Signs Your PIP is Unfair: What HR and Management Should Be Doing Differently

I spoke with someone recently who had been on a PIP (Performance Improvement Plan) for nearly a year. There were no warnings beforehand, no informal conversations, no attempt to address any concerns outside of a formal process. They were simply placed on a PIP.

Throughout that year, the objectives kept shifting. What was expected of them changed repeatedly, with no clear rationale and no consistent measure of what passing actually looked like. This individual even struggled to see how these objectives were achievable and worked day and night trying to meet them. One of the measures written into the PIP was positive feedback from their peers and stakeholders.

They got positive feedback from everyone, but management appeared to disagree. That's what they said, as it later came out that management had been having a laugh about this and found it funny - the individual saw actual written evidence that management was trying to get rid of them. HR was in the room throughout every meeting and was involved in the process from start to finish.

In the end, this person left which had been the point all along. It was on their own favourable terms, most likely when management couldn’t sustain or justify this unreasonable PIP any longer.

Even though I only have one side of the story, I struggle to see how HR was playing a neutral or constructive role here, because if they had been, it would not have gone this far. How this impacted the employee and still sits in them is proof of this. 

The Real Role of HR in a Performance Process: Neutrality vs. Complicity 

A PIP is a formal process and it carries real weight for the person on the receiving end. Used properly, it can be a genuine tool for supporting someone who is struggling. Used badly, it becomes a paper trail towards an exit.

Even if this mainly falls back on management, HR's job in a PIP is not just to sit in meetings and take notes. They are there to make sure the process is fair, which means working with management to set objectives that are realistic, specific and measurable. It means advising on what reasonable timelines look like - being on a PIP for nearly a year is not reasonable! It means asking whether informal support was offered before anything formal began, and generally challenging management when something looks off. 

If an employee's stakeholders and peers are consistently saying they are doing well, and management is consistently saying the opposite, that is a red flag. HR should be asking questions, not facilitating the next meeting. It’s important everyone is on the same page in a process like this.

Challenging management is not always easy, and I have worked alongside HR professionals who were doing their best under real pressure from above, but there is a difference between being constrained and being complicit. Sitting in a room while someone is being pushed out through a process designed to look like performance management is not a neutral act.

Some people always argue that HR is there to protect the business, and I don’t disagree, but you are not protecting the business by managing someone out through a flawed process like this. It’s not just ethically wrong, it’s commercially reckless and exposes a company to claims of unfair dismissal and constructive dismissal. 

Moving the Goalposts: When a PIP Crosses the Line Into Workplace Bullying 

What this person experienced was not performance management, but bullying dressed up in a process.

Bullying at work does not always look like shouting or aggression. It can look like a process that keeps moving the goalposts or being told repeatedly that you are failing when the evidence says otherwise. It can look like a year of your working life spent feeling scrutinised, undermined and disposable, while the people responsible are finding it funny.

This is why some people say they do not trust HR. Not because HR professionals are inherently untrustworthy, but because experiences like this one exist, and they leave a mark. Also, this person has had HR involved in every single part of the process in every meeting, so they will associate HR with this process regardless of how HR has acted during this outside of the meetings.

Navigating an Unfair PIP: How to Protect Yourself and Know Your Rights 

This is exactly why I set up Klar. This person deserved support from the start and they deserved someone who could have looked at that process with them, helped them understand what a fair PIP should actually look like, and given them the information they needed to make informed decisions about their options.

If you are on a PIP and something does not feel right, whether the objectives feel unachievable, the goalposts keep moving, or the whole thing feels less like support and more like pressure to leave, I can help you understand what a fair process should look like and what questions you should be asking as well as what documentation you are entitled to.

I also have a PIP toolkit available, which walks through what a proper PIP process should involve and what to look out for if yours does not match that standard.

If you are going through a PIP that doesn’t seem fair, or struggling with something else at work that you’re unsure of how to approach, book in a session with me here.