I keep running into this policy. More than I'd like to admit.
And every time, the same sequence plays out.
Developers start optimizing the number, not the work. Estimates balloon to protect individual track records. Sprints stop reflecting what the team can actually do.
And when something slips (and it always slips) it gets treated as a people problem.
PS: It's not a people problem.
Here's the thing:
Story points were designed to measure relative effort. Not time. Not individual output.
The moment you pin them to hours or days:
→ You're measuring individual productivity, not team throughput
→ You're punishing complexity instead of planning for it
→ You're creating a system where honest estimates are a liability
Someone posted this in r/ExperiencedDevs on Reddit asking if they're overreacting to exactly this policy at their company.
The way the organization used the estimation broke the team.
