L6 TPM here. Attended my first Talent Review at Amazon. Since I am relatively new to the team,I didn't add a lot to the discussion. Wherever possible, I spoke positively about co-workers or else I kept shut simply because I would like to give these co-workers another chance to prove me wrong about some of their weaknesses (as mentioned I have been in the team for less than a year). I didn't want to screw anyone's career unless I had strong reasons backed by multiple examples. What I observed was that while the overall criticism of co-workers seemed mostly balanced, some were way too hung up on minor issues. There were instances where something someone said regarding their career goals in the relative ease of cafeteria conversation was being used against them. I would say that at least 30% of the negatives being put forward to deny someone a promotion or a TT rating were fairly petty. Is this how it is at Amazon?
Can you elaborate on that cafeteria conversation comment? I don't understand. Are they just saying if you're not a good conversationalist at lunch you don't get promoted?
I think s/he means that something minor said casually in a cafeteria conversation could be used against the candidate. Correct me if I’m wrong OP
It was something regarding why they want to choose one career path over another if they are promoted. The rationale for choosing said career path was fairly trivial. However I have worked with this person and I know that she has better reasons than the one she mentioned at the cafeteria
What was the cafeteria conversation about ? Career/ role switch
Yes. Role switch
Unfortunately, yes, but I feel that there are usually enough smart people in the room to call out the BS. In my experience, these are the types of people who feel like they're not contributing unless they can point out flaws in the proposal. I find that there is always at least one in the room whenever I'm in a design meeting. It usually helps when somebody states the facts in context. "We're considering a promotion for Jill, who consistently performs well when it comes to X, Y, and Z, and you're concerned that she once made a disparaging remark about the Fire phone? Do you really think that this should be a significant factor in this discussion?" This usually can get them to shut up.
I sure hope so. Although in this case, I was the one calling out BS (very politely) 50% of the time. It is of course possible that everyone in the room was politely filtering out the BS without getting vocal and confrontational about it
You already had OLR? Which org?
Donno about op, but happened in Retail and Scot for most of the teams. For all who are LE, have got dev plans. Src: I am on one.
What causes one to get into LE rating?
dodgson, the reality is that only a few people can be TT so when you say people were denied it for whatever reason the real question you want to ask is whether they deserve it more than somebody already listed as TT. On the flip side, do you think there were people tagged LE who were better employees than others who weren't? In those cases you should speak up. The purpose of having you there was to get the additional perspective.
We have leadership principles for a reason so you should be calling out lack of consistency regardless if you have been here for less than a year. Be direct and concise if you were hired into a management role. Others in the room will have noticed your lack of speaking up and trying to be “polite” and Pc.
Yes