Emotions After A PIP

If you received a PIP, be ok with a flood of emotion. Anger, sadness, and humiliation are normal, and you should give yourself at least half a day simply to process. Don’t take any action erratically. 

Once you’ve had time to process, confide in a mentor or trusted friend. Online communities like Taro can help you feel less lonely. You should not over-share this information with your colleagues. There is a negative bias associated with a PIP, so sharing the news with people who don’t truly care about you may end up backfiring. 

Do ✅:

• Confide in a mentor or trusted friend
• Find a community (like Taro!)

Don't ❌:

• Act from a place of emotional instability
• Over-share with colleagues

A PIP is not entirely your fault, but it's also not entirely your company's fault. Do some honest reflection about what has been working and what has not.

Some recipients of a PIP are (understandably) outraged and want to take take legal action. In theory, you could sue the company, but in practice is almost never recommended. Given that employment is “at-will”, you’ll need ot clear a very high bar to show that you were unlawfully targeted to be let go or put on a PIP. In addition, to collect evidence of unfair treatment which could take dozens of hours, there’s also a high cost associated with finding legal assistance. Ou recommendation is to focus your energy on the next career move, where you can work with people that value you, rather than focusing on an unfortunate job that will soon be in your past.