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.

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

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.

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!

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”.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

Good all the way to the end. Thank you so much for your work!

Happened to me at my last job about 6 months ago. Truth be told we just weren't a good fit after a management change of my direct supervisor after only a few months on the job. I actually passed my PIP after 60 days (60 days of constant scrutiny of every small thing I did) but decided to move on anyway. Gave my 2 weeks notice and they let me go the next day with severance. I look at the PIP as the 90 day look for another job period. But, in my case, it felt like they gave up on me and wanted me to pass unrealistic goals on my own without further guidance / training.

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

I got PIP’d at my first tech job (Unix sysadmin) 21 years ago for coming late to work every day. My VP who I’d never met pulled me into his office one evening and asked me to do him a personal favor: show up an hour early every day this week, and don’t mention this conversation to anyone. Long story short, my boss got walked out the door that Friday morning. No more PIP. Thanks Paul!

I've been on a PIP two times and may go on a third in a next little bit. I've been working in sales for 12 years. The crazy thing is this: Every time I left the companies, I made MORE money, and also earned more skills, and added more contacts every job I was let go from. It did not set me back 1$ financially. In a way, it's really good get a new perspective on your work etc. Whenever I have that meeting with HR, I smile and tell them I'm not signing anything without an attorney present. Trust me, if you're on a PIP, there's no use of keeping you job; that stain will stay with you forever.

Rahul, this is a refreshingly honest take that most vloggers sidestep. For someone who knows how corporates work, this is all implicitly understood but I'm always stunned at how many folks keep fighting the system when they should just walk away. Well done on making it crystal clear. EDIT: Perhaps people fight the system because being in the position makes it different. You can see it's obvious from the outside but if you're the one getting PIP'd, perhaps you start thinking on the lines of "this time, it'll be different."

Thank you for creating amazing content!! I really enjoy watching it. I would love to see a video from you on the recent economic downturn and its impact on new grad roles. As a new grad, I feel very uncertain in these difficult times and even with multiple big tech internships, the internship return offers are slimming.

Incredibly useful video!! Can you please some advice on how to anticipate and prevent a PIP? eg, what signs to look from your manager, what kind of feedback to ask for to senior engineers, etc?

I got PIP'd at my first job and I honestly deserved it. I worked like crazy during my probation period and turned things around to the point that I impressed my boss enough to get a 20% raise at the end of it. I agree it's more practical to walk away from a PIP than to fight it, but if you get PIP'd you should at least consider the possibility that it happened for a reason and not solely because "you weren't given adequate support" or that "your company doesn't value you". Those might be factors, but if you've also been legitimately shit at your job you need to make sure you recognize and fix that on your next go around.

I was on one of these years ago at a previous company and it was a complete sham. I had a bad performance review because my manager disliked me and I worked on a very challenging product line, which meant I was extremely overworked and not effective due to engineering design issues with the product. I was basically drowning from having to do way more projects at one time than anyone could do effectively. When I started my PIP, it was supposed to last for 4 weeks. They kept indefinitely extending it for the next 6-8 months. Whenever my manager wrote reports on my PIP, she would gloss over my major accomplishments like completing difficult projects that save the company money, and focus only on any tiny indiscretion she could. Like not responding to an email promptly or being 5 minutes late to one meeting. In every instance I had a valid excuse like an urgent work matter such as broken equipment that I had to address. Also, I tried to have a very positive attitude throughout this whole process. It became clear to me that they weren’t looking for me to improve, but to document every tiny performance problem they could so they had a legal basis to fire me. So I quit. At my two companies since then I’ve only had excellent performance evaluations. The real problem was definitely with the manager and with the difficult work situation she put me in. At that point I decided that I would never put up with being on a PIP ever again. They really aren’t looking for you to prove yourself or improve. They’re looking to collect evidence to fire you, and there going to ignore any evidence that you’re improving by writing biased reports.

Got PIP'ed last week.The entire three pages were just iterations of just a singular point. I stayed calm, wrote a rebuttal letter which was greeted with silence. Needless to say, handed in my resignation a couple days later. Hoping my notice period goes smoothly. Thankfully I had a better and more flexible offer in my hand before I sent in my RL.

Thanks for this information. I wish I had been taught this in college, or 10 years ago when I started working.

This is exactly what happened to me almost a month ago at a FAANG company. They use a lot of marketing speak to make it seem like they are doing good things that are in your best interest, but it seemed to me that they had already made up their minds and the PIP is just a formality to protect the company from legal action or bad press, and build a case for why they can terminate you. In my experience, the PIP consisted of several parts that had to be completed by a certain deadline (about 1 month): 1) A list of software bugs to complete. The manager can also modify these while you are working on it. There might be additional work which was not stated in the bug description, and some bugs could be split into multiple bugs or marked as obsolete. Even if you finish all the bugs by the deadline, the other requirements can prevent you from passing. 2) Sending a daily email update about the progress on the bugs, that have to show what impact and decisions have been made. This has to be well written and timely, because if it does not show progress being made that day (ie if you were stuck trying to debug the same error all day) or if the email update is too short or if it is worded in a way that your manager finds fault with, it can be used as a reason why you failed the PIP criteria. 3) Displaying several company performance qualities that sufficiently please your manager and the assigned HR person. These are things like impact, productivity, communication, etc and are pretty subjective and worded in a way that is open to interpretation by the manager and HR employee. All of these things can be interpreted subjectively by your managers and HR employees to make whatever decision they decide. But if you got on the PIP in the first place, it seems that they already have figured out what they think is best and in their interest and the company's interest. They also have you sign a lot of confidentiality documents to ensure that you cannot give details about it later and protect the company image, and so that you cannot disclose information that could be useful to other employees (ie severance amount). So I don't want to say too much.

Dear Rahul, thank you for useful advise. I once was at the pip like situation, and strongly support what you said, especially introspection part. My extra two cents are: if you found yourself in pip or similar - don't give up! Work as hard as possible during the last couple of months. Not to the point if burning up, of course. Not in order to change the situation, since it is nearly impossible. It is just matter of self respect. One can't afford lose both a job and self confidence.

The worst time to be put on a PIP is when you cant leave because the economy sucks and you need money. Thats me unfortunately.

I got placed on a PIP at my last job at defense company. I knew it was coming I was doing workload of 3 people being burnout. Also the training was horrible they gave. I only entertain the PIP for a week then did a Uno reverse and resigned. I had to place my mental health and career first. Rule of advice never be loyal to any company think yourself first.

In my experience if you are on a PIP u should start looking elsewhere ASAP. Luckily I only had to experience it 1 time in my Life, in which my managers set up me for failure in the onboarding and I was surprised at the end of my first month with a PIP, but I didn't care and decided to resign some days later, they were surprised and asked me to stay but I didn't mind because even if you're able to overcome it, they'll remember the situation wherever it comes to salary increases, and other growth opportunities.

What role did I have in that PIP? I should have never accepted the position in the begining. There were many red flags! I should have listened to my gut. Your post is very through. Thank you for sharing these specfic details. My PIP ends in 4 days. I was giving 10 days to improve or else. Looking forward on moving forward.

One way you can tell this is if the pip goals are vague or constantly being moved around by moving the goal posts making it harder n harder for you to his those metrics. I feel like that's sadly on the side I am in at the moment as well. Thankfully I've secured a job already though and I am hadning my notice in next month. I ain't letting them ruin my career!

Good that you mentioned the topic and details in a easy to understand format. I see its directly related to your new product so good to have some skin in the game. However i dont think you have gone through a pip and have been on the other end or one of those disgruntled employees. First point is not to introspect as that can cause more harm than good.You'll fall into the rabitt hole so maybe dont give this advise or talk to people who have been piped. Best is to try to move on and focus on the next step like recovery or interview prep.

VERY GOOD video finally some true insights

One of my colleagues got PIPed (we don't have a formal term for it at my place but it's exactly the same thing) and from what I've observed, it can be extremely demoralising and demotivating so it's hard to push yourself to regain the trust of the people who have practically given up on you. My understanding is that it's basically an extended notice period during which the employee should pack their bags and prepare a convincing argument for leaving the company, to tell the next hiring manager. Besides, getting PIPed obviously means you're that much further from the promotion which you can still pursue with a smart switch and a better work ethic.

Sounds like the PIP is designed to protect the company from lawsuits, litigation, and liabilities.

About the regrettable and non regrettable flags you talked about... Are those interval to the company or do the companies have a sneaky way to indicate the flag in the employee's relieving letter or something?

Seriously, youtube need to have a ""PREACH!!!"" button on this plate-form. Truth spoken here. 👏

This is a great video, very helpful - thank you. The only role I had in why I was placed on a PIP is that I tried to hold my manager and his manager accountable for their inability to execute on their own promised deliverables. I was a top performer - I called them on their bullshit - they swiftly acted to manage me off the team via a PIP. These 2 are toxic harassers. This is an experience that I never want to repeat. Really happy that I don't have to work in this toxic company any longer.

Employment Lawyer site and videos often say to write a formal rebuttal to the PIP using terms like illegal and improper motive. This is supposed to by time for you to find another job. They say sometimes the PIP gets withdrawn with a rebuttal.

I was PIP'd at the worse time of my life. I was going through a divorce, in the process of moving my family and ignored the PIP to save my sanity. I continued working hard but eventually fired for the first time in my life. They caught me by surprise and brought up the PIP issues a year and a half later. I'm traumatized from the experience but I'll recover. Do you think this is going to impact my career? The company was a large well known corporation.

6:45 thank you for this balanced analysis.

When I got pip, I quit half way through the meeting. It wasn't even low performance. The manager was a petroleum engineer/sales man to over see IT/electronic development lol. Within 2 months after my departure, my supervisor quit and one of my guys got transfer to another department. when you built this race car from the ground up, nobody can drive it but you, so let it burn. I went to the beach for 2 months, and it was amazing. when I came back to the states, it took me 3 days to find another job at my 100k+.

I got put on a PIP, without them telling me it was a PIP, because I asked to reduce my hours because i saw i didn’t reach my numbers because of my depression getting worse. Basically I was put on a PIP because I was depressed and tried to find a solution. I was ok with it, not happy but accepting it, until they send me a new email the week I was doing really good that only reminded me of the previous bad performance and how I had limited time to prove myself. After that email I decided to go to my doctor instead and got sick leave. This was clearly not them wanting to help me, so I'm not going to try and help them. Next time I end up in a situation like this I'm just going to go to the doctor immediately, I'm not going to try and find a solution first.

Thanks Rahul, I was offered the PIP but I didn’t take it. It is emotionally very taxing. I got a reasonable severance pay and I will spend my time in introspecting where I shortcomings and work my best to improve on it.

Just wanted to point out the 80/20 “rule” does not actually apply to high performing organizations. It is pattern that shows up sometimes, but it is vastly over applied.

I have seen great employees get PIPed and incompetent ones promoted. I have never ever seen a PIP get used in good faith and it has little to do with performance. If you get put on one, start looking for another job immediately. They are tryingt to fire you

If you are on a PIP does that effect your ability to get a job externally? Or does it only become a hinderance for you to get a job at the same company?

Love the honesty…most videos try to say being on a PIP is salvageable….it’s not

please make a video on side projects and what to showcase on resume early on in career. thanks!

I resigned from my firm as I was not getting support and was threatened to be PiPed, currently I have no job, but I make sure that I can learn something and get a better one.

Got a PIP from a startup just today lol. And I’ve been working here just 3 months.

I agree my friend.

My advice is to get a feel for PIP-risky circumstances and beat them to the punch with counter-measures, some of which provide legal protections. This may buy you maybe 6 months.

I had no idea this concept existed. Sounds scary! PS: I completed my first interview with a big tech company this morning, think I'm on the fence to be honest. How long should one wait to reapply after failing an interview? If you fail, are you flagged in the same fashion as with NRP?

What happens if you come out in middle of it after realizing the objectives arent practical and affecting my wellbeing due to under going health issue. Also time management is it legal to diarise/ document comfort times ?Will i get reference? Can i manage to get exit package?

Hi Rahul, I am a fresher at a 11 year old startup and they have put me on pip after 2 months of training and a certification test. I am fresh graduate out of college and very stressed about this whole situation. No formal documents have been given to me about this. I was never allotted a project even because the whole time I was on the training provided by the company. They had earlier told that they had less projects because of war going on in ukraine and USA economy slowing down and then they abruptly introduced the certification test to continue our journey at the company. Many people have chosen January as the test date and are on an unpaid sabbatical right now, some have resigned and some unfortunate like me who attempted the test now and couldn't clear (they didn't even release any scores or whatsoever) are placed on a pip. I don't know what to do

Wisdom it born from experience .. especially the bad ones.

Just curious, how long does the manager wait before start a PIP process for new member in team ?

PIP sounds like one of them "quiet firing" techniques...

How would you go about getting a reference for the new job if you have been pip'd ?

Isn't it the higher ups fault if you don't perform well?

Good video wish I had this video for when I was PIP'd at my first job lol

Hello guy's I need help from you - please suggest me. I'm on PIP. Having only 5 months of exp. In IT and 2018 passout. What can I do Is leave company and find another one ? Is I got opportunity? Must reply

Can you make a video that describes if an SDE 2 is ready to be a senior engineer?

Wow good content!

Ok, does that mean, generally speaking, if you have had say several PIPs over the course of years, then leave the company (while not on a PIP) it is likely that NRA flag may be placed so that if you apply say four years later that the mark could still be there for a recruiter to make an informed decision?

Thanks!

Hi All, any idea what will happen if employee didn't clear the pip process. Whether severance pay will be paid? If employee resigned during pip, Whether he is allowed to stay still notice period? Please help..

- PIP Obsession - Ownerpip - PIP, A Lot - Bias for PIP - Hire to Develop the Devplan

I once got a PIP and the boss who gave it to me got angry when I asked about clarification for the vague statements. Kept saying she is concerned I dont know. I felt gaslighted. I was given a different boss and then got off the PIP and then then boss who didn't do jack got a people developer award for guiding me through the PIP to better performance. What a bunch of garbage.

In middle of PIP - i work for non profit organisations and am told they dont offer severance package. I am looking to resign ASAP. I have had a job offer, however the new job offer requires a reference from my line manager- what to do in this situation?

PIP - Here is a set of tasks and goals you can't possibly complete or meet in the hope you get demoralized and quit.

I totally agree Rahul I have a new manager and he is coming after me. I want to hire an attorney to come in to mediate this.

Rahul is spot on about the unlikelihood of turning things around once on a PIP. There are also several delay tactics that you can use as an employee while you simultaneously search for your next role. I've managed hundreds of people at Facebook, Google and Salesforce. I've put multiple people on PIPs. Some are still at those companies several years later due to these delay tactics. I don't agree with them, but when you're fighting for your career, you do what's in your best interest.

The author mentions the stat that 25-ish % of the workforce does the vast majority of the company’s work. I hear this stat often used anecdotally. Is there any good empirical support for the claim?

Even in the unlikely event that you survive a PIP it often isn't the end of your problems. Depending on the toxicity of the culture and management, making it through a PIP is often going to enrage your supervisor, who likely wouldn't have put you through one unless they just wanted you to leave. From that point on they will just try to manage you out (i.e. birddog you until you quit) or hyperscrutinize your work until they build enough of a case to drop another PIP on you.

Do you have to sign a pip?

I am currently as apprentice in software engineering they put me into formal performance improvement plan. I have just 8 month left to finish my degree apprenticeship been in the company for nearly 3.5 years. I feel like ending my life right now. These tools are terrible and once you are in it don’t believe they wanna help you. It’s just a way to fire you and get the union involved.

great video

Once you get on a pip how long does it take for the employer to let you go?

My team got a new manager and she hired someone to work along side me for my office(although we were remote by this time). She never corrected his issues and instead just said they were my responsibility. He would flat out lie to me about his work and when it all blew up she would blame me. This was in order to make herself look competent since she was also new. She put me on a PIP and I decided I was gone. Shortly after me, both of them were fired.

Nice video

Managers will claim that a PIP’s purpose is to help you get back on track. However, as many have noted, it’s just a means to prove that a person is a poor fit for the role and the managers are compiling documentation to terminate you. Wanting employees to succeed does not require written documentation or collaboration with HR.

first time in my career got a PIP but by the next meeting I had improved over 80% however, it seems that this was used as a legal way to force me out no matter how well I'm preforming! out of the blue HR was on the call too which was a real surprise after over two years of making performing well and making target! what A real waste of time! But I hold my head up and keep moving

PIP is the personification of "Right Makes Right" .. and I can sort of prove it through documented gossip, insinuation and other meta-data .. damn the facts.

For the most part if both HR and your Manager are talking to you about poor performance its time to leave for 99% of people

What about if the company is doing stacked ranking where they have to always PIP 5% of the workers no matter what?

I've been on not 1 but 2 PIP's, 15 years apart. The first one ended with me getting fired, where as the second PIP ended early cause my performance improved drastically. Both issues, were because I was afraid to ask for help when I got stuck. Other team member would complete a one day task, where as I would spend 4 days (or more) and not report my progress beyond 'I'm working on it'. The 2nd PIP experience was different in the fact that my significant other was a manger at another company and reviewed the documentation with me, and pointed out all the ambiguous goals laid out in the PIP. She helped me communicate how to request the documentation to be reworded to be something that was measurable and I could prove that accomplished, if need be in court in the event of wrongful termination. Mentally, I was convinced on the 2nd PIP that I would again be fired like I was during the 1st and my imposter syndrome skyrocketed. I didn't get fired and the 2nd PIP was rescinded, but I did come to the conclusion that I needed an exit plan. It did lead to some valuable self reflection which taught me 'its ok to ask for help' there is nothing shameful about that. Just do some due diligence and research on your confusing topic before reaching out to someone else. This is to prove you have done SOME effort in finding a solution. The company should provide you documentation, make sure you understand it. You can ask for it to be amended, so you can change ambiguous goals to measurable goals. If they wont budge, then that kind of lets you know how they view your future at the company. Also, you DO NOT have to tell your next company about the PIP. All in all, it lead me to review my life as a developer with the question of 'What value do I bring to the team/company?' By 'bringing measurable value', I have been a great asset where ever I code since.

I've been pipd once, 18 years ago. I'm now still at the same company for 30 years. Now that I've accrued a generous pension, at 55 I'm being threatened with a pip again after they have recently stopped offering pensions to new hires and going on a hiring spree. My manager mentioned I should have been fired years ago...hhhmmm, but I wasn't. They had all that time and they didn't fire me AFTER getting pipd 18 years ago, and good really good reviews since the pip. Now all the sudden under the new circumstances I'm identified as sucking. If anything the previous pip and no issues for 18 years and the new company structure actually works in my favor.

If you are ever on a PIP you 200% should leave for another job

Yeah PIP is mostly used for making layoffs. If company wants to make a layoff then a certain amount of people will get it

If I get on a pip should I resign so I don’t get a flag for being fired when I apply to next job? Should I still put them on my resume as a reference?

I wouldnt wear working at meta as a badge of pride

During covid PIP . For not hitting quota. My job was to find loans for small businesses. . I simply was in shock, I told my manager that businesses were not financing because they were closed down due to the pandemic. -- this guy was in LALA land. He didn't seem to understand.. Some managers should not be managers.