I asked HR to keep something confidential.....

[malificent7]

I wrote to HR as I wanted to know if I was on a "performance management plan" but I told them i wanted to keep our meeting confidential from my line manager. He knows and was annoyed.
Last time i met with HR they asked if I gave permission for my boss to be there but invited them anyway before i had chance to respond.
So my feeling is that I am being performance managed out , HR can't be trusted and it's not a nice environment to work in anyway. Aibu?

I think that you misunderstand the role of HR.

HR’s role is to support the employer so they’ve done nothing wrong

But what about your issue?
You just state your manager was annoyed - did he confirm or deny that you are on a Perf Mgt plan?

Why don't you email him and get it in writing - surely you can't be on a Perf Mgt plan if you don't know what performance is expected of you and how it will be measured / goals / timeframes etc.
Doesn't make sense!

Your performance management plan should be in writing, needs to be shared with you, and, as PP, should have clear metrics on which you’ll be measured. There should be no mystery surrounding it. That said, it should be written BY YOUR MANAGER, so excluding him from the conversation makes very little sense… HR should be involved but shouldn’t be playing the leading role in this.

If you were being performance managed you would know about it, it isn’t something that is done in secret. Your manager would have sat down with you, told you about it, discussed the timescales and the improvements that were being sought.

And HR is there to support employer, employee and at times to facilitate the relationship. They are not there to hold one sided conversations behind another persons back.

This.

Your line manager would be the one managing your performance so HR would have to ask your line manager for confirmation.

I also think you misunderstand what a performance management plan is - I don't see how you can be on one without knowing, the employee knowing the targets and timelines is one of the most significant parts of the plan.

Absolutely none of this makes any sense. You can’t be in a performance management plan and not know about it? What are you asking HR, is there a performance management plan that doesn’t exist?

Also, they are not there to support yourself as such, but your employer. Any performance management discussion would need to involve your manager. I would imagine HR would be incredibly confused by your requests. They don’t sound as though they have done anything wrong.