Good Place to Work, But Losing Positive Qualities that Differentiate Company from Other Large Chemical Companies - Chemical Engineer Eastman Employee Review

Thank you for your review. We believe that our people are truly remarkable and makes us successful. Contrary to some postings here, Eastman does not have a forced ranking system. The system we use closely matches a normal distribution of performance in a high-performing company. We expect our managers to provide ratings that most accurately reflect an individual’s level of performance relative to their peers in a given year and to have candid, ongoing discussions regularly. Our philosophy is that every team member deserves clear and honest feedback on their performance. We strive to attract, retain, and develop high performing team members in order to accomplish our growth goals. The ratings are intended to increase clarity, specificity and consistency of feedback and coaching to unlock the best in our team members. Companies that have successfully moved away from formal ratings have very strong, natural, and candid feedback and coaching cultures. Performance is managed throughout the year. Feedback and coaching conversations happen on an ongoing basis. Employees report that the quality and candor of the discussions is high. And they clearly understand the linkage between their performance and their recognition & rewards. Over time we hope to build a culture like this, but we're not there yet and are using our formal process -- as many companies do -- as a way to help drive the rigor, candor and consistency.