As the company tries to ease tension between employees and leadership on the issue of compensation, it is implementing changes to its performance evaluation process that will result in increased salaries.
The new process for performance reviews is called GRAD and it is being used this week. According to internal documents reviewed by CNBC, it is part of an effort to streamline the evaluation process, limiting reviews to once a year, instead of twice, and putting more responsibility in the hands of managers.
One of the documents said that under the new process, the majority of Googlers will be modeled for higher pay than they would under the old system.
Two people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be named because the information is confidential, said that at a company town hall meeting on Friday, that point was reiterated by the head of search.
The company has nothing else to share, according to an email.
The subject of employee pay has been a sensitive one. In the annual survey, which CEO Sundar Pichai considers a key indicator of employee satisfaction, staffers gave the company poor marks on how compensation compares to other companies. The process of performance reviews and opportunities for career growth was one of the reasons why employees lowered their ratings.
The results of the survey underscored the challenges that the company faces from the Great Resignation, with workers leaving their jobs at a record pace and tech companies clamoring for talent.
The annual survey is not the only way in which employees have voiced their concerns. At an all-hands meeting in December, Frank Wagner, the vice president of compensation, responded to questions about whether the company would provide a pay increase to address soaring inflation.
Even though executives had received pay bumps, the company wouldn't implement a blanket raise to match inflation.
Changes are being made to how workers are paid. The new GRAD system will allow management to decide on promotions instead of a group of managers and peers. According to documents, employees can still request promotions twice a year.
Long promotion packets, which were long forms employees needed to fill out that included reviews from their bosses, are no longer being used by the company. Managers will make promotion decisions as a group instead of employees.
In March, the company said it would be trying to make changes to its process, which has been replicated by other companies. The performance review changes were previously reported by The Information.
One internal note said that the new system will give employees a tool to set expectations for goals, objectives and key results. The documents state that employees will get regular check-ins with their managers to discuss career development.
There is a new scale for employee ratings.
Most staffers will be in the middle, which shows the impact they are making.
There is a new promotion system. In it, an employee's manager will complete a form assessing whether the person has the skills required for elevation.
One document said that people aren't expected to already perform next-level work to demonstrate that they're capable of next-level success. There needs to be a business need for the promotion.
The company said that if they demonstrate signals for success at that level of work, they will be considered for promotions.
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