If Rank-and-Yank Comes to Your Workplace: What to Expect

 "Zuckerberg revealed that Meta would be implementing higher standards for its employees — and cutting ties with those who were unable to meet the new performance threshold." - New York Post, July 26, 2022.

So a kind of "rank-and-yank" could be coming to Meta. And maybe to other businesses which had overhired during the pandemic boom. Or just can't afford the expense of so much human capital during a global economic slowdown. 

In some form that has always existed in pockets of professional life in American business. However, it only took on that buzzy name when former GE chief executive officer Jack Welch made eliminating those assessed at the bottom corporate policy. At the time he was hailed as a role model for other business leaders to follow. Since then, as we all know, the Welch brand has become badly tarnished.

But rank-and-yank long had been an underground business model, likely ranging from non-profits such as elite academic institutions to law firms, before Welch made it an official part of human resources. Those with robust self-confidence and great ambition entered those games gleefully. For others, it was a situation of great threat: To hold your job, no, you couldn't just do your work. You had to excel. 

If rank-and-yank becomes, officially or on a stealth basis, standard in jobs which pay well the workplace could be transformed into the toxicty of extreme competition. Forget the ethos of collaboration. Interactions will be replayed in one's mind, long after one leaves the workplace for the day - and that could happen every day. And, yes, everyone will be watching everyone else.

But that's the way it will be. For now. 

Sure, there will always be those who see themselves as headed for the top of the pile and compete aggressively to be hired into those settings. And there will be those with enough self-awareness who recognize they are not cut out for all that. They will seek employment elsewhere or start their own businesses. Yes, rank-and-yank could kick off another era of entrepreneurship. We entrepreneurs create the metrics for how we will assess our performance. 

As The New York Times documented, the Tarot is a proven tool for self-awareness. Another useful guide is book "Tarot for Change" by Jessica Dore.

Purpose-driven intuitive career coaching, including Tarot Readings. For more information or a complimentary consultation, please contact janegenova374@gmail.com or text 203-468-8579.