Threatening a PIP in these circumstances? What should I do?

[Yesuap]

I returned from maternity leave in July to a new manager. In his words the department had changed and ‘I needed to get on board with his new journey.’

This meant a lot of the type of work I was doing before was no longer done and I was expected to pick up different areas. He’s since said he doesn’t think I’m up to speed on these areas and wants to put me on a PIP, though HR have said he has to wait first to see if I can improve. I feel like I can’t win here because I AM a bit behind in these areas because they are brand new to me and I haven’t spent many years doing them like he has! I feel totally victimised and want out of there but now feel like I don’t know how to handle it. I need another job but how can I buy more time? I haven’t slept the last few nights.

How long was your maternity leave?

@MrsBennetsPoorNerves a year, is that relevant?

I'd get in touch with Pregant Then Screwed:

pregnantthenscrewed.com/support-services-2/

Potentially. Your rights are slightly different depending on how long you were off. 26 weeks or less and you're entitled to go back to the same job. Longer than that and your entitlement is to go back to a comparable job. So if you were off for 12 months, it's OK that the manager has moved you into a different role, but he should still offer appropriate training for that role and time to learn what you need to do.

Having said that, you've been back since July so, depending on the role and the nature of the work, he might feel that you've had enough time to learn the ropes, so may not be unreasonable to want improvements.

You're still protected by maternity discrimination laws at the moment so he will need to tread very carefully. However, if there are issues with your performance, it is in your interests to work with him on resolving those as soon as possible. Do you need more training? More support? More practice?

Ask for training and support to get up to speed on the new areas.

TBH if HR are any good they’ll insist on that as part of a PIP process anyway (because a PIP is supposed to go both ways - both what you need to do to improve AND how your employer is supposed to support you to do that).

Discuss with him a reasonable timeline for you to build the skills or knowledge you need, given this is new to you.

If he’s more broadly a d**k then do this while quietly looking for a new job

Work with HR, make sure you make clear requests for training for the changed aspects of the role.

When you get to the PIP make sure that HR are involved and that the targets are specific and realistic.

They’re often a good tool for untangling messes like this as they make it specific rather than whinging managers.

Why can’t you try and learn the new way of doing things?

You’re not being victimised if you acknowledge yourself that you’re a bit behind on what you’re supposed to do. It’s normal for managers to want all their team on board and working to the same standard.