To ask if anyone has been put on a performance improvement plan

[gibson2018]

And managed to turn it around and keep their job?

I was put on one after 14 years service. New manager stated one of his objectives was to get rid of me. (Reasons given too old, expensive, female,recently won an external award for pioneering work). One of my performance measures was that I had to make more eye contact 😂 . I managed to contact the most senior female director (lawyer) who was in charge of ethical / whistleblower process and asked a hypothetical question using this situationas an anonymous scenario. I was later made redundant but with 2 years salary. He had the gall to contact me on LinkedIn 5 years later to help him get a new job after he was 'let go'. Maybe I should have told him to make better eye contact?!😀 so I survived mine but it had been done as a scare tactic to humiliate someone.

In my experience they are positive but never been as short as two months. It's also a two way process. What help and support are they offering and are the targets set realistic in that timeframe

I was put on one but a senior HR person decided the majority of the targets were unfair so scrapped it to the disgust of the bullying middle manager who put me on it. The manager had put loads of people on one. After I stood up to the manager and it became known, others stood up to her instead of resigning quietly. Eventually the company ended up paying out to me to avoid a full employment tribunal hearing with the newer firm of solicitors they had been using for the past 18 months. That firm of solicitors like the ones they used before had lost every case they dragged to a full hearing, including unfair dismissal cases where people had represented themselves.

In another organisation I did some work for, a colleague was put on one. The middle manager and the consultant they hired to reduce head count, who put him on it both ended up resigning after doing so. The guy they put on it use to spend his lunch time providing training sessions for other staff the organisation would otherwise have to pay ££££ for, was very helpful to other staff generally, had union support, and actually helped the organisation avoid discrimination cases.

So as far as I'm concerned they are used to target people who a middle manager decides doesn't fit their image of the company because of not being a "yes" person.

I have never put anyone on a PIP to phase them out. It really hard work for the manager as well as the employee as it's so structured but IMO it's so much easier to help someone to turn their performance around (if they are willing) than bring in someone new. I'd view it as a serious realisation that your performance is not up to expectations but a PIP should never come as a shock and you now have a decision to make. Do you want to work with your manager/team to up your performance in which case you have nothing to worry about, or not? There should not be anything in the PIP that is pushing you beyond usual expectations of someone of your grade and job title. If there is, then I'd be seeking legal advice in your position as that reeks of constructive dismissal.

I’ve put people on them before; they have had a range of outcomes. A few people have turned things around and really improved, one person used it as the push he needed to change career (he really didn’t like his job, it didn’t suit him) and with some people it has ultimately ended in dismissal (or them leaving just before we finished the HR process for dismissal).

But with all of them, it wasn’t a surprise, and nor should it have been. In the build up to using a performance plan, I’d been doing extra 1:1s, minuting then, setting clear targets and pointing out where they hadn’t been met. And I was also talking about the possibility of performance management, should their work not improve.

I've managed staff through a PIP. It should never come as a shock - a PIP is supposed to be a supportive and collaborative process, not a sword of damocles to hold over your head.

Yes, there is the stress of knowing that if it doesn't work out then your employment may be terminated, but done properly it should be a very clear and structured process which gives all parties time to review and decide appropriate action.

PIPs in my organisation run for a minimum of 3 months and a maximum of 6. You meet weekly with the employee to have an enhanced 1-2-1 and review their workflow and discuss how they are feeling. You have a monthly formal review and the outputs of this are used to update the PIP. The intention is that if the employee isn't managing then it will become obvious as the process continues, which gives them an opportunity to think about what to do. It should never be a set of orders to jump through hoops and then an arbitrary decision at the end.

Out of all the staff I've managed through PIPs most of them have improved and found the extra time and guidance helpful. Some have realised the job is not for them and we have identified strengths which have meant they could be redeployed into other vacancies in the firm. Others have decided that the job isn't right and that they want to leave but it's given them time to think about things and search for another job before leaving on their own terms. There's only one that I have had to dismiss, so it's very rare.

Don't panic. Make sure your PIP targets are clear, fair, achievable and time-specific (i.e. they have dates to be achieved). If there is anything you are unclear on then raise it and make sure the instructions are documented in writing (e.g. attach copies of emails to the PIP). Make sure you are having regular assessment meetings to talk about your progress and anything that may be holding you back - have you got all of the systems and equipment you need? Good luck.

I worked in HR and usually these were only started in more serious cases. Any good manager would be expected to pick up if an employee needed particular training or more experience in another area etc.

There were three broad categories that these performance management plans fell into:

1. Where the employee had something going on in their life that made them drop the ball at work. These were usually not about the employee's ability as such but about the employee focussing back on the job at hand and not letting things slide. Most of them were resolved with various levels of support but if the home issue was on going then the person might move into a less stressful role etc.

1. An employee simply couldn't do the job regardless of the help, training and support on offer.

1. An employee who simply won't do the job at hand. This was either because they didn't like an aspect of the job so did all they could not to do that task or they wouldn't follow the rules. For example one employee would not follow the process for a certain task. Despite being told why it had to be done in a certain order and that was part of the policy of how we had to operate, they wouldn't do it so were eventually fired.

In your case, can you get back up to speed? Is it possible for you to do that successfully in the time given?

I am a Manager, and use these as a last resort. I have never lost a staff member, and always got them back up to a satisfactory performance level.

As a PP said, it is about a can't do as opposed to a won't do attitude. The tougher ones are where the staff member has no self awareness, or will consider any personal accountability.

It is A LOT of work for a Manager. Anyone doing them to 'target' a staff member must be bonkers. But everything in them must also be evidenced. If there is evidence of underperformance then you need to accept that.

I was put on a PIP last year by my manager - we have never got on and this was another attempt to make me leave as nothing had worked so far. I was in the middle of a nasty custody court case and he jumped at the opportunity to add the pressure on. It was awful and came totally out of the blue (I've been at my job a decade and with him as my boss for 3 years). He gave me no support so HR hired an external trainer who reported to them that there was nothing wrong with my work, we were massively understaffed and the level and productivity of my work was fine. My boss still dragged it out for 8 months of hell before HR signed it off (he's never actually told me it was finished).

I'm still here but it was a terrible time. So my experience has been very negative. My only advice OP is get your trade union involved if you have one, mine was worth their weight in gold at the time (even more so now redundancies are looming and my boss has now put me in the firing line for that too...)

I wanted to come back and update on this.

I managed to turn it around and keep my job. So thanks to all who replied.

Not personally, but I have worked to support 2 people who turned it around from being performance managed. It can be done.

Sorry - will teach me to read the whole thread before posting.

Glad things worked out for you.