volunteer events, eagerly participating in whatever “punishment project” comes out of the employee surveys, jumping with both feet in to fake “employee-engagement” events, getting involved in ridiculous executive pet projects, suddenly dressing exactly like the boss…. It’s totally backwards but Wells Fargo has always focused on and rewarded everything other than excellent work.
I actually have to agree with OP. I have been at consistently exceeds or exceeds for years now and I was told I’ll never be promoted. All while I see much less skilled workers be promoted year after year. Yet I am the one that gets overloaded with new work constantly.
This is WF Technology in a nutshell
The Layoff: like, OMG, managers are sooooo mediocre!!!
Also The Layoff: OMG, managers should stop labelling people!!!
😑
There are a lot more Wells employee posts here than laid-off posts. In the next cycle, both workers and managers will be laid off.
Now back to the managers of Wells. Those criticizing this post show the lack of leadership skills of Wells' managers. They are taught to be facilitators, labeling people as "slackers", as they scratch their way to the top. They do not solve problems. They do not inspire.
Managers here should lead and not label. Workers here should not accept their manager's labels and toxic environment. They need to realize the state they are in, upskill themselves, and then get the h... ck out.
OP’s over generalizations give a clue to their character. In my department we promote the best workers. As a manager I try to hire and retain better individual contributors than me because it makes my team’s performance better (which is what I’m measured on).
another employee that is totally delusional about their skillset. Sitting around or walking around with headphones on, non-business casual, barely doing their job while denigrating productive people. When manager gives them their meets or IM they want promos, 10% raises, CEO gets 30%! Then launch into Fredo rant about how smart they are, then log an HR case. These people are unreachable and worthless. Glad to just be working with I&P now as a non-manager, getting Exceeds ratings since I am not being dragged down by employees I inherited who cannot or will not do any actual work or solve an actual problem they most likely created. When you are displaced others will wonder for a second what you actually did here then quickly forget you ever existed. Good luck in your old room at your parent's home while I stack up RSR.
Typical slacker posting!
In a nutshell: Attitudes like this indicate serious workplace issues that are most likely impossible to improve no matter how much PIP is offered as a solution.
Good luck with this career!