Timeline for I just got an invite for a meeting with my boss and boss's boss titled "Performance Improvement Plan". Should I be worried?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
14 events
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| Feb 16, 2017 at 16:14 | comment | added | user56888 | While a PIP may well be a precursor to an intended dismissal, bear in mind that it may cost a company more to find and hire a replacement than to "improve" a current employee. Try to put yourself in their shoes, with as much information as is available to you. Ask yourself if they need to downsize in general or are actually increasing staff, if the project you are on is coming to an end, etc. This may give you some insights into whether they are simply looking to show you the door, or if they would prefer to try to "salvage" you than start over with some unknown replacement. | |
| Feb 15, 2017 at 22:22 | comment | added | Tony Ennis | My previous company used PIP as a way to help defend themselves against bias termination suits. And if one employee gets a PIP, they all get a PIP, barring "immediate termination" situations. | |
| Feb 15, 2017 at 17:31 | comment | added | DCShannon | @user3777390 If you're an immigrant, your manager may be afraid to talk to you about your performance for fear they might look like they're discriminating. By going through HR and setting up an improvement plan, they can make sure that the company approves of what they are saying and doing, and that there's a record you actually had issues, rather than them just having a biased opinion toward you. All the protections put in place to protect certain classes are great for the people being protected, but they may not realize how difficult it can make it to work with them. | |
| Feb 15, 2017 at 17:27 | history | edited | DCShannon | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
might have overstated how easy it is to fire someone
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| Feb 15, 2017 at 16:25 | comment | added | user3777390 | @DCShannon What weirds me out is that my manager never even bothered to ask me to talk to him. Right now, I am in uncertain times due to the immigration process I am going through & that has given me a lot of stress & anxiety. | |
| Feb 15, 2017 at 14:33 | comment | added | CptEric | @DCShannon in my country, as in LRO's country, you can't fire someone just because, and PIP's do not exist either. an employee can only be fired for serious things like a real industry backstab, revealing secrets, those kind of things. everything else goes through internal meetings and processes, that might end up in the employment tribunals. | |
| Feb 15, 2017 at 13:22 | comment | added | keshlam | The meeting doesn't have to be "friendly" to be a serious attempt to tell an employee that the options are shape up or ship out and they think you can do either. A formal PIP should be a last resort when it has reached that point, and it coming as a surprise usually indicates a failure on management's part as well as concern about your performance -- unless your manager was incompetent this should have been addressed by normal management action/discussion long before reaching this point. | |
| Feb 15, 2017 at 10:47 | comment | added | Lightness Races in Orbit | @DCShannon: Depends where you are. In my country, an employer can't just sack someone for the lols of it - PIPs don't exist because it's ingrained into the culture that you can't just drop someone without first trying to make things work. If you did, well, see you at employment tribunal! | |
| Feb 15, 2017 at 1:27 | history | edited | DCShannon | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 440 characters in body
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| Feb 15, 2017 at 1:25 | comment | added | DCShannon | @MaxW The assertion that one would need a PIP to fire someone struck me as a bit odd. After thinking about it for a minute, a relevant detail concerning my company occurred to me, and I'm editing it into the answer. | |
| Feb 15, 2017 at 1:10 | comment | added | MaxW | My point was simply that if the meeting were "friendly" then the meeting would be between the poster and his manager. The fact that the second level manager is involved means that this is part of a company process which must be followed before an employee can be fired for cause. I wouldn't say that most managers want to fire someone, rather that it is a pain in the neck to do so. So a manager isn't going to this extra effort unless termination is likely outcome. | |
| Feb 15, 2017 at 1:00 | comment | added | DCShannon | @MaxW Unless you work at the asker's company and know the people involved, I don't think you have any evidence for that statement. Like I say in the answer, I am actually involved in one of these, and we are actually trying to help him. | |
| Feb 15, 2017 at 0:58 | comment | added | MaxW | No way this is friendly. This is the first step in a company process to fire the OP. The only real point for discussion is can the OP survive in the company. That is doubtful. A PIP is a fairly drastic step involving a lot of extra work for the two managers | |
| Feb 15, 2017 at 0:53 | history | answered | DCShannon | CC BY-SA 3.0 |