34 min
Amazon doesn’t want you to know your performance is a problem. Problem Performers
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- Careers
“As an employee, always put yourself first because no one else is going to,” says Chris Rutter, Global Human Resources Leader, Consultant & Coach. With over 16 years of experience in HR across a wide range of industries, Chris is no stranger to what makes a so-called “problem performer.”
However, even Chris was shocked by a recent article in The Seattle Times titled “Amazon tells bosses to conceal when employees are on a performance management plan.” This article explains that managers at Amazon are instructed not to tell workers when they have been placed on Focus (Amazon’s version of a PIP) unless they explicitly ask. This policy helps Amazon meet its annual goal of around 6% “unregretted attrition,” or the percentage of employees that the company hopes to force out each year.
Tune into this week’s episode of Problem Performers as Chris Rutter and host Rebecca Weaver dive deep into why Amazon's policy is messed up and how bosses OUGHT to be thinking about performance management. They also dissect the myth of the "corporate athlete," the dangers of black-and-white HR thinking, and outline the steps you can take as an employee when faced with the dreaded PIP.
Quotes
• “I’ve been in companies where I knew things weren’t going the way they should be going, but the person that I would need to go to as an HR professional, I didn’t trust. So, I’m stuck. What do I do? Is it worth risking my career, worth risking my position there? So, I ended up doing nothing.” (03:40-04:00)
• “I think my initial reaction [to the Amazon article] was, ‘Wow, what a way to set up your employees to truly fail.’ Why don't we have a leadership team that is truly there for the employee? Maybe this employee isn't performing at his or her or their job because it's not the right fit. So is it necessarily a...performance improvement plan? Or could we have another conversation of finding a better fit, or the right fit, for that employee?” (07:35-08:05)
• “If you’re placed on a PIP for 30 days, they want you out because it is incredibly difficult for somebody to turn around their performance within 60 or 90 days, certainly almost nearly impossible to turn around in 30 days.” (11:10-11:25)
• “My own philosophy is to lead with transparency. If [an employee’s] performance is not where it should be, I should already be having those conversations to do my job as that person’s manager, to coach them up within their role….because whether my team performs well or not well is a direct reflection on me. So, I have to take full ownership and accountability for that.” (22:48-24:12)
• “I do not think an employee should ever sign [a performance improvement plan] on the spot because if you pull me into an office and you’re telling me that I’m being placed on a PIP, I’m going to stop listening immediately after that and start thinking about, ‘What did I do wrong?’....Take that document back, really really understand what it’s telling you, where your opportunities are, and make sure that you have a very clear understanding of what that action plan is going to be and do you really believe that action plan is going to set you up to be successful.” (26:45-27:25)
• “I always encourage the manager [when placing an employee on a PIP]...to, at the end of the conversation when the meeting’s over, recap the conversation in an email and send it to the employee, so you’re both on the same page. If your manager’s not doing that, then you as an employee, I would recommend you do that.” (30:20-30:58)
Links
Find Chris on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophermrutter/
Find Chris on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/imchrisrutter/
Book Chris for coaching at https://app.hruprise.com/coach/chrisrutter
Read the original article about Amazon: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/amazon-tells-bosses-to-conceal-when-employees-are-on-a-performance-management-plan/
“As an employee, always put yourself first because no one else is going to,” says Chris Rutter, Global Human Resources Leader, Consultant & Coach. With over 16 years of experience in HR across a wide range of industries, Chris is no stranger to what makes a so-called “problem performer.”
However, even Chris was shocked by a recent article in The Seattle Times titled “Amazon tells bosses to conceal when employees are on a performance management plan.” This article explains that managers at Amazon are instructed not to tell workers when they have been placed on Focus (Amazon’s version of a PIP) unless they explicitly ask. This policy helps Amazon meet its annual goal of around 6% “unregretted attrition,” or the percentage of employees that the company hopes to force out each year.
Tune into this week’s episode of Problem Performers as Chris Rutter and host Rebecca Weaver dive deep into why Amazon's policy is messed up and how bosses OUGHT to be thinking about performance management. They also dissect the myth of the "corporate athlete," the dangers of black-and-white HR thinking, and outline the steps you can take as an employee when faced with the dreaded PIP.
Quotes
• “I’ve been in companies where I knew things weren’t going the way they should be going, but the person that I would need to go to as an HR professional, I didn’t trust. So, I’m stuck. What do I do? Is it worth risking my career, worth risking my position there? So, I ended up doing nothing.” (03:40-04:00)
• “I think my initial reaction [to the Amazon article] was, ‘Wow, what a way to set up your employees to truly fail.’ Why don't we have a leadership team that is truly there for the employee? Maybe this employee isn't performing at his or her or their job because it's not the right fit. So is it necessarily a...performance improvement plan? Or could we have another conversation of finding a better fit, or the right fit, for that employee?” (07:35-08:05)
• “If you’re placed on a PIP for 30 days, they want you out because it is incredibly difficult for somebody to turn around their performance within 60 or 90 days, certainly almost nearly impossible to turn around in 30 days.” (11:10-11:25)
• “My own philosophy is to lead with transparency. If [an employee’s] performance is not where it should be, I should already be having those conversations to do my job as that person’s manager, to coach them up within their role….because whether my team performs well or not well is a direct reflection on me. So, I have to take full ownership and accountability for that.” (22:48-24:12)
• “I do not think an employee should ever sign [a performance improvement plan] on the spot because if you pull me into an office and you’re telling me that I’m being placed on a PIP, I’m going to stop listening immediately after that and start thinking about, ‘What did I do wrong?’....Take that document back, really really understand what it’s telling you, where your opportunities are, and make sure that you have a very clear understanding of what that action plan is going to be and do you really believe that action plan is going to set you up to be successful.” (26:45-27:25)
• “I always encourage the manager [when placing an employee on a PIP]...to, at the end of the conversation when the meeting’s over, recap the conversation in an email and send it to the employee, so you’re both on the same page. If your manager’s not doing that, then you as an employee, I would recommend you do that.” (30:20-30:58)
Links
Find Chris on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophermrutter/
Find Chris on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/imchrisrutter/
Book Chris for coaching at https://app.hruprise.com/coach/chrisrutter
Read the original article about Amazon: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/amazon-tells-bosses-to-conceal-when-employees-are-on-a-performance-management-plan/
34 min