Thread regarding ExxonMobil Corp. layoffs

Did or Does anyone ever survive PIP?

Please, details of any actual PIP experience you survived, or that you directly know about someone else surviving PIP in the first person. Are the requirements to survive PIP always stacked too high to achieve? Please avoid hearsay. Thank you.

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| 2565 views | | 15 replies (last March 6, 2021) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+19G78PgB

15 replies (most recent on top)

I'm a supervisor and my dept manager gave me explicit instructions not to pass my NSI's PIP, find a way to fail him. I'm under big headcount pressure. However in another supervisor's section in our same dept, they could pass if the person did well. I think it's situation-dependent whether the employee has a chance.

I'm sure none of you have any pity... But I'll add that going through that process was the most horrible thing I've ever done, I was so consumed by guilt and sadness for my employee that I couldn't sleep and wound up eventually in the ER. It haunts me and I'm terrified of what fresh hell they will force on us this year. We haven't been told yet what % the NSI bucket will look like.... I'm praying it's only the base 3%. For those of you who didn't know, the new PDS system requires a base 3% in NSI, regardless of the year.

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Post ID: @3kwe+19G78PgB

Why would you want to? With Swiger and Woods stating publicly today in investor meeting they are still going to layoff more at best you are just delaying the inevitable. If you are anything other than top two buckets you should be looking for a new job. They are targeting a nearly 50% reduction in North America staff before this is done. Maybe you can move to India and get hired there.

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Post ID: @1riu+19G78PgB

There will always anecdotal exceptions, but PIP survival is rare. The rankers (often 2-3 levels about the immediate supervisor) understand the implications of an NSI rating and have essentially decided that person will be separated from the company when the rating list is put together.

Prior to 2020, it was somewhat unusual for a 10+ year employee to be PIPed. It was recognized we have good people who provide valuable contributions and someone had to be in the lower portion of the list. PIPs were usually reserved for short service employees.

2020 and the new performance rating process changed all that. The driver is now cost reduction and the more supportive philosophy of the past has been replaced with a workforce reduction mindset.

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Post ID: @1mal+19G78PgB

A coworker in my section and myself passed before the involuntary layoff round. However, I have left voluntarily for another position I believe is more suited for my long-term career goals. I'm not comfortable with a manager 3 levels above me (who barely knows what we do) influencing my ranking and career trajectory.

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Post ID: @ofd+19G78PgB

It is all supervisor dependent. They own the PIP and the process. Yes they get input from HR and their managers but they do the work.

I passed and another in my group passed (different supervisor). I also know a third that passed in a different project group. The common theme for all of us was we had supervisors who cared and didn’t agree that we should be on a PIP. But 8% had to be in the bottom and we drew the short straws. The same will happen this year. Their is a lot of paper work on the supervisor so helping someone though a pip is a second job. I think this is done on purpose to persuade those with no spines to just make it impossible so people leave.

btw all three of us were laid off but it got me garden leave and a nice vacation payout.

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Post ID: @vcl+19G78PgB

@jiy+19G78PgB

You should record any conversation you have with your boss.

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Post ID: @lkb+19G78PgB

My ranking dropped after 30 years with the Company. My arrogant manager said that I would continue to fall because of my age. I was horrified! Today I have far less work to be measured. If the Company really wanted ALL retirement eligible people out they should have handled things differently. Oh wait! That would be AGE discrimination. So, I suppose I’ll go on a PIP this year and likely not survive. So much for DIGNITY!

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Post ID: @jiy+19G78PgB

@ufd+19G78PgB I think that person you saw in another post about passing, but then laid off , was me. I thought the targets were fair and achievable in my case, but I am also one of the people that probably didn’t deserve it in the first place, so my performance was pretty good to begin with. I think I had rubbed a few influential people the wrong way over my time (or, maybe I wasn’t willing to get my nose covered in sh!t?) at the company and it eventually caught up with me. I suppose that’s a downside to taking risk... sometimes the reward doesn’t happen (actually, in the end it did, because my new job, company, and people I work with are amazing, and I’m actually making slightly more money. Definitely can’t complain). There’s a saying in EM that many people who get shown the door “fail up,” meaning they land much better jobs after EM. For 90% of people, I’d say that’s true).

I would agree the only reason I’d do the PIP is if I knew a severance might be on the table (which, it was). In my case it ended up working out well since I got 6 months more pay (3 month PIP + 1 month before involuntary announcement + 2 months until officially off the books) AND the severance and a large quantity of vacation I didn’t use, which needed to be paid out. I spent those 6 out of 8 weeks on garden leave interviewing and doing nothing (highly recommended!). Started my new job as soon as I was off of EM’s books. To those who may face it this round, if there are grumbling of severance and you feel like you actually deliver and truly believe the PIP was unjust, go for it. If you have doubts, just take the PIL. The pass rate is super low, so the odds are most certainly not in your favor.

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Post ID: @kzt+19G78PgB

I was in a meeting where HR was asked this very question. Response was if too many people are passing you aren’t setting expectations high enough.

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Post ID: @sqa+19G78PgB

It all depends on what the desired headcount target is in your group. If cuts are needed you won’t survive. If cuts are not needed you will make it. Has very little to do with your performance and everything to do with where they want headcount to be. If you are in a group that hasn’t been decimated by cuts already you more likely that not have zero chance of surviving.

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Post ID: @gaw+19G78PgB

Yes, can pass PIP. Passed an employee on PIP.

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Post ID: @ajg+19G78PgB

I’m in HR and 80% of folks don’t pass their PIP. Unless it’s an extreme circumstance where you know you can turn it around, I’d recommend taking or asking for a package as part of a “voluntary with severance” resignation in exchange for a release.

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Post ID: @gvf+19G78PgB

At other companies, like what it's supposed to be, they use PIP to discipline and/or correct employees who lost their way. Not with EM who used it to maltreat their employees.

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Post ID: @zlk+19G78PgB

PIP is the worse scam. I know folks who "passed" PIP only to get canned in a layoff.

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Post ID: @abp+19G78PgB

I was PIP'd last year and my manager's expectation was that I aim for the Very Good bucket, which is very ambitious. A group of managers who created my list cycled with HR multiple times. HR really pushed and wanted to make sure it's not easy, and if passed, I might never be in the NSI bucket ever again. My PIP list ended up impossible to achieve by my standards and there are wording there that if I miss/fail to do an item, I instantly fail. And so I immediately PIL'd and lived happily ever after.

There's one I've read in this board, he/she passed last year but laid-off in Dec. The thing with PIP is that once you're PIP'd, you're PIP'd for life. It's like a tattoo.

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Post ID: @ufd+19G78PgB

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