IBM: The Cost of Growth

IBM's climb up the rankings this year from #5 to #3 had pretty much to do with its HR parameter rankings. It was an aggressive hirer in the job market, nearly doubling its strength from 4,700 people to 9,000, making it the fourth largest company in this survey.

The only other piece of good news was that by and large satisfaction on training remained constant. 

And that is where the good news ends. Doubling workforce in a single year comes with a price-disruption in the workplace and growing employee dissatisfaction. A year ago, the company ranked among the top 10 in six of eight employee satisfaction parameters. A year down the line, the figure has reversed- it now ranks 15th or below in seven of eight parameters. Overall employee satisfaction ranking is down from #3 to #9.

The biggest hit has been in company culture. Two years ago, employees voted it in as the company with the best work culture. In 2002 that came down to #6 as the headcount increased by 52%. Finally this year, with nearly one of every two employees new to the organization, ranking on company culture has come down to #17. The disengagement at this point of time is very visible. Only 68% of all employees surveyed said they felt a sense of belonging to the company (ranked 17th and down from 86% the year before).

Only 62% believe they have the freedom to make decisions on their own work (ranked 19th). And it ranks 18th on employees' sense of contributing to the company's growth. 

This is surprising for a company like IBM where workgroup level management has traditionally been very strong. Some key strengths of the company have changed within the last year. Only 66% said their opinion mattered (86% last year); 71% said the company responds immediately to employee problems (88% last year); and only 71% said they had fun at work (88% last year). Salary and appraisals have become an issue and here's what takes the cake-it ranks right at the bottom on employees saying they feel proud to work for this company. The other big surprise-in a year of intense hiring, job security is a bigger issue. Some review of company culture now looks imperative.