From the KJR mailbag regarding last week’s column on performance improvement plans (PIPs):

Hi Bob …

The only time I received a PIP, it was clearly to start building a documentation trail (your point about the recipient building his own trail cannot be over-emphasized) that would lead to my termination, ostensibly for cause.

My prior performance reviews had also been excellent. I continued to perform to the best of my abilities while conducting what little job search I could due to the enormous demands that the job placed on my time.

In due course, I was pulled into the resign-or-be-fired meeting and given 15 minutes to collect my personal effects and leave. The company subsequently fought my unemployment claim all the way to a judicial hearing (I won). Of course, the CEO said it was not personal. Of course, I did not (and do not to this day) believe her.

The story ends well. It prompted my move from Long Beach, CA to [current location], converting a long-distance relationship to one that ended in a fulfilling marriage. My journey led me to [employer name], where I have found meaningful work that has brought fulfillment.

Bob says: First, thanks for sharing your story. Second … of course it’s personal. Criticism might not be personal for the critic, but it’s always personal for the criticized, by definition. Beyond that, many managers don’t differentiate between “your performance is substandard” and “I don’t like you.”

Often, they’re yellers.

Third, you give me too much credit. You’re right that “my point about the recipient building an independent document trail cannot be overemphasized,” except for one thing: I neglected to say it. On behalf of everyone reading this, thanks for filling the gap.

* * *

Bob …

My experience is that PIPs are rigged against the employee. Their manager has already decided to fire them, but has to jump through legal hoops and have some “justification” so the company can’t be sued.

The best thing is for the guy to do the minimum, devoting his time to the job search.

Maybe also see a lawyer and send a registered letter to the company noting how the PIP is impossible and rigged for failure, to negotiate a better severance.

Bob says:

Depends on the company, and the manager. Some PIPs are sincere and legitimate. You’re right often enough to taint the whole process, but not so often that it’s a safe generality. Also, as most companies are “at will employers,” the lawsuit threat is overblown. They can and often do terminate employees with no stated cause at all.

Still, most of your advice is sound, except that employees on PIPs do need to be open minded about the possibility that they really do need to make some changes.

* * *

Bob …

Having been on all sides of this:

• Good managers will tell you they’re unhappy long before you get a PIP. Bad ones may not.

• If you’re reporting to a new manager, read your past appraisals to see if there is anything to suggest your previous managers had the same concerns but didn’t want to go to the trouble of going through the process. Your new manager might just be the first one willing to do so.

• One way to know if the PIP is real and not window dressing or the result of a hidden agenda: What you need to do will be totally within your control and you will have what you need when you need it.

• If you have a bad manager, hitting the PIP’s goals would save your job, but you may not get the support you need when you need it to hit them.

• If you have a manager with an agenda, it won’t matter how hard you work, and factors beyond your control — factors that aren’t obvious to anyone in HR — may conspire to keep you from reaching the PIP’s goals. Example: needing the support of other people for whom you and your goals are a low priority at best.

• Might you have annoyed a higher-level manager, whether directly or indirectly? You might be dealing with “delegated discipline,” at which point you have a manager with an agenda.

• Ask HR what rights you have. Then ask someone who’s been around a while the same question. If HR seems to be leaving things out, you probably have a boss with an agenda and HR is backing them.

Bob says …

This is excellent advice. Thanks!

Someone once said we’re all smarter than any of us are. Thanks to all who, by writing, helped demonstrate the point.