Whelp, 6 months after surviving a PIP I was canned anyway.
Thankfully I did not take any of this quietly. After opening up to many colleagues about what I was experiencing during and after the PIP, I received consistent feedback my situation was actually bonkers and that management was looking for scapegoats to terminate and save face with their own managers. I became aware of others dealing with the same sorts of nonsense.
Furthermore, apparently my manager took the zoom call to fire me at his desk. So now, in addition to knowing the BS I was dealing with, my former colleagues are aware that I was termed and did not leave voluntarily.
A short list of the ridiculousness I experienced:
- Going into the PIP I was explicitly told that normally what they are citing would not be a big deal, but upper management is panicking about project delays and so they are cracking down.
- Going into the PIP I was also explicitly told that I had already corrected the cited issues but that they had to proceed with the process anyway
- In the PIP I was accused of "abandoning" a project that I had been explicitly told by my manager to stop taking tasks for
- My PIP duration was extended by 20% to accommodate my manager's vacation schedule. I was explicitly told that my performance was not the reason for the extension
- My manager lied to HR about me blowing off a 1:1 with him
- My manager lied to HR about the circumstances around a troublesome sprint after the PIP.
- My manager cited a particular story as counting against me after the PIP because he "was forced to take it over." He wasn't forced. He and I discussed the move as the correct choice because I had zero experience with the changes needed and we were on a time crunch. Then his changes for that same story had to be reverted for three consecutive sprints.
Don't stay where you aren't wanted.