For Managers - DH Performance Plan at Fin Services ; quit or see process out?

[LeiLeiLeiLei]

Hi Managers of teams,

DH works in finance department for large Fin services company. There have been some deliverables which have not gone right though out of the blue he was called into a meeting with the Head of Dept (so Line Manager boss) and HR to develop a performance plan.

This is obviously a big mental strain and test of resilience though i am unsure if actually the decision has been made to manage him out and this is the start of the process or he will have a fair chance at this?

My thoughts are as it was sudden the decision has been already made as if genuinely wanted to him to succeed then it would not have escalated so quick. Even if he passes it will take some time to restablish himself.

He has worked in this company for 15months so i believe strictly speaking he could have been given notice straight away.

IABU - He has fair chance and see it out to prove his skills.
IANBU - Look for another job asap as very career limiting and damaging to mental health/confidence.

@katmarie The project he is on relates to quarterly financial reporting so after having a lunch with the Head of who ending lunch saying " we are not far off" to formal PIP is a big step. In the month inbetween there were no big deliverables so perhaps they just needed a scape goat. i guess it does happen and thats why some senior managers stay as senior managers....

@123becauseicouldntthinkofone HR was there supporting the initial PIP meeting and i appreciate HR are protecting the interests of the company not necessarily the employee

I've changed jobs every 2-3 years and no one has questioned it on my cv, I'm in the tech industry though. I think if this has soured his relationship with the company his best option would be to keep his head down and try to deliver the pip, but brush up his cv and have a look around at what's out there that he could apply to.

15 months in he's got nothing to lose by moving on. IME his card is marked, even if the plan is successful, he'll still always be the person who needed one.

I'd.listen to their advice and take it on board, try to improve performance, but I'd also be looking to move.

I’d look at his past moves. Lots of >2 year hops and I’d wonder why. If it’s a square peg thing then a one off short stay wouldn’t put me off so I’d advise him to move now.

They want him out.

Giving a pip out of the blue without having first had more informal measures in place to give him a chance to improve is a clear sign that they are going through the motion to get rid of him.

There is no point in thinking he has a future in this company. He sounds like they need to make some cuts and decided to pick someone who hasn't been there for long and who can be the scapegoat for missed targets.

Which is probably not the worst outcome because they have poor management practices and the long hours/weekend work is not what's best for your partner long term.

I would just start job hunting.

He might also want to put his cards on the table rather than drag this on and say that he is aware he might not be the right fit for the role and would be open to other, mutually beneficial options/offers than the pip.

Meaning, they might give him a small pay off, a decent reference and the opportunity to go on gardening leave rather than serve his notice at work.

Worth a try. I would say they chose the pip route (hoping he might leave) rather than firing him because they know full well his performance in itself would not justify him being sacked....which means they might be willing to go for an agreement that benefits everyone.

I don't know of that it is true but I was told that if you are terminated for performance reasons then it might show up when background checks are done for his next job. Which is why it is sometimes better to simply resign so that the reference given by the company is neutral (started the xx/XX/XX, left the yyyy/mm/de, had the following job title).

Quit.

Performance plans are performative and really just the company covering its own butt and documenting/building a case to justify terminating the employee. It's a manufactured piece of "evidence": "see he's been having performance issues since X date."

Extremely unlikely that they actually have any intent to "manage him up" to expectations.

What I would do is immediately start looking for a new gig. In the meantime, I'd make sure my work was beyond flawless.

I think it depends on the company.

Where I work, it's done for genuine reasons- see an improvement or cover ourselves before dismissal. The outcome is not pre determined, as if the desired results are achieved we all move on. It's also never a surprise & usually a last resort. It's also very discrete.

Over the years I have had 3 people on a PIP.

One admitted during the course of it that they were having some personal issues they hadn't disclosed previously so we offered to move them to a less demanding role for 6 months. They stayed there longer but eventually came back. We dressed it up as a secondment to respect their privacy. They had enough difficulties deal with at home at the time.

Second, passed their PIP & probably just needed the extra support & focus to get a handle on the role. They reminded with the company 3/4 years before immigrating.

Third to me & the HR rep to go fuck ourselves and quit on the spot.

It isn’t clear here what the root cause is. You don’t need to put here but he should ask himself

• what exactly is the purported underperformance
• what’s the root cause of this. Is he not doing his work in a good or appropriate manner? Or is this really a process management/communication/influence issue?
• if he thinks the root cause is other people not delivering what has he done to address this, escalate this? It isn’t enough to just say “I’m late because they are late” - you need to be then agreeing timelines with people inputting so timelines are hit, making sure management understand the issues etc.
• does he understand what the impacts of the non delivery are eg are exco papers or regulatory reporting going out late
• can he meet the PIP criteria?

TBh even if he wants to leave right now he should still reflect on this as otherwise the same sorts of issues will crop up in future. Being a technician is not enough, you e got to be able to navigate these types of issues when you’re just one part of a process.

He has fair chance and see it out to prove his skills or ...Look for another job asap

It's impossible to tell but surely the thing is to do both. Go into the performance management plan with an open mind, do your best within that whilst networking furiously to see what else there might be out there.

The really important thing is to work out in his own head what went wrong.

It couldn't have come completely out of the blue if he was taken out for a month ago and told things have to tighten up. If the next visible step is a formal performance manageable plan, then it seems he didn't pick up on the first informal message or at least didn't change fast enough.

The real key to success is being a round peg in a round hole. Finding the right role is as much about knowing what you need to be successful

Good luck.

If he thinks they want him gone he should negotiate a departure package. Say he will resign in exchange for three months pay or similar.

They will likely prefer that to the performance management process.

He can take some leave and concentrate on his job search

When companies aren’t doing so well financially they can suddenly crack down on ‘underperformance’ as a means of reducing costs without it being a formal downsizing. In better economic situations the same performance would have been viewed as coachable.

I would look at the broader context - is company doing well or are they struggling? Are they sending signals about reducing costs? If so, probably not much hope, as it really isn’t about performance overall.

probably 80% of the people I have seen put on performance plans have left, either managed out or preemptively quit. It isn’t inevitable, but if it were me I would probably put more energy into finding a new job than addressing the plan unless the market is really terrible or he really wants to make it work.

It’s technically impossible to tell, but the surprise element is unusual, and that combined with the fact he’s been there less than two years would make me think their assumption is he will be leaving.

Sometimes a job just isn’t the right fit, or the right time or somehow the chemistry doesn’t work, so I would focus on getting a new job and moving on rather than waste energy worrying about it.

Get his CV updated asap and get it out there. Make some job applications to any reasonable job just to get his Cv out there and in the system.

I work in Fin Tech and manage a large team.
my initial reaction is for him to trust his gut, does he think they want him out? If so start looking for a new role asap.
it’s a billion times easier in this industry to get a job when you have a job! Chalk it up to experience.
I will say we’re having similar issue in a team in my org, 3 people got put on performance plans, unexpectedly to them, as when end of year ratings were calibrated they were worst performing team. They were shocked as their manager hadn’t addressed / talked about it throughout the year, a series of bad mistakes, poor follow up and poor management.
they’re all cross, but what they don’t know is their manager was also put on a plan! This stuff goes to the top!
so worth considering that it may be wider spread and defintey not personal to husband but rather circumstance.
as I say though gut feel is usually right. I have someone on a plan right now, I’d have passed it as she’s really turned a corner, but actually she just resigned better job elsewhere I’m happy for her, and while inconvenient to replace, I know long term it’s best all round for both sides. She’ll thrive with a fresh start.
good luck!

@IAteAllTheTomatoes really enjoyed your post and wasn't expecting example 3 to be yourself as you sound great at your job. You mentioned that old company was fair and you the process worked for others...what were the reasons for quitting on the spot? Please do PM me if easier/outing

Sounds very stressful, I'd be keeping all options open at this stage but definitely be looking for an exit strategy

TBH if his manager's manager and HR are the ones that have kicked this off then I'd say it's worth looking for another role.

Either it's so serious that they've gone straight to using quite a serious process that they already foresee will likely result in dismissal

Or

It isn't that serious and they don't handle performance management well. It should start with informal coaching from the manager, then more formal performance management with the manager and only this level when all else has failed.

Either way I would be moving on...

The 'screw them and bide your time' thing never works TBH.

It's extremely stressful, people form an opinion and even if you move out of PP they will never view you as anything other than someone who was a challenge to get performing.

There's no upside to the employee...there isn't a moment where they suddenly realise you're wonderful and tell you how wrong they were.

Often it ends up in some kind of mental health crisis as the employee works harder and harder to 'prove themselves' amongst people who won't ever change their opinion.

Sometimes they're right about the reasons for the PP....sometimes they're dicks. Often it's a combination.

Your DH needs to reflect on what he genuinely feels has gone wrong on his side and how he would avoid it/handle it differently next time and then MOVE ON.

There is nothing to be gained from staying except stress, rock bottom self esteem and overworking.

Better to learn what lessons can be learned and then start afresh.

Honestly it's not hard to find a role while working notice.

If he has 3 months notice then he can tell the new place he has 1 months notice and negotiate out of the remaining period. If he makes it clear he's very unhappy they won't keep him around against his will. Worst case scenario and they try, he can be signed off sick with work stress and then tell them he doesn't think he'll be well enough to return and would like to be let go before his notice is up. It's of no benefit to them keeping him if he isn't there to work.

Equally he can say it wasn't a good cultural fit (be prepared to explain how in a non-blaming, non-bitter sounding way and what he's looking for culturally instead).

He could say that the role wasn't what he anticipated (say that he was given a lot of work that would normally be a level or two beneath him and didn't feel best use of his skills).

There are plenty of ways to explain it in a way that works for a new interview.

I wasn't on a PP but I had a similar situation where I hated my senior mgmt team at the last place (and they weren't my fans either) and I took a similar route to above.

Sorry for all the posts...I was adding thoughts as I caught up with reading the thread so far...

Honestly it he is being moved to pip this early on something is drastically wrong. No one does this unless there really is a serious performance issue, there are easier ways to go if they just don’t like him,

the issue here is it’s not clear if you are just bigging him up and have no clue, or if he himself doesn’t understand. I suspect he does, and isn’t telling uou. The lunch was a very big deal.

the fact he’s also flipping between companies and no one is looking to put him on a solid career path, could indicate he is a repeated poor performer

he’s now being micro managed to get stuff done. Tell me what you are doing this week, show me your daily plans, show me how you achieved those plans. It’s an utter ballache for thr manager, no one has the time or wants to do it.

id suggest he knew before the lunch, he wasn’t meeting the job requirements. Like other companies he was maybe hoping to get a few more months out of it before he moved on, but they are a different beast and have acted.

I think he needs to find another job, I’m sorry. I also think he needs to look to deviate somewhat into something that he can do.

@LeiLeiLeiLei

Thanks for the compliment. Not sure I'm great at my job (I do try!) but I work in an organisation large enough to try other options & it is encouraged. Strongly believe most times there are an issues at work, it's just a case of wrong person, wrong job. Just need to match skillset & job better. The most obvious case I ever say was a guy in sales who was stressed big time & hated his job. He moved to compliance and is amazing at it. A great guy, just cannot multi task to save his life. His new role allows him, more structure, he can finish one task before starting others, whereas the sales role required juggling priorities.

With quiting on the spot, I'm not sure, I think it was just an ego driven spur of the moment reaction. There was probably something else going on but we never got to find out.

It wasn't an ability issue. It was a case of the complete unwillingness to adapt to change, stubbornly so bordering on defiance and to paraphrase- "he wasn't going to have two women (me & HR) telling him what to do".