Breaking Down The Tech Company Mark Of Death: The PIP

PIP = Performance Improvement Plan

Hi! I’m Rahul, a software engineer and founder with a passion for teaching.

#techcareergrowth

Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
1:32 - Why you should leave the company if you're PIP'ed
3:22 - The company falsehoods about PIPs
4:06 - What are the company goals with PIPs?
5:21 - Your mental well-being on a PIP
6:16 - What to do if you're on a PIP (1)
7:48 - What to do if you're on a PIP (2)
8:10 - What to do if you're on a PIP (3)

[NickKravitz]

I got PIP'd once in my 30 year career. My manager and coworkers started treating me differently and I quickly recognized my time at the company was ending. However, I didn't panic. I made sure to continue coming into work on time, continue contributing, and had a mutually respectful exit. It took me a month to find my next job that came with a big raise and even bigger office. The next place had no idea I had been PIP'd and even gave me "excellent" on my first performance review. Think of it as a nudge that your role is a poor fit, not that anything is wrong with you.

[Dontcaredidntask-qm]

Got a PIP, left the company, and it was the best thing that ever happened. I joined a new team that supported, believed in me, and never put unnecessary pressure on me. I've grown faster, and further in my career than I ever could have by staying in the original company!

[edthelazyboy]

A PIP is really the company HR being involved in documenting reasons for your eventual termination. If the manager really wants to help you improve and believes you can potentially stay, they would just speak to you privately about your performance and not get HR involved.

[swaggitypigfig]

PIP stands for paid interview practice, not performance improvement plan.

[dfec]

Every PIP I've seen (in IT) has been due to a manager/lead pinning their failures on someone else to take the fall. Any time I hear of an employee getting a PIP, I immediately assume their manager is a snake.

[allaboutthegyro]

I have been in IT for 22 years, and have been PIP’ed once. Two weeks later I quietly resigned to take a new position that paid 10K more with less work. The company I left was shocked because they intended the PIP as a constructive tool, but the wording of said PIP was deliberately antagonistic in tone and filled with inaccuracies. When they asked why I did not contest any of the claims of the PIp, I simply stated “it is not my responsibility to accurately measure my above average performance through emotionally based claims”.

[fpdrnez]

I 💯 agree that you should leave the company if you get on a pip. When I was put on a PIP, I decided to look for a new job because I knew my worth and I worked hard to land a better paying job. The mental toll I experienced is still something that haunts me years after but when I look back, it was all for the best and it all worked out. Believe in yourself.

[mockingbird]

I love the fact that you're presenting information in a straightforward and "no nonsense" fashion as compact as possible.

[GlueC]

A relationship where one partner keeps threatening to break up isn't a healthy one. Either help them or move on. Same for business.

[phillipgoat]

Got a pip once, Had to leave because HR was getting annoying with their warnings. best thing ever happened to me. Found another job where I was considered almost a genius, and after that I found another job even better than the previous one. Once you get pip'd consider this: they're not a good fit for you, simply put, they don't want you there anymore and you should do what's best for you, at the moment I got pip'd I thought I was the problem, wrong! you're never the problem, either your manager doesn't like you or someone ratted you out for something they didn't like about your personality, usually pip's are personal issues, not work related issues.

[rontheronin]

I got PIP once! Not only did I crushed it and got out of the PIP early a few months went by they gave me a raise then I quit and left them for a better company, with better pay and a better team 😂😂 keep it pushing people further down the road is more opportunities.

[ZaidZakir]

i was piped, i trusted the PIP process that it will do good on me, i guess i was naive, i passed the PIP, hit every target they set me, but 2 weeks later they laid me off bcoz "company isn't doing well financially" my biggest mistake was trusting it without finding another job during that time.

[jayscaping]

I got PIP'd at my last job, second company I ever worked for in tech. At the time I had absolutely no guidance (I was assigned two "mentors" and they did next to nothing to actually mentor me) and there were very few resources like this that I knew of 2 years ago. I was convinced that if I just did what I was asked, I'd be alright, but the manager set me up for failure with totally ambiguous and unachievable goals within the team i was on and I made the mistake of not leaving and hoping for the best and inevitably was fired. Learned this the hard way for sure.

[brettdavis]

I'm glad that there is someone that is finally telling the honest to God truth about what to do if you get PIP'd. It is always easier and better to start a new relationship than to fix a bad one.

[ImperialArmour]

Generally I'd recommend anyone on a PIP to do what's beneficial for yourself. If calling it quits is good for your mental heath, do that.If you need more time to find the next job, then stall the timeline of the pip by using medical and hospitalisation leave(make sure you claim the expenses on the company).

Aim to try and clear the PIP, but negotiate on what that scope is. For example, instead of agreeing to something ambiguous like "client must give a satisfactory rating at the end of the engagement", re-scope the pip to be "3 features to be completed on agreed timeline and bug-free". This puts more of the control back in your court.

Remember to think what's beneficial for yourself first, managers and HR are just employees too.

[Bvcggdert]

You are 100% correct when you say PIP is a good thing because you want to work with people that support you!! a collaborative manager is not going to blindside you with something like this. They're going to have conversations with you during your one on ones to communicate where they feel or think you're not meeting the mark, siding, specific examples, and offer new opportunities to correct your performance to a level they think acceptable or even better yet, admirable.

[ki]

Getting a pip is not the end of the world. Maybe the current environment/culture is not suitable for you, but if you stick around the industry and learn from mistakes, good things will eventually happen!

[warniu]

I 100% agree with this analysis. A PIP is a crock of BS. It’s basically a way to tell you to leave the Company. I’ve never known anyone to actually survive a PIP. Get the hell out ASAP, for the sake of your own mental health and self respect. It is always possible to do better elsewhere. Additional tip: choose your boss really carefully next time. Easier said than done.

[JayPatel]

I worked for a big 4 consulting company where PIP was used as a tool to put an employee in their place. If you were ambitious or made the management feel insecure or inept, situations were constructed to lead you to being PIP'd. It takes determination and savvy to know how to navigate a PIP. Eventually, in my case it took a year, but I did get the director fired and proper attention brought on HR to the toxic workplace. It's not worth it. Better to ultimately use this to go on to bigger and better things.

[benfowler]

Even the _threat_ of a PIP from your line manager achieves the same effect.