Seven Signs the Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) Was Never About Improvement

Source: J. Bateh, PhD

That improvement plan isn't a rescue. The decision's already made. Formal write-ups are up nearly 30 percent since 2020. Most people on one don't make it out the other side.

Seven signs the PIP was never about improvement:

1/ The goals arrived without warning
→ No prior conversation about the gap
→ No coaching before the paperwork
→ Straight from fine to formal, overnight

2/ The timeline is too short to be real
→ Thirty days to reverse months of feedback
→ Not enough runway to actually improve
→ Just enough to build a paper trail

3/ Support gets promised, not delivered
→ Training mentioned, never scheduled
→ Check-ins that quietly stop happening
→ Words on a document, nothing behind them

4/ HR is looped in before you are
→ The plan already has a shape
→ Legal language appears immediately
→ You're the last to know it's happening

5/ The goals shift once you meet them
→ Hit one target, another appears
→ The bar moves faster than you can climb it
→ Success was never actually the point

6/ Your manager avoids specifics
→ Vague feedback dressed up as formal process
→ Nothing concrete enough to actually fix
→ Hard to improve at something undefined

7/ You're quietly encouraged to resign
→ Framed as preserving your dignity
→ It also preserves their severance budget
→ Read that offer carefully before taking it

A real improvement plan wants you to stay. A paper trail just wants a clean exit.

#EmployeeRelations #HR #Layoffs #PIP #PerformanceImprovement

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can i check for PIP, if i resign before the end of the PIP, will i still get the pro-rated AWS? or will I have to forfeit that?

@bp I brought that up when I was put on a PIP. My managers reply was that they didn't do things that way. WTH that's your f'ing job. The fact of the matter is that none of that makes any difference. He wanted me on a PIP and would have come up with reasons why not matter what I did. I could have solved world hunger and he would have found a way to drop me to NSI.

The root of the problem is that the Supervisors and Employees work completely well and successfully all year the Executives announce a mandatory layoff % then the Supervisor creates Improvements after the completely successful performance all year.

Announcing the % that Need Significant Improvement prior to the start of assessments is just a layoff target by another name.

Can it be challenged in courts? This process as described should be illegal, just a way for Exxon to avoid paying employees their well earned severance packages.

In many cases, the points listed in NSI could have been easily remedied during the assessment period if the Supervisor had communicated those exact points.

Having a direct report that is NSI is at least 50% the fault of the Supervisor when proven experienced employees are actually NSI.

Just another indication that the NSI is headcount reduction and not actual performance.

Does anyone know people who have been just let go at any point prior to the PIP 3mo end date?

Thread regarding ExxonMobil Corp. layoffs

Seven Signs the Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) Was Never About Improvement

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