Editing Vitality curve (section)

==Prevalence==

It's difficult to gauge how prevalent forced ranking is, particularly because companies have started using more anodyne terms like "talent assessment system" or "performance procedure". That said, research and anecdotal evidence seems to point to a downward trend. A 2006 article in ''Bloomberg Businessweek'' estimated that one-third of U.S. companies "evaluated employees based on systems that pit them against their colleagues".<ref name="struggle">{{cite news|title=The Struggle To Measure Performance|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2006-01-08/the-struggle-to-measure-performance|access-date=14 February 2018|work=Bloomberg Businessweek|date=8 January 2006}}</ref> According to the Institute for Corporate Productivity, 42% of companies surveyed reported using a forced ranking in 2009. That, however, decreased to 14% in 2011.<ref name="kwoh">{{cite news|last1=Kwoh|first1=Leslie|title='Rank and Yank' Retains Vocal Fans|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203363504577186970064375222|access-date=14 February 2018|work=Wall Street Journal|date=31 January 2012}}</ref>

In 2013, one human resources consultant estimated that 30% of [[Fortune 500]] companies still used some sort of ranking system but often under a different name.<ref name="ovide">{{cite news|author1=Shira Ovide|author2=Rachel Feintzeig|title=Microsoft Abandons 'Stack Ranking' of Employees|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/microsoft-abandons-8216stack-ranking8217-of-employees-1384279446|access-date=14 February 2018|work=Wall Street Journal|date=12 November 2013}}</ref> A 2013 survey by WorldatWork, however, showed that it was used by about 12% of U.S. companies,<ref name="gregg">{{cite news|author1=Gregg Keizer|title='Stack ranking' employee eval practice falls out of favor|url= https://www.computerworld.com/article/2486003/it-management/-stack-ranking--employee-eval-practice-falls-out-of-favor.html|access-date=14 February 2018 |work= Computerworld|date=15 November 2013}}</ref> whereas another by [[CEB Inc.|CEB]] in the same year found that it was used by 29% of companies.<ref name="marcus">{{cite news|author1=Marcus Buckingham|title=Trouble with the Curve? Why Microsoft is Ditching Stack Rankings|url=https://hbr.org/2013/11/dont-rate-your-employees-on-a-curve|access-date=14 February 2018|work=Harvard Business Review|date=19 November 2013}}</ref>

According to a 2015 CEB study, 6% of [[Fortune 500]] companies had ditched the forced ranking system, though it did not provide an estimate of how many companies still practiced it.<ref name=move>{{cite news|author=Lillian Cunningham|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2015/07/21/in-big-move-accenture-will-get-rid-of-annual-performance-reviews-and-rankings |title=In big move, Accenture will get rid of annual performance reviews and rankings|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=21 July 2015|access-date=20 December 2015}}</ref>