Company using strict targets and PIPs to avoid redundancies, what can I do?

[VictoriaSponge987]

I’m a middle manager in a large tech company. Due to AI they’ve decided they have got too many people and the way they are trying to tackle it without paying lots of people redundancy is by making managers set goals which are incredibly stringent and making it very clear that they expect a % to fail to achieve these goals (therefore getting a poor performance review). Then HR pile on the pressure to get them out of the business by insisting on PIPs. It feels very wrong to me. Essentially it doesn’t matter how well people are performing, the bottom performers will be managed out. If I don’t manage them like this I will be deemed to have performed badly. Of course it’s all dressed up as being at a managers discretion etc etc but we all know the score. It’s making me feel incredibly uncomfortable because it’s not ethical and people are going to be managed out when they should really have got redundancy payouts. What can I do.

Are your workers unionised? Can you talk to a union rep?

1. gather as much information/ emails as possible and store it for the purposes of supporting the inevitable employment tribunals
2. look for another job

@Mangledrake no, it’s not common to be unionised in my sector but I’m going to look into joining one. I think grievances are inevitable to be honest. Which sucks because I agree that what I’m doing to my team is unfair. But HR will be very quick to blame individual managers when the s* hits the fan even though we are all under huge pressure to manage people out.

Does it rhyme with Feta....?

It fucking grim but going on in a few places.
Get in therapy to deal with it and get your cv out there to escape....

Id also consider how long you want to hold your RSUs as unless its a long term hold it may be beneficial to cash out sooner rather than later. I dont feel bullish about many faang mag 7 companies right now

@SalmonOnFinnCrisp worse - it’s a wannabe faang! It’s so sad as it’s used to be a brilliant place to work. My RSUs haven’t vested yet but to be honest I think I’m happy to forego them at this point. It’s toxic.

Erghhhhh that is worse.

Yeah I'd sack off the RSUs and get job hunting.

As an fyi networking is where to start (i wasted 4 weeks as didnt realise how weird the market is now and how prtant referals are)
it's just AI generated shite being assessed by their clanker mates so despite being a prefect fit for a niche skills requirement you get an autoreject after 24 hrs.
I actually received an autoreject for 2 (two!!!) jobs I was later interviewed for (as i got sifted back out of the rejection pile due to referrals... such a load of shit)

Oh gosh - which sector? Experiencing this in our house too at the minute!

I think keep a record of EVERYTHING. After every meeting write and send the decisions and actions too.

I was managed out this way but luckily I hung on through the PIP Process only to get the redundancy money being told the loss of role was not due to performance! Yada yada. Me and a colleague were put on one at the same time. Totally unfair when we’d had successful careers up to them. My manager was dumb and couldn’t even manage a PIP process Properly and examples given were vague. I hear it’s the same this year. Same dumb ass manager telling managers to downgrade a % of staff. Tell them to put in grievances. If everyone does
it and creates more work for the org they’ll soon regret it!

Very short sighted of them, it'll cost more in the long run as PIPs arent a quick process, and you'll inevitably get sickness, grievances etc dragging it out.

Its unlikely this is HRs decision though, they'll have probably been asked what the options are to reduce headcount and someone higher up has latched on to the PIP idea.

Whatever you do, unless you like the idea of exiting but not on your terms, do not actively encourage staff to raise grievances. This isnt good advice at all.

Oh love, this sounds awful and your instincts are absolutely right, this is a classic forced ranking or stack ranking system designed to avoid redundancy payouts and it's ethically murky at best, potentially illegal at worst. If people are being pushed out for business reasons dressed up as performance issues, that's essentially a sham redundancy process and they could have tribunal claims.
A few thoughts. First, protect yourself by keeping records of any instructions you've received about target percentages or expectations to fail people, especially anything in writing. If it's verbal, email yourself a summary straight after with dates and who said what. Second, if you're uncomfortable setting impossible goals, document that you raised concerns and when. Third, be careful how you conduct any PIPs, if you're asked to manage someone out unfairly and they later bring a claim, you could be named.
You're being put in a horrible position where you either compromise your ethics or risk your own job. Some options include pushing back in writing asking for clarity on the business rationale for targets, speaking confidentially to your own union if you have one, or quietly starting to look elsewhere if this isn't a company you want to be part of anymore.
This approach often backfires on companies because good people leave voluntarily rather than participate, and the ones pushed out take claims. You're not wrong to feel uncomfortable. Trust your gut on this one.

Thanks @sarahd89 that’s exactly how I feel. All really good advice. Unfortunately they are very careful about writing anything down but I’ve started to record conversations where the subject is discussed.

@Megifer It’s definitely not a HR decision, it’s a senior leaders decision. I was just making the point that HR won’t be very supportive when the inevitable grievances arise because it will suit them to blame the managers.

Are you making them aware you’re recording them? If not it is illegal,.

It may be breach of a policy but its not a crime

Most businesses have a 10% natural attrition rate anyway. Are they looking for significantly more reduction than that year on year?

Covert recording in a business environment can absolutely be a crime.

Op recording conversations in this context is categorically not a criminal offence.

Can you evidence that, because covert business recording can be.

Sure

https://www.davidsonmorris.com/recording-conversations-at-work/#elementor-toc__heading-anchor-0

Op recording discussions in this context is not a criminal offence

@Wickedlittledancer It’s really hard. How else do I prove what I’m being asked to do? They won’t write it down.