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Business Insider
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
A leaked TikTok doc reveals how managers are told to score employee performance — and what not to talk about
A leaked TikTok document reveals the company's guidance to managers on conducting performance reviews — and what they shouldn't tell their teams. The company and its owner, ByteDance, conduct reviews twice a year, and executives set targets for the distribution of team scores based on business priorities. But if you're a TikTok manager, you shouldn't talk about the rating curve with employees or call it a "forced distribution," according to the document. "The messaging to management or to the employee is that we do not have forced distribution," one staffer said, but "every cycle we do get 'guidance" on scoring. The document, shared with managers of TikTok's e-commerce division around the time of its last review cycle, provides a framework for its employee scoring system. It instructs those managers to assign the three highest scores to no more than 5% of team members in total and limit the top four ratings to 10% or fewer employees. TikTok did not respond to requests for comment. TikTok's next performance reviews are expected to kick off next month, and some employees tell Business Insider they're worried that low scores could lead to a new wave of performance-improvement plans (PIPs) or exit offers. The last cycle in March led to a stream of low ratings and cuts to teams like e-commerce. The company's leadership was disappointed with TikTok Shop's US results last year, and staffers previously told BI that they felt the reviews were used to trim head count. Performance reviews have become dreaded by many across the tech industry, as companies like Meta and Microsoft have recently overhauled their processes to weed out low performers. TikTok and ByteDance adjusted their review process last year to call out more low and high performers, blending self-evaluations, coworker feedback, and ultimately manager discretion to assess team members and meet top-down performance distribution goals. How TikTok scores workers TikTok managers score employees based on a mix of their work output, their alignment with core cultural tenets, internally called ByteStyle, and their leadership principles if they are a manager. BI earlier published a version of the company's scoring rubric, which ranges from "F" for failed to "O" for outstanding. A score of "M-," reserved for employees who sometimes fall below expectations, or "I," for staffers who often do, can lead to a PIP or an offer to leave via a mutual separation agreement. Staffers receive an overall score that considers each factor, including peer reviews. Ultimately, there's no standard calculation that decides the overall score, according to the manager guide. How managers should avoid bias The guidelines document said that while managers are expected to weigh different performance factors in reviews, they ultimately should make their own call about each overall score. "There is no specific formula to calculate the Overall Rating, which means leaders need to make comprehensive management discretion," the company said in the document. Because managers have a large degree of discretion in setting individual scores, the company's guidelines focus on what to avoid when making decisions. For example, one slide in the document lists various biases to watch out for. Those included: Recency bias: Overvaluing recent events instead of considering the full performance cycle. Choosing a single positive or negative workplace trait for a worker and scoring based on just that. The "central tendency," or rating everyone near the mid-point to avoid conflict with workers. Showing preference to workers who act similarly to a manager, or share some of their workplace habits (e.g., a team member is high performing because they also look at their email outside work hours). The "contrast effect," where reviewing one candidate who is very strong or weak makes another candidate seem comparatively better or worse. The "assimilation effect," when team members are reviewed back-to-back and appear too similar to differentiate.
Business Insider
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
A leaked TikTok doc reveals how managers are told to score employee performance — and what not to talk about
The company and its owner, ByteDance, conduct reviews twice a year, and executives set targets for the distribution of team scores based on business priorities. But if you're a TikTok manager, you shouldn't talk about the rating curve with employees or call it a "forced distribution," according to the document. "The messaging to management or to the employee is that we do not have forced distribution," one staffer said, but "every cycle we do get 'guidance" on scoring. The document, shared with managers of TikTok's e-commerce division around the time of its last review cycle, provides a framework for its employee scoring system. It instructs those managers to assign the three highest scores to no more than 5% of team members in total and limit the top four ratings to 10% or fewer employees. TikTok did not respond to requests for comment. TikTok's next performance reviews are expected to kick off next month, and some employees tell Business Insider they're worried that low scores could lead to a new wave of performance-improvement plans (PIPs) or exit offers. The last cycle in March led to a stream of low ratings and cuts to teams like e-commerce. The company's leadership was disappointed with TikTok Shop's US results last year, and staffers previously told BI that they felt the reviews were used to trim head count. Performance reviews have become dreaded by many across the tech industry, as companies like Meta and Microsoft have recently overhauled their processes to weed out low performers. TikTok and ByteDance adjusted their review process last year to call out more low and high performers, blending self-evaluations, coworker feedback, and ultimately manager discretion to assess team members and meet top-down performance distribution goals. How TikTok scores workers TikTok managers score employees based on a mix of their work output, their alignment with core cultural tenets, internally called ByteStyle, and their leadership principles if they are a manager. BI earlier published a version of the company's scoring rubric, which ranges from "F" for failed to "O" for outstanding. A score of "M-," reserved for employees who sometimes fall below expectations, or "I," for staffers who often do, can lead to a PIP or an offer to leave via a mutual separation agreement. Staffers receive an overall score that considers each factor, including peer reviews. Ultimately, there's no standard calculation that decides the overall score, according to the manager guide. How managers should avoid bias The guidelines document said that while managers are expected to weigh different performance factors in reviews, they ultimately should make their own call about each overall score. "There is no specific formula to calculate the Overall Rating, which means leaders need to make comprehensive management discretion," the company said in the document. Because managers have a large degree of discretion in setting individual scores, the company's guidelines focus on what to avoid when making decisions. For example, one slide in the document lists various biases to watch out for. Those included:
Business Insider
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
A leaked TikTok document reveals the guidelines it gives managers for scoring employee performance
A leaked TikTok document reveals the company's guidance to managers on conducting performance reviews — and what they shouldn't tell their teams. The company and its owner, ByteDance, conduct reviews twice a year, and executives set targets for the distribution of team scores based on business priorities. But if you're a TikTok manager, you shouldn't talk about the rating curve with employees or call it a "forced distribution," according to the document. "The messaging to management or to the employee is that we do not have forced distribution," one staffer said, but "every cycle we do get 'guidance" on scoring. The document, shared with managers of TikTok's e-commerce division around the time of its last review cycle, provides a framework for its employee scoring system. It instructs those managers to assign the three highest scores to no more than 5% of team members in total and limit the top four ratings to 10% or fewer employees. TikTok did not respond to requests for comment. TikTok's next performance reviews are expected to kick off next month, and some employees tell Business Insider they're worried that low scores could lead to a new wave of performance-improvement plans (PIPs) or exit offers. The last cycle in March led to a stream of low ratings and cuts to teams like e-commerce. The company's leadership was disappointed with TikTok Shop's US results last year, and staffers previously told BI that they felt the reviews were used to trim head count. Performance reviews have become dreaded by many across the tech industry, as companies like Meta and Microsoft have recently overhauled their processes to weed out low performers. TikTok and ByteDance adjusted their review process last year to call out more low and high performers, blending self-evaluations, coworker feedback, and ultimately manager discretion to assess team members and meet top-down performance distribution goals. How TikTok scores workers TikTok managers score employees based on a mix of their work output, their alignment with core cultural tenets, internally called ByteStyle, and their leadership principles if they are a manager. BI earlier published a version of the company's scoring rubric, which ranges from "F" for failed to "O" for outstanding. A score of "M-," reserved for employees who sometimes fall below expectations, or "I," for staffers who often do, can lead to a PIP or an offer to leave via a mutual separation agreement. Staffers receive an overall score that considers each factor, including peer reviews. Ultimately, there's no standard calculation that decides the overall score, according to the manager guide. How managers should avoid bias The guidelines document said that while managers are expected to weigh different performance factors in reviews, they ultimately should make their own call about each overall score. "There is no specific formula to calculate the Overall Rating, which means leaders need to make comprehensive management discretion," the company said in the document. Because managers have a large degree of discretion in setting individual scores, the company's guidelines focus on what to avoid when making decisions. For example, one slide in the document lists various biases to watch out for. Those included: Recency bias: Overvaluing recent events instead of considering the full performance cycle. Choosing a single positive or negative workplace trait for a worker and scoring based on just that. The "central tendency," or rating everyone near the mid-point to avoid conflict with workers. Showing preference to workers who act similarly to a manager, or share some of their workplace habits (e.g., a team member is high performing because they also look at their email outside work hours). The "contrast effect," where reviewing one candidate who is very strong or weak makes another candidate seem comparatively better or worse. The "assimilation effect," when team members are reviewed back-to-back and appear too similar to differentiate.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
BI spoke with federal workers who voted for Trump. Some have come to regret it.
This post originally appeared in the Business Insider Today newsletter. You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here. Good morning. The backlash Tesla owners are facing over Elon Musk has crossed the pond. Here in London, a man says he was aghast when he was confronted about his vehicle in a parking today's big story, BI spoke with 10 federal workers who voted for Trump. Months later, some of them now regret it. What's on deck Markets: Rob Arnott thinks the market's tech stock sell-off isn't over. Tech: BI reviewed a leaked ByteDance document showing TikTok staff being evaluated on their "ByteStyle" and more. Business: Needy hospitals are trapped in a cycle of corporate plunder, Bethany McLean writes. But first, some voters feel hoodwinked."I feel betrayed. This is not what I wanted, to let everybody lose their job." That's what a two-time Trump voter who works for Veterans Affairs told BI. "You're fired. You're fired. You're fired. This is not 'The Apprentice.'" So far, tens of thousands of workers have already lost their jobs as a result of DOGE's efforts to reshape the federal workforce. With Elon Musk as de facto leader, the DOGE office initiatives have ranged from dismantling agencies like USAID to slashing budgets and sweeping layoffs — some of which have been reversed by court order. Just a few months ago, some of the workers impacted by the cuts may have been celebrating Trump's election victory. They voted for a better economy, lower prices, or more stringent border controls. What they didn't expect was an existential threat to their careers. BI spoke to current and former federal workers who voted for Trump — and some have come to regret it. "If I knew I was going to lose my job because Trump became president, no, I would not vote for him," one worker said. Betrayal. Anger. Regret. You can read what all the workers told BI here. For federal workers hoping to now pivot to the private sector, things might be tricky. Lackluster corporate hiring, a shrinking middle-management job market, and pullbacks by universities are making the route to employment beyond federal agencies trickier to navigate, BI's Tim Paradis writes. Federal workers also face a unique hurdle. Recruiters and career coaches told BI that many federal workers have the know-how to succeed in private industry, yet they might struggle to make that clear. Adopting a key new skill might help them: translation. 1. Rob Arnott says the sell-off in tech stocks isn't over. "We're seeing the unwinding of a bubble," Arnott, the founder of Research Affiliates, told BI. He compared the current market to the peak of the dot-com bubble in 2000 and warned that the Magnificent Seven stocks are set to slide further. 2. Why China looks investible again. Just a year ago, investors fled the country in droves as they lost faith in its post-pandemic economy, with the CSI 300 dropping over 45%. Now, the country's stocks are rallying, thanks to a pro-tech shift from Beijing — and analysts are paying attention. 3. Follow these leaders for sharp insights on recessions. Leading economists are bracing for a recession, although there's been no official call yet. BI compiled a list of the best commentators on recessions, and the warning signs they're watching. 1. Amazon's DeepSeek scramble. When DeepSeek debuted in January, customer demand was so high Amazon rushed to add the AI to its development tool Bedrock. Now, Amazon wants to promote its products as an alternative to DeepSeek and is telling employees to point out its privacy and security issues, according to internal guidelines seen by BI. 2. Meet the Palantir Mafia. The software company's alumni have collectively raised more than $6 billion for their own startups, which include the social-gathering app Partiful and the defense-tech company Anduril. See BI's list of 30 Palantir alums who struck out on their own. 3. How TikTok scores employees. It's performance review season for TikTok employees, and BI viewed a rubric to see how they're scored. Workers are measured on Output, Leadership Principles, and ByteStyles — i.e. a set of workplace values. If an employee receives a low rating, though, they could end up on a PIP. 1. How wealthy investors keep bankrupting needy hospitals. As Steward Health Care closed hospitals and cut corners on care, its top officers got richer, and the profits kept flowing to its private-equity owner Cerberus. Now, its bankruptcy reveals a deeper flaw in America's healthcare infrastructure: Facilities that have been plundered can only be sold to others who are likely to continue the plundering, Bethany McLean writes. 2. Older Americans on the shifting job market. Some are taking blue- collar jobs, while others are navigating unemployment. Many told BI that ageism, technology changes, and economic shifts have affected their retirement plans. 3. The ghosted generation. College app rejections. No-show dates. Job apps sent into the void. No one has been more rejected in both their personal and professional lives than Gen Z, writes Delia Cai. It's led young people to adopt a blasé attitude in order to protect themselves — and it could turn them into a generation of incredibly risk-averse adults. A veteran Tesla engineering manager has joined DOGE, and he's set to attend a NASA layoffs meeting. Trump says he'll talk to Putin on Tuesday: 'We want to see if we can bring that war to an end'. Investing tips for finding cheap stocks from David Booth, the Eugene Fama pupil who built a $777B firm. Everything we know about Elon Musk's 'more affordable' Tesla. Shopify has acquired Vantage Discovery, an AI search company founded by former Pinterest engineering leaders. At HumanX, a new conference focused on AI, people wanted human connections (and to pet dogs). Dealmaking slumps over Trump's tariff turmoil. 'It's almost as bad as Covid.' The 10 housing markets with the highest turnover, where homes are likely to go on sale faster. Nvidia GTC AI conference begins in San Jose, California. It's St. Patrick's Day. Don't forget to wear green. The Business Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York (on parental leave). Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Grace Lett, editor, in Chicago. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Ella Hopkins, associate editor, in London. Elizabeth Casolo, fellow, in Chicago. Read the original article on Business Insider
