Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at [email protected] or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words.It is encouraging that the government is addressing the near-automatic salary increment system for Hong Kong’s civil servants. Under the current regime, only 38 civil servants were denied an annual pay rise last year.The government is proposing a forced ranking system, whereby the bottom 10 per cent do not receive an increment. This is a genuine policy departure.Forced ranking, famously used by Jack Welch at General Electric, was traditionally reserved for highly individualistic, metrics-driven roles. Even then, the results were often disastrous.Microsoft abandoned its stack ranking system in 2013, amid criticism that it suppressed innovation and encouraged employees to game the process rather than perform well. Another tech giant, Amazon, also reportedly moved away from the practice.If private employers are abandoning this instrument, why should Hong Kong’s civil service embrace it?
Letters | Is ranking Hong Kong’s civil servants on a curve a good idea?
Readers discuss a proposed ranking system for the civil service, opportunities in Central Asia, and the Ebola threat.
TL;DRAI
Hong Kong proposes cutting annual increments for the bottom 10% of civil servants, up from just 38 denials last year. Microsoft scrapped stack ranking in 2013 over innovation damage; Amazon followed — casting doubt on importing the model into public-sector HR.
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