Can I ask anyone else in Accenture their thoughts on the recent changes in the performance management process?
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Well, I always feel that these things are done to save money for the organisation...
Just consider, instead of new promotions or even standard annual salary hikes to be given 3 months later..for several hundred thousand employees...even if it is few hundred pounds per employee..it would result into multi-million dollar savings for Accenture...
I am sure after few years they will say its too difficult to have all employees to be appraised at the same time, so we are splitting them in cycles 3 months apart...again in that round they will save several millions..
Had seen similar practice in another organisations as well...whatever reason is given by the management, I think bottom line is to save some money..
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I can't say it's gone down too well. Lots of CVs being prepped.
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So people are prepared to move job because they will get their pay rise 3 months later than planned?
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Well my CV is no more prepped that it's ever been - but it's more indicative of the aggressive cost cutting in the industry which is delivering returns to shareholders at the expense of the employees. I'm not looking at Consulting through rose tinted spectacles - and I'm a realist. However the gradual erosion of benefits / perks / call them what you will has not been proportionate to a reduction in the effort expected or required (occasionally the opposite). My point is that travel, extensive periods of time away from home, long hours must, somewhere, be compensated to really attract the best people. Unpaid overtime, economy class travel virtually everywhere, removal of training perks, removal of travel spend perks, mounting bureaucracy and the general commoditization of Consultancy means this is an irrevocably changed industry.
This latest communication was, above all else, another small contribution to the erosion of what gets me out of bed in the morning....
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....you say three months.....I've spoken to a fair few people who didn't get an increase last year (think CW in laddering) which would make it a ~27 month wait between pay rises...
At consultant level you don't get a bonus at ACN either. You could therefore (theoretically) go almost an entire level at Consultant (2-3 years) on the same pay you received when first promoted.
In the consulting industry I'm not entirely sure how many people would be keen to accept such a 'rewarding' scenario?
Obviously the above is up for debate - Arby asked for thoughts so that's my input, albeit third party... :)
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+1
Absolutely spot on Arby.
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+2 Arby - I've been saying this ever since they removed business class travel for managers. It doesn't matter if I fly long haul for work or not (I don't) - it's the perception of everything being cut in order to continue to deliver shareholder value in an environment where clients are paying less for our time, rather than accepting this is the "new normal" and we can't continue to top up the $8bn warchest anymore...
I'm waiting for the "Premier Inn only" booking policy to take effect.
Now, where did I leave the keys to my Astra hire car...
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Hey, what's wrong with the Premier Inn? ;) I love staying at that place. It's so cheap and I love the breakfasts! Sometimes I eat so much at the "eat all you can" breakfast that I can barely waddle off to the office afterwards.
You are right though. When people start penny-pinching, consultancy quickly loses its shine. I get really angry when people question my choice of hotel, as if I'm on a holiday trip or something. Or when they question why I drove there by car rather than taking the train because it's cheaper. The work we do is tough enough as it is, without having to have all these other inconveniences imposed upon us simply because it's a bit cheaper for the client. I really also don't like it when clients think we're living the high life because the firm pays for our lunch or something like that. Or thinking we're taking the mickey because we went on BA rather than Ryanair. We work hard... really hard.. and somehow we need to be compensated for that one way or another. Going first class on the train may seem like a luxury to a client, but for some of us it's the difference between being able to bear a long journey and arriving fresh and relaxed versus being stressed out of our minds because we had to cram into cattle class surrounded by a load of foreigners shouting at the tops of their voices.
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Bushy.... End of the paragraph, UKIP much?
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Hehe how did you know I'm a UKIP supporter? ;)
In the case I was thinking about when I wrote that, the foreigners were french gap year students (I think) and there was about 25 of them all shouting and screaming and hyper and it did my head in as I had to share the journey with them for about almost 2 hours. Either way, I want peace and tranquility when I'm travelling, not some random language I don't understand being rammed down my ears.
(I like the french by the way, just not when they're shouting and screaming on a train in the same carriage as me).
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