JP Morgan building plunge victim was IT chief at bank

[minestrone]

Their policy of inter ranking employees is incredibly destructive, I have no idea why they persist in using it.

Same for the poor chap and his family and friends.

[Lockhouse]

I've been contracting at most of the IBs in The City for the past 22 years. I cope by trying to retain a sense of humourous detachment and not taking any of it seriously. Most of the time it works but sometimes I get drawn in and have to move on for my own sanity.

[Mich the Tester]

I've been contracting at most of the IBs in The City for the past 22 years. I cope by trying to retain a sense of humourous detachment and not taking any of it seriously. Most of the time it works but sometimes I get drawn in and have to move on for my own sanity.

But what keeps you going back when there are lots of other interesting industries where people generally don't treat each other like tulip? Money? Or just the CV inertia thing, where everyone assumes you want to work in a sector because you've done so much of it before?

[pjclarke]

Their policy of inter ranking employees is incredibly destructive, I have no idea why they persist in using it.

Yep, relative performance ranking makes no sense. I was enticed to go permie at HSBC and went back to contracting 18 months later after the 'Performance Management' process there did the opposite of what it says on the tin.

At half-year I was given a 3 on a 5 point scale, which equates to 'satisfactory', Which I was Ok with as they'd had to put me on a high grade to get me onboard and I was being ranked against some fairly senior people. Then my ranking slipped to a '4' at year end, even as my objective performance improved, according to my boss.

What happened was, they'd kicked out a load of underperformers at the bottom end of the ranking and I'd slipped down. Apart from the demotivating effect of being told my working weekends and cancelling a holiday to get a project live on time was in fact, 'unsatisfactory', a 3=>4 was the difference between a modest bonus and no bonus.

I took the first contract on offer. Muppets.

Worse in the States, apparently, under 'Rank and Yank' if you're in the bottom 10% twice running you're asked to clear your desk in some companies.

[suityou01]

d = vt + (1/2)at2
Where d=distance fallen
v=initial velocity = 0
a=9.81m/s/s
t=?

sqrt(2d/a)=t
:- t=5.59s

So final velocity anyone?

Edit : 54.84m/s

Terminal velocity is 56m/s.

If he'd have jumped from a few floors up, then TV could have been reached.

Fail.

[Dallas]

But what keeps you going back when there are lots of other interesting industries where people generally don't treat each other like tulip? Money? Or just the CV inertia thing, where everyone assumes you want to work in a sector because you've done so much of it before?

Cash and the gym and pool downstairs

Seriously though. A friend works for a big food manufacturer and has SAP procurement (we have SAP as a ledger), from our comparisan stories the people and projects the calibre and process is even lower than most banks I have been in. Great for work/life balance but with zero sense of achievement through dealing with stupid she says.

[ELBBUBKUNPS]

But what keeps you going back when there are lots of other interesting industries where people generally don't treat each other like tulip? Money? Or just the CV inertia thing, where everyone assumes you want to work in a sector because you've done so much of it before?

For the majority of us living in London its the fact that most of the work is in banking, unless we want to commute outside the M25 or work in public sector, plus banking rates tend to be ok.

Not all banks are bad, but the american banks do have a much more aggressive attitude, on one of my permy reviews at a US bank I was told I was 'too nice'.

As the other poster said best way to survive is detach yourself from it and grow a thick skin, though for me now its wearing thin, I want out but getting the same £ is hard.

[GazCol]

Yep, relative performance ranking makes no sense. I was enticed to go permie at HSBC and went back to contracting 18 months later after the 'Performance Management' process there did the opposite of what it says on the tin.

At half-year I was given a 3 on a 5 point scale, which equates to 'satisfactory', Which I was Ok with as they'd had to put me on a high grade to get me onboard and I was being ranked against some fairly senior people. Then my ranking slipped to a '4' at year end, even as my objective performance improved, according to my boss.

What happened was, they'd kicked out a load of underperformers at the bottom end of the ranking and I'd slipped down. Apart from the demotivating effect of being told my working weekends and cancelling a holiday to get a project live on time was in fact, 'unsatisfactory', a 3=>4 was the difference between a modest bonus and no bonus.

I took the first contract on offer. Muppets.

Worse in the States, apparently, under 'Rank and Yank' if you're in the bottom 10% twice running you're asked to clear your desk in some companies.

I think vitality curves in the States are used as an excuse to get rid of what middle managers call 'C' players - there's no way any organisation could be daft enough to base performance on pseudoscience – is there?

[Lockhouse]

But what keeps you going back when there are lots of other interesting industries where people generally don't treat each other like tulip? Money? Or just the CV inertia thing, where everyone assumes you want to work in a sector because you've done so much of it before?

£. It's not forever (it just feels like it sometimes).

[Dallas]

Worse in the States, apparently, under 'Rank and Yank' if you're in the bottom 10% twice running you're asked to clear your desk in some companies.

And barcap when I was there ~5 years ago. My Director said he always kept a few idiots he could remove if his manager asked him to cut - pretty unpleasant guy.