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Are performance improvement plans actually genuine in most cases? If I were put on one or got a negative performance review, I would assume that I have essentia

Are performance improvement plans actually genuine in most cases? If I were put on one or got a negative performance review, I would assume that I have essentially been fired but my boss is waiting on key paperwork.

crazygringo 5y ago
They certainly can be. I know multiple cases of bad managers who never clearly communicated job expectations/prioritization and then put employees on a PIP because they weren't meeting their hidden/secret expectations. The beautiful thing about a PIP is that it forces a manger to spell out in excruciating detail what expectations are, and how meeting them will be measured. Once an employee knows what they are concretely, it can make it really easy to meet them, and then no more PIP. In all the cases I know, the employees went on to get "exceeds expectations" and then either left the manager or left the company, because the problem was always the manager. Also, because many times you "game the PIP" -- to meet the explicit expectations you slack off on the stuff that you know matters more to doing a good job, but that isn't being explicitly measured. Write shitty code but deliver the features on-time, and let someone else deal with the bugs. Of course I've heard of PIP's being intentionally vague so a manager can arbitrarily continue to say expectations weren't met no matter what -- but I've never seen that anywhere I've worked.
oh_sigh 5y ago
My experience at Amazon was as soon as someone knew they were on a PIP, they went out and got another job. It's much easier to get a job when you are currently employed, and your PIP doesn't show up in any background checks so it was basically a "please leave or we will make you leave"
- MattGaiser 5y ago
  Yeah, this would be how I would react to any formal notification about issues with my performance. I would take it as a kind kick out the door.
BeetleB 5y ago
If your manager has been clearly communicating his displeasure with your performance, then a PIP is really just a signal that you need to leave. If I didn't see eye to eye with a manager all this time, his putting me on a PIP isn't going to suddenly make me change. Conversely, if I accepted his criticism earlier, I would have already changed and not received a PIP. Of course, if there are bad actors involved, it's a whole other story.

crazygringo 5y ago

They certainly can be. I know multiple cases of bad managers who never clearly communicated job expectations/prioritization and then put employees on a PIP because they weren't meeting their hidden/secret expectations. The beautiful thing about a PIP is that it forces a manger to spell out in excruciating detail what expectations are, and how meeting them will be measured. Once an employee knows what they are concretely, it can make it really easy to meet them, and then no more PIP. In all the cases I know, the employees went on to get "exceeds expectations" and then either left the manager or left the company, because the problem was always the manager. Also, because many times you "game the PIP" -- to meet the explicit expectations you slack off on the stuff that you know matters more to doing a good job, but that isn't being explicitly measured. Write shitty code but deliver the features on-time, and let someone else deal with the bugs. Of course I've heard of PIP's being intentionally vague so a manager can arbitrarily continue to say expectations weren't met no matter what -- but I've never seen that anywhere I've worked.

oh_sigh 5y ago

My experience at Amazon was as soon as someone knew they were on a PIP, they went out and got another job. It's much easier to get a job when you are currently employed, and your PIP doesn't show up in any background checks so it was basically a "please leave or we will make you leave"

MattGaiser 5y ago
Yeah, this would be how I would react to any formal notification about issues with my performance. I would take it as a kind kick out the door.

BeetleB 5y ago

If your manager has been clearly communicating his displeasure with your performance, then a PIP is really just a signal that you need to leave. If I didn't see eye to eye with a manager all this time, his putting me on a PIP isn't going to suddenly make me change. Conversely, if I accepted his criticism earlier, I would have already changed and not received a PIP. Of course, if there are bad actors involved, it's a whole other story.