Effectively and practically speaking, sort of. With a PIP (performance improvement plan), Oracle HR manages the PIP with the manager. With a PIP, the damage to the manager is something to consider, in that during the PIP, Oracle will look to see what blame can be given to the manager’s failing the employee. No matter how poor the performance of the employee is, usually the employee will tell HR all sorts of things in how they tried to do their job, and that Oracle and the manager set them up for failure. The damage to the manager’s reputation results as Oracle HR will research the claims of the person on the PIP. Oracle HR will then go to all the team members under that manager and in “Good faith” look into the claims. This effectively destroys the manager’s reputation and career. When Oracle HR pries around, they want to confirm as much as possible, and they really sc--w things up as they even investigate wild-crazy claims and those team members under the manager get to hear about those claims in a kind of crazy bias the manager will never get over. Oracle HR during the PIP also weighs the risk of a lawsuit and tries to gauge if the PIP employee will sue, and if they have a case. Most managers who go through a PIP won’t do it again because of the collateral damage for doing it the “right way”. As a result, most managers will let a poor performer “do their thing” and make sure the poor performer ends up on the RIF list because of “restructuring” or other made-up reasons. That way, Oracle can claim there is no discrimination and the person being laid can be fooled into thinking it was “random”. Believe me, it’s not. If you are laid off, and your group or unit remains pretty much intact except for YOU, then maybe you should go and get an attorney and see how that goes. So, a PIP is technically a way to “manage a bad employee out of the organization” however, its not the best way for a manager to do the right thing.