6 Signs Your PIP is a Trap - Time for a New Job

I see this constantly: A client calls me in a panic because they just got put on a PIP and they want to know what to do.

Here's what I tell them: start looking for another job. Because most PIPs are not about improving your performance. They are about building a paper trail to justify your termination.

Here are 6 signs your PIP was designed to manage you out:

1. You recently complained to HR. Classic retaliation. You spoke up, and suddenly your performance is a problem. Coincidence? No such thing.

2. The PIP dropped right after a leave of absence. FMLA. Medical leave. Maternity leave. You came back and walked into an ambush. Also retaliation.

3. The measures are completely subjective. "Improve your attitude." "Communicate more professionally." "Watch your tone." (This one is especially racist, as I discussed recently on LinkedIn in a post that resonated with many women of color.) Nothing measurable, nothing achievable, nothing you can actually prove you did.

4. There are no measures at all. No numbers, no benchmarks, no definition of success. How do you pass a test with no answer key?

5. The PIP is a laundry list of deliverables ... due in 30 days, not 60 or 90. Thirty days of impossible expectations designed to bury you.

6. You're hearing about these "problems" for the first time. But apparently this has been an issue for months. Funny how nobody mentioned it until now.

Also, if your PIP reads like a legal document: precise, formal, oddly thorough for a manager who has never given you structured feedback before, that's because Legal is guiding HR on how to get you out.

The decision has already been made. They are just building the file.

Sound familiar? Don't spend your energy trying to survive the PIP. Spend it on getting out strategically, protecting your rights, and leaving with as much as possible.

That's exactly what I do. If this is you, let's talk. Start here.