Is Mr. X Facing Unfair Treatment at Work? Seeking Advice on Misuse of PIP and Managerial Conduct

Please share your suggestion on how Mr. X should deal with this situation. This case is shared as received. The names and details of the firm cannot be shared due to security reasons.

Misuse of PIP - Code of Conduct

Mr. X is a fairly senior technical person, having approximately 8 years of experience. According to others, he is a very hard-working, dedicated, and capable individual. He used to work for a startup but has now moved to an MNC.

Somehow, he was not happy with the current work, salary, culture, or manager (apparently, a few other folks are also not happy). Later, the manager started giving him all sorts of tough times, like assigning difficult escalations, micro-managing, asking him to call the client every day, giving unreasonable deadlines, constantly asking for status updates or difficult questions in meetings, and making trivial work very urgent for him. According to him, all his major work has been sidelined.

Everyone has a question: is the manager really a bad guy, or is Mr. X also at fault? According to Mr. X, being a more dedicated and hard-working person, he was frustrated with the job, which unknowingly irritated the manager. The manager is also a strong leader and likes to give direct orders. A few other teammates might have contributed to his plight.

Being in a relatively senior position, he managed to survive for some time, but at some point, he felt frustrated and helpless. On one occasion, the manager asked him to leave his current task and look into something more trivial (which could be done by his juniors). He apparently got so frustrated that he said, "he is going to look for something else." The manager took this as a threat from him and gave him a "PIP." He has also been told, "now where is your confidence?" He is now completely sidelined. He is experiencing low morale, his family is suffering, and he is looking for a job. At the same time, he is asking for suggestions. One option is to approach HR, but according to him, nothing will happen as the manager has a very good rapport in the company. He fears things will only get worse (this might be his fear only). He can escalate only if he has another job.

Given that he is in such an unenviable situation, what can he do? How can the "code of business conduct" and any other employment or contract law rescue him from such a scenario? Can this disciplinary action (PIP) be a misuse of power?

What should we learn from this? Apart from keeping a good rapport with the manager, we can be reasonably sure he tried to maintain a good rapport and tried to get along. How can one avoid getting into such a situation? How can one rebuild the bridge (if at all that can be bridged unilaterally)?

On a similar note, in many cases, companies try to use PIP or other disciplinary actions to deter people from leaving the company, essentially to change their thought process completely and lower their morale. Is there any HR or legal protection against that?

During recession or downsizing times, companies use performance ratings as grounds to force employees to leave to save face and avoid paying any layoff compensation. Is there any protection against such malpractice?

Regards

For the past four months, my situation mirrors the example mentioned above. I have also become a target of the management, who seem indifferent towards me. If I were to leave the organization, they would likely view it as their success in pushing me out. This is why I continue to persevere. Rest assured, I will retaliate when the opportunity arises, and I believe it will.

Let's look forward to hearing from our knowledgeable members for a solution.

Regards

From the cited case, it is clear that Mr. X is not happy with the current work, salary, culture, or manager. It means that he has not adapted to the work culture of the company. It also shows that Mr. X did not make any effort to know about the company before joining.

However, it is also said that he is competent to handle the jobs and is very sincere. Also, the manager has a good reputation, as cleared from the case. Mr. X might be facing the problem due to the following reasons:

1. Overconfidence, which might not be liked by his manager and other colleagues.
2. He has not adapted to the culture of the company.
3. Other team members might be proving to raise their voices against the manager.
4. The manager might fear that Mr. X may supersede him (most often this happens in organizations).
5. Job fitment problem (he may not be meeting the expectations of the management).

OR

There may be other reasons.

Role of HR in Resolving Workplace Conflicts

If the manager is genuine and Mr. X is really a hardworking and sincere employee, then the HR department must interfere in this matter. The HR head is not supposed to be a mute spectator. They must come forward to bridge the gap between the two. HR also plays an important role in acting very proactively. They must sit with both parties, listen to their problems, and come up with optimum solutions.

However, in other cases (employees not required in the situation), companies take such actions to harass the employees so that they leave the company on their own. But this is the act of unprofessional companies.

To solve the above issue, the HR Head must come forward with concrete solutions.

Thanks

Anybody reading this case would definitely relate to their real-life affliction at least once. In most cases, such employees, no matter how much experience they have, will definitely not fit in and will go through such turmoil caused by employers directly or indirectly.

Predominantly, Mr. X should have been a little patient until he secured a new job and then expressed his discomfort (if he truly felt uncomfortable with the above-mentioned salary, manager, or culture). Am I correct?

Mr. X should know his rights as an employee. He is experienced and can find a way to express his dissatisfaction to the manager. Trust that this is not as difficult as we think; confidence in ourselves shall enable us to speak freely.

He could look for a better job as soon as possible. Remember, an employer who puts their employee in a harder and awkward situation will obviously not respect the rights of that individual. [Since the manager has a good rapport, he is almost successful at this stage.]

The manager was literally pushing the employee towards a PIP. I'm sure he should have gone to HR (because fear persisted and "FEAR" is the biggest adversary of all). He was stringent and assumed things inaptly.

Companies play all tactics to belittle employees all the time. One can't escape easily; though HR can mediate between company-employee issues and help find a reason for amicably solving the matter.

Regards

Misuse of PIP!!

That is an appropriate title for the thread; for most often PIPs are misused. It is just the starting step in documentation for a potential firing situation for an employee. In fact, in good companies where they have a robust hiring mechanism and an equally fair and efficient performance management system, such situations should not arise. In fact, to avoid such situations is the sole purpose of PMS and HRD.

More often, such situations arise due to the personality clashes of the manager and his senior-most reportees, and more often because the manager "views" them as threats to his position, which in fact may be true in certain situations where the subordinate is more qualified, more experienced, or more adept at his job than the manager himself.

And to the question of how Mr. X should deal with the situation; the only appropriate option left for him, under such circumstances, is to immediately start looking for another job. It would be very easy for those who made him sign the PIP to even set impossible targets or to prove that he did not fulfill his committed assignment and performance.

It is just another way of saying, "Look; we DID give him a chance to improve!!"

Warm regards.