Getting a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP): How to Try to Determine if It Is Not Sincere

Have you heard of a PIP? If so, when you think of a PIP, do you immediately think of it as a “red flag,” signaling a probable firing in the near future? If so, you are not alone. Many have that thought.

PIP stands for Performance Improvement Plan. It is supposed to serve as a warning for a poor-performing employee, and it is meant to help them improve. However, PIP theoretically could also mean Proforma Intolerance Procedures, as often, offices use PIPs as legal cover for firing the worker.

In giving you a PIP, your office may genuinely want to help you and continue to employ you. However, realize that your office may actually not genuinely want to keep you on. Instead, the PIP may be an effort to create a paper trail that justifies firing you. The PIP would show that there are issues with performance and that it tried to help you succeed and maintain employment. Your office may also be trying to get you to quit.

Potential signs that your PIP may be insincere relate to:

• Length of time that your PIP covers. PIPs usually last for 30, 60 or 90 days. If your office is giving you 30 days, it may be trying to end your employment in the soonest possible timeframe while trying to seem like it wants to continue to employ you.
• Goals of your PIP. If your office sets unrealistically high or vague goals that you probably cannot reach, it may be setting you up for failure and termination.
• Additional duties. If your PIP includes additional duties that are not related to your job or interfere with your job, your office may just want to fire you.
• Teaching or mentorship as part of the PIP. If your PIP does not include such help, your employer may not truly want you as an employee for much longer.
• Potential bias in the PIP. Your PIP could be written with a bias. For example, some employers may use a PIP to try to force neurodivergent workers to adhere to neurotypical behavioral norms. Another example of a bias could entail being told “to fix your personality.” If a PIP includes a bias, you are not treated well and could be on your way out of a job.
• People at PIP meeting. If there are a lot of people are at your PIP meeting, it could be a sign that your office is trying to fire you.
• Being told to think about whether your job is right for you (or something along those lines). Such a comment may indicate that your office is trying to get you to leave.
• Feedback. If your boss shuts down when you try to defend yourself and explain your views, your boss may be using your PIP to justify firing you.
• Ability to ask questions. You may have questions about what you need to improve and how your manager will support you in surviving your PIP. If you are not allowed to ask them, you may be on your way out of your job.

Learn what you can do about a PIP in the next installment of this series, “What You Should Do If You Get a Performance Improvement Plan (Part #2),” which will appear later this month.

Miriam Edelman, MPA, MSSW, is a Washington, D.C.-based policy professional. Her experience includes policy work for Congress. Miriam’s undergraduate degree is from Barnard College, Columbia University, with majors in political science and urban studies. She has a master’s in public administration from Cornell University, where she was inducted into the national honorary society for public administration. She has a master’s of science in social work (focusing on policy) from Columbia University. She is a commissioner of the DC Commission on Persons with Disabilities. Miriam aims to continue her career in public service. She is especially interested in democracy, civic education, District of Columbia autonomy, diversity, health policy, women’s issues, and disabilities.

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