Now I actually feel relieved. I’m not even all that scared about what’s next. There was so much pressure and focus on just keeping the job that I forgot how unhappy I really was at Target. I know the grass may not be greener, and finding another job won’t be easy, like it isn’t for anyone right now, but I still feel better for it. Sometimes change is necessary for your own clarity and sanity. In any case, wishing the best to everyone, both those who were let go and those who stayed.
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Former Tgt HQ here for over 7 yrs, left on my own but they were actively pushing, and I think the recent purge has reminded many people of some things about company life at most places: HR is NOT your friend. There IS an unwritten suggestion to work more, after hours, after you’ve already put in a full day. A great many people are promoted/retained/protected because of who they know or are related to. You always see people’s true colors when the water gets hot, such as declining company performance and the RIFs they can cause - and the things people will do or say to retain their employment will get ugly. Masks come off during stressful times and behaviors can get a little different in anyone.
@kd If anything, I learned from this that company loyalty isn't worth it these days. HR is never your friend, and you should always have your resume updated, document on a monthly basis your wins/accomplishments/financials/product launches/photos because as soon as the axe falls, at least you will be prepared. Once you are let go, you lose access to vital information you will need for the next role: to compose your resume/portfolio, etc. Always one foot in, one foot out I say.
@OP I was placed on a Performance Improvement Plan and subsequently terminated only one week after the November layoff. This starkly contradicts my two years of performance, where I consistently exceeded expectations. The entire PIP process was executed solely by my manager with an utter lack of transparency. Compounding this injustice, I was dismissed without receiving any severance pay.
@ee Also, a way to dismiss someone unfairly without having to give them severance or extended benefits.
@e9 Sheesh, you too?! The people on the PIPs are becoming more and more visible; thanks to the anonymity afforded by this forum. I recall someone a while back writing on here that they never knew anyone on a PIP, so they must be rare: it's because no coworker of yours will ever admit to being placed on one. It's humiliating. And what's even more shocking are the ones sharing that they had stellar or at least above average performance reviews years prior.
Here's my take: PIPs (though they can have altruistic and well-intentioned motives from a GOOD manager seeking to correct a good employee) are most of the time a CYA (Cover Your A-s) strategy to avoid a lawsuit if the person placed on one falls into a "protected" class: Age, Race, S-xual/Gender Orientation, etc. Then they can claim that it wasn't age or race; because it was your "performance"; especially if you didn't pass the PIP. These should be illegal. But alas; that's corporate culture for you.
I was also let go and feel more clarity. Just want to also highlight, I was also put on a PIP (while I never recieved nothing short of stellar performance reviews previously) for the most obsurd things like not having every single TASK I was completing sent to my leader EVERY DAY. I think the idealology that they first put a lot of people on PIP/ let going people of PIP prior to layoffs is straight up evil.
@d5 Wow. So sad to hear, but glad I am not the only one. Thanks for sharing your story. It's so disappointing to hear that the culture we were espousing and celebrating for so long (which was what drew me in) was/is a farce. And it's no wonder our Guests are seeing behind the fake facade. It's not the first time I am hearing of good people being gaslight and being pushed out, yet toxic leaders are kept. Sickening.
Glad things are better for you!
I quit after being threatened with a PIP from an incompetent L7 who didn’t know what our team did. Later learned he has a habit of we-ponizing HR and made nearly all of his direct reports cry at various points. It took me longer than I expected to find a new role, but I found something better, not Chernobyl-level radioactive, and at a level of compensation I wasn’t getting at TGT.
I can most certainly relate. I wasn't laid off, but I was let go right before the layoffs, and it took me getting terminated (due to "performance issues" but it was more bad fit/new management) to realize I didn't like it there at all. The disorganization, the lack of autonomy and trust to do my job as they hired me to do; it all like clicked weeks after getting dumped (after the initial anger/sadness subsided). It's almost like leaving a bad relationship where you are afraid to leave because it's all you know, and you are scared of the uncertainty of what's out there, but now I feel so relieved and ready to start figuring things out, and seeing where it is we belong. Wishing the OP and everyone else starting fresh the best of success in prioritizing YOU for a change; even if it's scary. You will soon be looking back and be glad that it's over if you were unhappy to begin with. All you/we needed was that PUSH!!!