Coaching plan to PIP
I was just placed on a 60-day "coaching plan" a couple of days ago, and I wanted to get some realistic feedback from people who have been through something similar. My manager told me that they will evaluate my performance around mid-to-late July to decide whether I will be transitioned onto a formal PIP.
What shocks me is the sudden, extreme negative feedback. For this evaluation, I was given "Not Meeting Expectations" across all three core performance buckets, backed by an incredibly lengthy, detailed list of nitpicked points. To make things weirder, my manager explicitly let it slip that this directive came straight from my skip-level boss (my boss's boss's boss). It feels like my immediate manager is just executing an order from high up.
Here is the context: I found out that a few other members of my team are also being called into similar individual meetings lately. Obviously, due to professional boundaries, it’s impossible and highly inappropriate for me to ask my coworkers how their reviews went or what was written in their documents.
However, my gut is telling me that I am the one being singled out. First, the documentation they prepared for me is exceptionally long and detailed, and my manager has suddenly become noticeably cold and distant toward me. Unless my coworkers happen to find new jobs and leave on their own, I strongly suspect that upper management is trying to reduce headcount, and I have been selected as the primary casualty under the guise of "team evaluations."
To be completely honest, the mental toll of this situation is becoming unbearable. Going to work every day feels utterly nauseating. Every single time I work on a task, a voice in my head reminds me that no matter how hard I try, they are probably just going to discard me in two months anyway. It makes me feel sick to my stomach.
I am currently forcing myself to put on a mask. When I look at my manager, I smile politely on the outside to keep things professional, but on the inside, my heart is completely cold. Everything at the office just drains me and makes me miserable now.
Given that this is an executive-driven issue disguised as a performance problem, do I even have a realistic chance of surviving this coaching plan? Or should I just stop wasting my energy trying to prove myself and focus 100% on job hunting?
Would love to hear your thoughts and similar experiences. Thanks in advance.