Thread regarding USAA layoffs

I had a manager, who was going to a new department, who gave the entire team pips before she moved over. She said and I’ll quote “PIPs are not a bad thing! Everyone has something they’re working on and this just lays the foundation!”

I believe I have a phony firing. Calling a lawyer soon to see what they think. It's worth telling me story for sure.

Years ago, I got a PIP stating, "do more", I told my highly incompetent manager how does one quantify that? It was absurd. The day he left the company we celebrated.

Create a paper trail from here to the moon. Make that paper trail longer than a CVS receipt. Make sure you back it up yourself as well. Then when the time comes and you need to find it to the nail, you have all the ammunition you need to take them down.

I’m sorry you are going through this. I was essentially being harassed by my leaders who were not EMG level. I put together documentation for each of the 6 items they had included on the PIP. I reached out to the AVP who fortunately knew my work and my character. The AVP met with me for over 2 hours to hear me out. The PIP was pulled and I heard both leaders were talked to and ‘addressed’. My immediate supervisor ended up posting out. I requested to change teams as the harassment continued by the director. I requested my AVP to contact me, contacted me immediately, I requested to switch teams and it was immediately approved, was asked to just give a few days to make it happen. If you have documentation, that is the best way to prove your case. There are some great leaders amongst the rotten ones!

Former non-EMG Manager here: The HR Business Partners are absolutely involved in PIPs for higher paid jobs. Many of them help write them so the person will never be able to successfully do what the PIP says. HRBPs even have a name for it; they say “we will performance them out.” The person gets a goal like, “make coworkers feel more valued” and I for one do not understand how anyone would measure that.

HRBPs are acting on behalf of EMG, and if you don’t want to put a person on a PIP but your EMG does, well, that’s just something you will have to learn to live with or leave. My new employer says they don’t do PIPs, they say they do coaching. Maybe it’s the same thing. I start next week so I’ll find out.

Above all else, detach emotionally. Do not take the PIP personally (although do take it seriously; it shows their underlying intentions).

Keep a cool head and gather information. They are probably monitoring your Slack and email. Do everything by the book. A good lawyer can legally acquire information from the company when lawsuits are filed.

Keep track of who witnessed what. People will go along with management to keep their jobs. Expect this, and you will not be disappointed. But most people will not lie in a court of law. Do not have angry words with a anyone. They can be valuable in revealing the truth later.

I am wondering how all of us can come together to know one another's stories so we can get an understanding of how to collectively file a lawsuit.

Those who have been unfairly fired, placed on PIPs, denied work in order to come out bad in metrics, given work beneath our capabilities, psychologically abused by verbal insults and/or public humiliation by team leads or management, etc. All of these are tactics to push an employee out.

Now that we see their pattern, we just need numbers to support a lawsuit.

I suggest you do not sign the PIP and tell your manager that you need a little time to evaluate it. Do not show resistance, just confusion. Ask questions and keep a written record, in detail, of their answers.

Then make a beeline to an employment lawyer. Share the contents of the PIP, their answers to your questions, and your rebuttal to all accusations or insinuations on their part. Snapshot all metrics. Reflect on how much work and responsibility was made available to you over their stated time period of performance decline.

We all know they are using these to fire highly-paid employees. Track how work moving forward is allocated to you. Be verbal in asking for work, pop in to all meetings relevant to your work, and contribute to meetings, stand-ups, etc. Track attitudinal changes in your team lead and colleagues. Get examples of work denial, statements, etc.

I am not saying this because I believe you will retain your job. Make a decision of whether you expend valuable energy and time fighting a phoney PIP or whether you focus on building yourself up for the next job and a legal fight.

Evaluate your finances because you do not want to be fired and you want to be in the best position to quit. If a PIP follows you internally, being fired impacts you externally. Is unemployment worth a black mark on your employment record? I think a career is worth more than limited unemployment benefits.

Follow the advice of your attorney as to how to handle this. Google PIPs. You will find that they are frowned upon by most companies. So do the math, and strategize quickly.

Oh, and that BS that they want to help you and will meet with you weekly for "mentoring" is just plain lies. Their goal is to avoid severance packages and unemployment.

While a PIP is not considered “disciplinary action,” it is frowned upon when trying to apply internally. When I was a phone MSR, I was placed on a PIP for having a low acceptance rate for sales, and applied for another role, I did good during the interview, then days later get the denied email, and during the manager feedback, they said it was due to being on a PIP.

A PIP isn't considered disciplinary action so HR/ER isn't typically involved.