Today IBM released the result of this year’s salary plan (ie: raises) to the masses. I had high hopes since we (IBM and Tivoli) had such a great 2006.
This year the bucket that my team’s salary adjustments came from (at whatever level that is determined) wasn’t all that big to begin with. To complicate matters more, IBM decided to focus on adjusting folks Market Reference Point (MRP)1 this year at the expense of rewarding their top contributors. What this means is that everyone that was below 100% of their MRP had a good chance of getting something to get them closer to 100%. After the MRP adjustments were determined, that money was taken out of the bucket and whatever was left was to give Performance raises based on your PBC rating. Performance raises are generally handed out to folks with a PBC rating of 1, 2+, and often 2. This year the money remaining for the Performance raises was so small that they were only able to give Performance raises for people who made a 1 and some of the 2+s.
Overall my odds were pretty good. Moving to Denver decreased my MRP to 88% so I could expect an MRP increase. In addition I received a 1 for 2006 so I was expecting a decent Performance raise as well.
Based on what I received the bucket must have been microscopic in size. I really can’t complain – I still have a job (layoffs occurred within Tivoli just last week) and received at least a small raise. Still, the number pales in comparison to my previous salary adjustments. My manager also said that my percentage increase was the highest at my second-line manager’s level which makes me happy (see, even though the number is small they do still like me) and sad (geeze, that’s the best IBM can do for their employees?). Oh well – it’ll be enough to cover Benjamin’s college books.
[1] MRP is based on three factors: band, location, and the pay range given those two criteria. If, at a given band and location, you have an MRP of 100%, then you are in the dead center of the pay range for that band/location pair. If you have an MRP of 80%, then you are paid 80% of the average pay at that band/level. Denver has a higher cost of living than Austin (Denver is at the IBM “national” level and Austin is at the IBM “regional” level) which bumps the 100% MRP mark up by $9,600/year going from Austin to Denver.
Digital Ramblings 
I’m at 116% MRP, so you know what I got.
What I got and how much I’m bothered by it is equal to a number that no other number is divisible by. That’s the beauty of living well below one’s means. Oh yeah, and being old as dirt. :-)
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Re: I’m at 116% MRP, so you know what I got.
We (usually) do a good job of living well below our means too. Its gotten a bit more complicated recently. Our move took a chunk of change out of our short-term savings, but that’s pretty easy to recover from given a few months. On the other hand since Benjamin is no longer working and will be going to school full-time at a private university for at least three years, things should get interesting soon. Thankfully the federal government sees him as an over-23 (ie: parents no longer in the picture) single man with no job and has given him some grants. For once (and only once) I like the fact that the federal government doesn’t consider him married to an IBMer who makes decent money :)
And honey, you’re nowhere near as old as dirt!
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Don’t doubt what you *do* have…
Though we have good jobs and interesting work, being with a “research” organization means we’re lucky if our raises keep up with the cost of living increases. And Christmas bonuses? It’s a gift card to HEB. Keeping two kids in private school does get interesting (and for ~16 years each).
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Re: Don’t doubt what you *do* have…
I completely understand your meaning – in truth, all of us TAMSters are pretty fortunate with our jobs and families. 16 years? Already ruled out a public university then?
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Re: Don’t doubt what you *do* have…
Actually, I had forgotten about college… tack that on. The Montessori school that Max goes to (where Paige will start in December) takes them at 18 months… so just getting to high school graduation is 16 years. :)
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If they’re actually counting you as a Denver employee, you’re lucky. was told in no uncertain terms that she was going to be given pay based on the Austin scale when we moved. It’s no wonder IBM lost her when Microsoft offered an amount based on local cost-of-living.
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My manager was awesome about that. Before I moved he looked to see if it would be to my benefit to be counted in Austin or Denver for this year’s salary plan and when we discovered Denver was better he make sure everything in the system was updated prior to when the salary plan started. That was the whole reason I became a work-from-home employee two weeks before we had initially planned.
My manager rocks and I’ve been lucky to always have really good managers during my IBM career (7 years this month – scary!)
Looking forward to seeing you two in a few weeks!
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