PIP as a Manager
For everyone that’s been on a PIP, I’m sorry. PIPs suck for everyone
If you’ve been on a PIP and feel your manager was having a hard time, well, here’s a secret:
Giving PIP as a manager sucks too!
As a manager, I love everyone on my team. I work to build relationship, trust, and above all, results.
When I have to give a PIP to a team member, it means one thing:
I have failed as a manager.
I failed the team member because I didn’t guide them. I failed the team because now I’m focusing on something else. I failed the company because I have to exercise additional resources to correct a situation, however it came about.
Creating a PIP is tricky, so, consult with the company’s Human Resource, because ultimately, a PIP is a tool for the company to protect themselves against employee retribution.
The other part that really sucks is the execution of the PIP - the regular check-ins, the monitoring of work.
Talk about soul-sucking!
It’s soul-sucking because you have gone from having a team member that you were on good terms with to now having a team member with a hostile relationship with - all the while trying to improve them or manage them out.
If you happen to manage someone through a PIP and they improve themselves - awesome, you succeeded as a manager, no - not really.
You lost the team member’s trust the moment you decided on the PIP and the moment that team member gets a better offer, they will leave the company.
PIPs definitely suck for a manager.
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