Given a performance improvement (PIP)notice - please share your wisdom

[Anonymous]

i understand the inclination to want to fight it. but, assuming you work in the private sector, the best use of your time and mental energy is probably spent in finding a new job. you deserve to be in an environment where you are supported by the people around you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd assume going forward that unless management suddenly changes, nothing you do will be right. It becomes you vs. them. They're not interested in seeing you succeed, especially if the person who actually recruited/hired you is no longer in the picture. They're trying to establish a team that makes them comfortable and for whatever reason, you don't. You remind them of something-- a former colleague they also ganged up on, or you remind them that they're incompetent. Just get out.

+1

First of all, it's not your fault, PP. You unfortunately happened to be in the way of their political crap. The new people want to push you out because they associate you with the old guard. Document everything (but don't be obvious about it), keep an eye open for other jobs, and start packing your office. You could do everything perfectly and they still wouldn't be happy, so don't sweat the work stuff too much. I also wouldn't be surprised if there are others at the company who are suddenly "poor performers;" your description of the situation is giving Latham circa 20089. Again, it's nothing you did, so don't let them stress you out or try to push you into thinking you're at fault.

PP here. I went through something similar in the public sector. Never received a PIP but that's where my boss was headed. I was a stellar employee but it didn't matter to her nor her protectors who actually hired me in the first place. She had value to them. Why, who knows. Maybe I'll find out in the newspaper one day. Lots of political crap that was way above me and not worth trying to fight long-term. I could have held on longer but it would have only caused me more stress. As much as I enjoyed the work and didn't want to leave great colleagues, the job was pretty much dead-ended. You can't succeed under idiots. Just, not, possible.

Finding a not just new but a much better job was a lot easier. Bad managers are very invested in staying put for reasons you can't even imagine. You're there to do good work, they are there for political reasons and will hang on for dear life, and yep, they will happily ruin lives just to stay put. Unless you have a good civil rights case, let them have what they want so you won't be there when the s*it really hits the fan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you a fed? If so document everything. Everything you do, e-mail stating you have completed it. If your supervisor makes any mistake having an impact on your work, e-mail asking for clarification. Create a paper trail to support an eventual grievance or MSPB complaint

Could be amazon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Due to reorganization, there are lots of conflicts between my new supervisors and the original team that I was supposed to support. I was the one being caught in the middle. My new supervisors have been doing bad things I didn't agree with but I didn't say anything. They started to push me for the impossible purposely. I got annoyed, they retaliate including the performance improvement. I would appreciate some advice for me to take proper action.
1. I plan to write to the top management about what has happened and provide some solutions. Hope they would understand.
2. I plan to write to HR but I don't plan to sign PIP.

Please help, thank you!

Bad idea, this will not work. Management will circle the wagons and you’ll just end up proving your supervisors right. Consider a different approach.

[Anonymous]

I have lots of evidence/emails/Teams chat to show my managers' problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have lots of evidence/emails/Teams chat to show my managers' problems.

Good you collected those records. Any allies up the chain who can help you rather than turn it into a massive retaliation-fest?

[Anonymous]

This is OP: i honestly don't care much about the job and I actually thought about quitting. But I am a bit concerned about the bad reputation with HR and how that will affect my next job. Then I just don't believe it's my fault and quite sad about it so want to challenge with some facts/data, then quit. Honestly, my supervisor should be fired but he has been with the company longer than me, si it would be difficult to achieve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have lots of evidence/emails/Teams chat to show my managers' problems.

Good you collected those records. Any allies up the chain who can help you rather than turn it into a massive retaliation-fest?

Oh, and when I started to amass evidence and filed a complaint, my boss turned into Little Miss Tattletale. She went over the top looking for reasons to complain about me and started to turn admin-related molehills into Mt. Everest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have lots of evidence/emails/Teams chat to show my managers' problems.

Good you collected those records. Any allies up the chain who can help you rather than turn it into a massive retaliation-fest?

No one will be willing to risk their job for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP: i honestly don't care much about the job and I actually thought about quitting. But I am a bit concerned about the bad reputation with HR and how that will affect my next job. Then I just don't believe it's my fault and quite sad about it so want to challenge with some facts/data, then quit. Honestly, my supervisor should be fired but he has been with the company longer than me, si it would be difficult to achieve.

Why would it impact your next job at all? Companies don't call HR and ask about performance reviews from HR before hiring you. I agree with all the others to document but focus on finding your exit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP: i honestly don't care much about the job and I actually thought about quitting. But I am a bit concerned about the bad reputation with HR and how that will affect my next job. Then I just don't believe it's my fault and quite sad about it so want to challenge with some facts/data, then quit. Honestly, my supervisor should be fired but he has been with the company longer than me, si it would be difficult to achieve.

This is very much win the battle lose the war.

Or more likely, lose both anyway.

Just move on. Upper management isn’t going to open an email and be like “oh wow, darla was telling the truth when she said her manager forgot to tell her X! And this proves it! Let’s put a stop to this! I’ll talk to management!”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP: i honestly don't care much about the job and I actually thought about quitting. But I am a bit concerned about the bad reputation with HR and how that will affect my next job. Then I just don't believe it's my fault and quite sad about it so want to challenge with some facts/data, then quit. Honestly, my supervisor should be fired but he has been with the company longer than me, si it would be difficult to achieve.

Why would it impact your next job at all? Companies don't call HR and ask about performance reviews from HR before hiring you. I agree with all the others to document but focus on finding your exit.

Chances are HR won't say a single thing. They're usually afraid to say anything other than confirm your employment and say you're eligible for rehire. Unless you stole laptops or went crazy in front of everyone and made threats, they'll avoid a long conversation about you. Use colleagues you partnered with on projects as references.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP: i honestly don't care much about the job and I actually thought about quitting. But I am a bit concerned about the bad reputation with HR and how that will affect my next job. Then I just don't believe it's my fault and quite sad about it so want to challenge with some facts/data, then quit. Honestly, my supervisor should be fired but he has been with the company longer than me, si it would be difficult to achieve.

Why would it impact your next job at all? Companies don't call HR and ask about performance reviews from HR before hiring you. I agree with all the others to document but focus on finding your exit.

Chances are HR won't say a single thing. They're usually afraid to say anything other than confirm your employment and say you're eligible for rehire. Unless you stole laptops or went crazy in front of everyone and made threats, they'll avoid a long conversation about you. Use colleagues you partnered with on projects as references.

+1, and it's often not even HR that conducts those calls, but a third-party company that verifies employment dates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP: i honestly don't care much about the job and I actually thought about quitting. But I am a bit concerned about the bad reputation with HR and how that will affect my next job. Then I just don't believe it's my fault and quite sad about it so want to challenge with some facts/data, then quit. Honestly, my supervisor should be fired but he has been with the company longer than me, si it would be difficult to achieve.

This is very much win the battle lose the war.

Or more likely, lose both anyway.

Just move on. Upper management isn’t going to open an email and be like “oh wow, darla was telling the truth when she said her manager forgot to tell her X! And this proves it! Let’s put a stop to this! I’ll talk to management!”

+1

If you want to retain counsel, then the documentation would help. Otherwise, it's not worth it. If you've been thinking about quitting anyway, you could quit tomorrow. But then you can't collect unemployment and may lose out on a severance. If that doesn't matter and peace of mind is all you're after, peace out without any guilt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Find a new job, a PIP is just a paper trail to terminate someone.

This 100%. Half the time the plan they give you is impossible to succeed at so that they can document your failure and fire you.