Merit Increases

Nope, not a manager. I was a direct report whose career was damaged by a bully manager.

If your management doesn't like you, why would you continue to work there and not look for a new job elsewhere?
I’m not the target of this but I’ve seen it happen to other people since I started here. I said something once and got the cold shoulder for a couple of months. It concerns me because HR doesn’t appear to do anything even when a manager had documented issues or a history of vindictive behavior and it can happen to anyone without ever knowing why.
 






Sounds like you are justifying the bullying a lot of managers engage in. Are you one of those managers? If so you how many careers of direct reports have you damaged because they disagreed with you or you just didn’t like them? This is the reason J&J can’t compete anymore.
I have damaged innumerable careers. I share their stories while at my home in Moultonborough. Salud.