Worried about HR meeting

I work for a large multinational and a manager friend told me PIPs are quite common and you don't hear about most of them. People definitely come back from them but they can also be a route out if there's someone who is not making any effort or is unsuitable for the job. If your DH has been getting good feedback then I'd be inclined to be positive and try not to worry.
Fingers crossed for you.

I have had people on PIPs that have successfully completed them, made improvements and carried on working for me. They are used as a last resort for many employers, hence why often people leave because they’re just not very good.
If your DH has evidence showing he’s been proactive and can document the meetings he’s had each week with his boss to confirm that he was not made aware of any issues then I don’t think they can dismiss without more warning, there will be a formal invitation for a disciplinary meeting and he would be offered the opportunity to bring someone in with him.
Try not to worry, perhaps boss was just having a bad day when he was being cold.

I wouldn't worry based on a quote like that. People do come back from a PIP. However, the cases where this happens tend to be where the person wasn't meeting performance because it was unclear what was expected, or they needed some training, or support with time management or prioritisation, or they were for whatever reason performing below their capability. The last can be due to slacking off, or a period of poor health/personal issues.
Your husband's future in the job after the plan will really depend on whether he can see they were justified, and that he does need to work differently in future, and feels he can sustain working in the new way.
If he still has no idea what he did wrong, or feels his targets are unrealistic and he only met them through excessive work in order to 'pass' the plan, and worries how he will keep it up in future, then it doesn't look as good.
Has he said anything about how the plan has changed things for him? What has he learned or done differently that his performance is now adequate in their eyes? And can he keep it up?

He must know as he knows the improvement measures, and you put those where the failings were, that’s standard pip,

as said it is all highly illogical, I think maybe it’s bravado, he wouldn’t be the first man who isn’t performing who tells his wife how he’s in there saving everyone’s backside and carrying the load. We have had a couple of them and you can tell from the way the wife’s talk at social events they think their husband is some star when actually he’s a low performer.

I really don't understand how your husband can be on a PIP without knowing what the failings were to lead up to that point. Is this a tiny company with no HR? HR have policies in place for all parts of employment - including documented procedures for PIP's.

I dont have experience of the PIP process so can't advise there but something that jumped out to me was the forwarding of the emails to a personal email address, that is a big no no in my company so I'd be very wary of doing that or saving anything company related on personal devices. Better to print out and have hard copies then there will be no dispute over that.

Yes it makes no sense, if he’s the fall guy then what will happen when h3 goes, and he’s admitting there is performance measures, and he has to email each week to say he’s done his tasks, which is standard pip, it’s micro management and you break it down and get rhe employee to confirm they’ve done it.

no one puts someone as excellent as he says he is, on a pip, how would you even create rhe improvement measures.

so he is telling the op how brilliant he is. Saving the department, doing multiple people’s jobs. How shit his boss is, when in reality it would seem he is under performing and has been for some time. Hence the pip.

so the op needs to get gently past his ego and embarassment and get to the truth of it, and this will give her a fair idea of why there is now an hr meeting.

the fact he says the manager went cold for the last two weeks, could indicate he’s not been performing on the pip either and he’s preparing the op for what may happen. The fact he even asked if it was disciplinary says he felt it might be,

it won’t be termination, but I’d assume this is a serious conversation about his lack of performance.

Rubbish.
Ive had staff on PIPs and provided they reach the targets they stay.

The bloke I put on a PIP did. I put him on it to frighten him into either pulling his weight or fucking him off out the door. He was more than very capable of doing the job.

It frightened him and he pulled his weight and was fine after that.

He did admit to me that it scared him shitless, as he was convinced I was going to find reasons to get rid of him, which he knew I would if he buggered around again.

I did wonder. It seems strange to get to 11 years employment and suddenly out of the blue get put on a PIP. It depends where the company sees his boss' employment going and if they have any clue he isn't doing well. His boss might be crappy and putting your DH out as the fall guy, but that is really hard to prove. I'd guess there is probably a termination/settlement route about to happen for your DH. As someone said above, tell him to agree to nothing in the meeting if it turns into a termination discussion. Tell them to say something non committal of "I will review and respond in due course". Negotiate a fair settlement if it comes to it, so start high with asks. More so, I'd tell your DH to source references in the company and start job searching ASAP. It sounds like a toxic place in general if working for someone like his new boss, a new job would probably be a breath of fresh air.

But why does he have a pip and improvement measures that he needs ro confirm he has met, if he does multiple people’s jobs inc saving his bad boss. If he’s saying he is meeting rhe improvement measures it says he was not perfoming to standard, and normally before a pip there is multiple discussions.

so something is adrift in your understanding,and likely what he is telling you. Get to the bottom of that and you may get to the bottom of why there is an hr meeting.

My thinking too.

Surely if the meeting is a disciplinary he should be made aware of this so he can gather all his evidence and take a witness of his choosing into the meeting? If he gets in there and it starts taking an unpleasant turn I am sure he could halt the meeting until he has had time to prepare.

I was once blindsided like that and refused to sign the form at the end of it. They didnt pursue it though as the place was closing down and they actually offered me a job elsewhere! ( needless to say I politely told them to stuff it)

It's not necessarily true that PIP always ends in leaving, I was put on a PIP by a manager who was trying to get rid of me after I returned from mat leave. The PIP was absolute bollocks and included requiring me to attend training which was several levels below my pay grade and education level, as a way to humiliate me, but I submitted to it cos I needed the job. The manager strung it out as long as possible to try to get me to leave but I didn't and I'm still here 8 years later (manager isn't though).

There's no point panicking, just keep everything in writing (which he's done) and don't agree to anything in the meeting til he's had it in writing and had time to consider/ consult ACAS or someone external.

Oh they do sometimes. Someone where I worked overspent his budget by £2 million pounds. He was put on a pip, passed it. He still there whilst others were made redundant, and some would have been to make up for his overspend.

It’s a meeting to get the pip signed off or extended or whatever the step is if he hasn’t met it successfully. If he is that concerned I’d be worried he wasn’t telling the full truth here about how well he’s done on the pip.

To be honest it sounds like he will be best off out of there, he should get a settlement agreement. Does he really want to be watching his back after this pip?

That’s what I’ve heard too.