Microsoft staffers restive as annual employee poll lands – without questions about compensation
- Reference: 1614058565
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/02/23/mspoll_2021/
- Source link:
Known within Microsoft as “MSPoll”, the survey asks Redmondians to share their views on what it is like to work for the company, how it could be improved, and the usual HR stuff. As with many such corporate polls, it is widely felt it does not bring about change.
[1]
In 2018, an analysis of the MSpoll [2]leaked to CNBC, and it revealed an internal belief that Microsoft’s pay packets aren’t matching those offered at rival mega-corps. Comments on job boards seen by The Register suggest Microsoft staff feel they don’t have an obvious outlet at work or otherwise to discuss their dissatisfaction over compensation.
The Register understands that this year’s effort omits questions about Microsoft salaries, which reinforces feelings the poll may be a futile exercise.
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That causes resentment as roles go unfilled due to relatively low-balled salaries putting off applicants, teams are strained, and some staffers wonder why they bother.
Microsoft staff giggle beneath the weight of a 52,000-person Reply-All email storm [4]READ MORE
Or as a Microsoftie of our acquaintance put it: “We are only insanely paid versus ludicrously paid at Google or Netflix.”
Microsoft staff, especially in the USA, know that keen competition for tech talent has driven pay to extraordinary levels in the industry. Even recent graduates expect six-figure salaries right off the bat, and in some cases need them because not only do they have eye-watering college bills to pay off, their senior colleagues’ pay packets are so fat, they’ve driven the cost of living sky-high in tech-centric spots around Seattle and San Francisco.
The Register ’s Micro-moles suggested the compensation questions were omitted because Microsoft HR knows feedback won’t be kind.
Nor is response to the arrival of MSpoll, which appears to be considered a burdensome chore by some Redmondians.
Here’s a tweet from one staffer.
[5]pic.twitter.com/5NxLquHk1w — home skillet (@ralph_squillace) [6]February 22, 2021
The first of this pair of tweets comes from Jeffrey Snover, the inventor of PowerShell and a key figure behind Windows Server and Azure. The second is a not-atypical response to MSPoll arriving.
I used to make funny MSPOLL memes to encourage my teammates to participate.
For some reason my managers asked me to “find other ways to encourage participation”. 😂🤷♂ [7]pic.twitter.com/rJkangKAoh — Ælectric Cyberfarmer (@rhensing) [8]February 23, 2021
Plenty of other social chat about MSpoll points out that Microsoft seems to send an awful lot of email reminding staff to complete MSpoll, even after they complete MSpoll... ®
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After I fill out MSPoll but still get the notifications to fill out MSPoll [10]pic.twitter.com/C1h9i0mE3m — Phil Swim 🏴☠️ (@synch_or_swim) [11]February 22, 2021
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_business/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YDTgV9gt08DQKSfcbp19cAAAAIk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/06/microsoft-employees-feel-underpaid-and-not-fully-rewarded.html
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_business/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YDTgV9gt08DQKSfcbp19cAAAAIk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2020/03/26/microsoft_reply_all_email_storm_52000/
[5] https://t.co/5NxLquHk1w
[6] https://twitter.com/ralph_squillace/status/1363954510830387202?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[7] https://t.co/rJkangKAoh
[8] https://twitter.com/rhensing/status/1364058944029753357?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_business/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YDTgV9gt08DQKSfcbp19cAAAAIk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://t.co/C1h9i0mE3m
[11] https://twitter.com/synch_or_swim/status/1363954186342268933?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
re: Maybe repeating a lie often enough can make it sounds true.
"We won the Election."
"There were big ballot drops"
"Voter fraud was everywhere"
"give me 11,780 votes because I won the election"
Sounds familiar?
"These polls are not for talking about things that irritate, they are just here for self-congratulation."
Our senior management kinda hate our staff survey. It's the only internal information they have that says anyone is unhappy or that things aren't peachy-rosy-great.
Same everywhere
We have an annual survey too, with similar attitudes from many staff, including me.
However, it's the one piece of internal information our senior management have that shows them the whole operation is a shit show.
Everything else they're fed says "super-smashing-great".
In the many many years of being asked to fill in such surveys I've never seen one of them with a question about pay, that's far too clear and obvious. Instead the closest we get is a question about "recognition". Which means management can implement something as simple as Praise in Teams and which allows them to show their brilliant response to the staff's concerns but it costs them nothing. They then appear hurt & confused when staff give them grief about pay...
"... feelings the poll may be a futile exercise"
Not futile at all - just intended to serve a different purpose.
The same is detectable in most surveys - they typically reinforce the preconceptions of the setters of the survey rather than reflecting the real views of the respondents, the purpose being to convince the powers that be that everything is fine, rather then to drive change.
This is called "human nature".
Mgmt
Not my joke but very fitting:
Management: We are keen to understand your wants and needs and help you handle the stresses of the job more effectively.
Staff: How about a salary raise so we can pay our bills/mortgages, hiring more staff so there are enough people to do the job and not setting ridiculous deadlines?
Management: No, not like that, we mean try Yoga or something.
Re: Mgmt
> "Staff: How about a salary raise so we can pay our bills/mortgages, hiring more staff so there are enough people to do the job and not setting ridiculous deadlines?"
Most companies that did that would go out of business.
Re: TFTFY
Most companies that did that would go out of business see a reduction in profits, hurting executive bonuses and annoying some (but not all) shareholders.
Double checking post-anonymous, too. Employee surveys are a regular feature in our place. Certain results affect managerial pay deals, so it's regarded with some importance.
Unfortunately, certain (senior) managers are also have lucrative bonus arrangements on the basis of running their department "successfully" below theoretical headcount, and this element is worth more than the survey upside that is applicable to all managerial grades.
Consequently the same problems the survey has highlighted for the past 20 years continue, unresolved and un-invested. Surviving on spreadsheets and human glue, rather than doing things properly. Sooner or later something will break as a result... But as long as they get away with it it's regarded as successful. Ironically the auditors did (finally) pick up on the staff complaints over the spreadsheet dependency, BUT little to no meaningful action taken about it.
I'd jump ship but it's otherwise too kushy a gig to turn my nose up at the paycheque.
I'm less certain the stock market agrees with the approach, given the price is down roughly 15 percent in the last 6 weeks following certain dangerously-close-to-catastrophic events happening back to back.
The Register understands that this year’s effort omits questions about Microsoft salaries
These polls are not for talking about things that irritate, they are just here for self-congratulation.
I'm amazed to see how these big companies love to say how they are cool and fantastic and how it's great to live in the world of Care Bears
Maybe repeating a lie often enough can make it sounds true.