Pros
Pay is nice if ranked well Challenging assignments if ranked well Aggressive Career Progression if you have a sponsor
Kontras
The demoralizing effect of the forced ranking system. Only 10 - 20% of the managers over the course of my career have expressed a genuine interest in employee development. For the other 80 - 90%, I have encountered everything from indifference around employee development, an unwillingness to share important performance results (like a drop in ranking without an explanation other than "tough rank list"), and a punitive approach to frank discussions on managing business risks. For individuals that drop in the annual ranking, it can take years for an employee to find out about the drop. Meanwhile the behaviors that supposedly facilitated the drop cannot be corrected, and employee frustration builds following the reduced frequency and magnitude of salary treatments.