Performance improvement plan questions

[Taystee]

If you're put on a formal performance improvement plan is the outcome usually termination of employment?

Is it better to quit than to wait for the inevitable?

I believe if you are fired at the end of the process this will be noted on any references provided by your employer. If you quit before this happens can they still mention the performance improvement plan on your reference?

Thanks for any advice

I work in HR, I'd say the most common outcome is that the person finds a new job and resigns.

I'd say that happens about 2/3 of the time. Quite often people can turn their performance round and get taken off monitoring. It's quite rare someone goes through the whole procedure and gets fired. Unless you are in probation in which case the process is a lot faster/easier for the employer to terminate employment.

The reference issue depends entirely on your employer's stance on references. Some would mention it, most wouldn't. A lot of employers have a would re employ/wouldn't re employ box.

If you're early in the performance plan and think you can turn it around, do so. Most managers want their staff to improve, it's a lot easier than managing them out or waiting for them to resign and re recruiting.

If you're not confident you can improve start looking for another job.

It takes quite a long time to get from starting formal performance management to termination unless you have less than two years' service in which case your employer doesn't need to use formal performance management at all.

In terms of references, they must be accurate and based on factual information. This means that whether someone is dismissed or not, it would be perfectly fine for an employer to mention the performance concerns in a reference.

However many employers are wary of doing so and might give only basic information in a reference. On balance, although they could mention it either way, they are more likely to if the process culminates in dismissal.

I hate this terminology Peformance Improvement plan.
It basically states that your perfomance in their opinion is not up to scratch and they have been watching you fail more than once without giving any support or guidance.
Have they given you examples on how and where to improve ? what support training is being offered to help you achieve?

If this is a new job for you then i personally would look for another as in my experience managers use this as an excuse to finish people.

In my profession most improvement plans are just there to do just that. I have only see one person be 'managed' out of their position, but they had no insight into their behaviour, work ethic, practice, took no responsibility for their actions and blamed others when it was them at fault.

Is your line manager basically a nice person who wants to help you to improve and can and does articulate what's going wrong?

Or have they taken against you and will find fault whatever you do?

Or are you actually in a job you can't do well and don't have the ability to grow in to?

If the first is closest to the truth, stick at it, do whatever it takes to demonstrate you are working hard, achieving well and not making mistakes.

If either of the other descriptions fit, then job hunt like mad and get out of there.

Some future employers will have a form asking whether you were being subject to any disciplinary procedure when you left, so those will still see the blot even if you leave now. So it's much better to work through the process and be successful if you think you can.

Thank you for all the kind replies. I was actually asking for my DH - he's been with the company for three years but only in his current role for a but over a year (he was transferred internally). His current role doesn't really suit his strengths and he recognises this but he is trying to improve. From the sounds of it his manager has made their mind up so wondering if it's worth the hassle trying to improve if it's only going to end badly.

"It basically states that your perfomance in their opinion is not up to scratch and they have been watching you fail more than once without giving any support or guidance."

Goodness you must have had a lot of negative experiences to assume that any manager putting in place formal performance management doesn't give support or guidance!

Some managers don't bother with support or guidance and just let people fail then instigate formal performance procedures, but I can't say I've come across many. Given that formal procedures are a complete faff for managers, and any good manager knows support and guidance are much easier and more effective, the "let them fail and don't support" approach you describe as the norm is very far from that ime.

OP other than the performance management do you actually have any reason to think the manager has made their mind up already?

I have a staff member who is about to be put on a PIP. This person has had a lot of informal support and guidance over a long period of time (well over a year), and we have records to show this. The performance management process in our organisation is incredibly long - HR want to see that we have tried absolutely everything possible, have given the person as many chances as possible to pull their socks up, have provided training, have given them ample opportunity to raise their concerns etc, all of which has been done. Unfortunately the performance is still below the level required. The first step was to carry out an investigation and produce a report containing evidence that the performance fell short of the requirements.

Has this been done in your DH's case? If it has, he should have seen the report, and have been given the opportunity to put his side, eg lack of clarity about expectations, lack of training, workload greater than expected, external factors, etc. In a meeting between him and line manager he should be able to take a person to support him if he wants (union rep, colleague etc). In such a meeting the line manager would want to see that he accepts that his performance has fallen short and that he wants to improve.

Hope it works out for him.

He has been given two months from start to finish of the PIP so there's not that much time left, really. He's been asking for support and telling them he wants to improve but the measures are quite subjective so it's hard to say whether he is meeting them or not. Anyway, hopefully it'll all work out for the best. He doesn't really get on well in this particular role so it's encouraged him to look for something else. The uncertainty is just a bit worrying and two months isn't a long time to find a new job. If the outcome at the end of the PIP is unsuccessful, are you then given your standard one month's notice before you have to leave?

Is he already on a final written warning for something? If not, then no they can't just give him a months notice to leave.

Do they not have a performance management/capability procedure? It should say in there what the process is.