Or their justification for firing you even with stellar performance reviews. I’ve seen it misused dozens of times now.
I don’t know how common it is, but it definitely is common enough to poison the well. I had to initiate a real, legitimate PIP for a report once. Them being an “unproductive expense” was not a problem for me - if corporate had a problem with that, I had a list of upper management they should excise first - but their shitty work was hurting the morale of the team. They had to improve, and it was serious.
Of course since they took PIP as code for “illegal firing excuse”, the trust and cooperation needed for a PIP to work was practically impossible.
I don’t know how common it is, but it definitely is common enough to poison the well. I had to initiate a real, legitimate PIP for a report once. Them being an “unproductive expense” was not a problem for me - if corporate had a problem with that, I had a list of upper management they should excise first - but their shitty work was hurting the morale of the team. They had to improve, and it was serious.
Of course since they took PIP as code for “illegal firing excuse”, the trust and cooperation needed for a PIP to work was practically impossible.