Let’s be honest, PIPs are not always the right move. What do you think are better ways to handle performance issues?
Unfortunately, I haven't seen a PIP successfully resolve a case, as employees often leave companies shortly after being placed on one. Companies should consider renaming "PIP" since there is a perception that being placed on a PIP means employees are expected to leave.
💯 often times I’ve seen people leave because of the culture and feeling around PIPs being a tool to document and support termination decisions so they’d rather just move on instead of putting in effort they feel may not be recognized.
When a tree is not fruiting, you could blame the tree or blame the gardener. As a team leader for almost 20 years, I think my job is to understand my teammates and create the environment for them to desire to grow. I must make it inspiring for them and hence never found need for PIP. Others who just wouldn’t grow could not keep up and left. I try to create an environment that makes eager and willing people strive hard, I encourage them to, and unwilling people fall so embarrassingly far behind that they leave at will. That said, some people had to be outrightly fired. It was clear a PIP would not have made a difference. A dead tree doesn’t need more watering. Won’t make a difference - just cut it off.
Based on personal experiences I agree with the general consensus that PIPs are completely ineffective and just elicit more fear instead of performance. Evaluation should be stringent at the hiring stage and any unfit employees get eliminated before they hit three months. The goal setting process between manager/sub needs to be looked at closely and reworked, because chances are one or both parties are misinterpreting growth goals or not spending enough time talking about them.
I agree with you, I’ve seen so many people wrongly placed on PIPs because of misalignment during onboarding or lack of clarity between them and the manager regarding goals and expectations.