Great question; I can’t think of a single, general theme as they are all over the map. Attendance, competence, intelligence, collaboration, work ethic/drive, judgment, inability to follow process, you name it.
Of the success cases, I think a common/typical unifying thread was lack of good, nearby leadership (team/squad lead or even a “buddy/onboarding mentor”) intersecting with someone who wasn’t already competent, curious, and self-motivated. I view those successes as (at least partially) leadership failures that we corrected alongside the employee. This framing is both generally accurate, but importantly, also removes the “stain” for future reviews and promotions. We truly do “put it behind us.” Anything less would be terrifically unfair. We have ex-PIPers get promoted, go on to lead teams/projects, etc.
Of the success cases, I think a common/typical unifying thread was lack of good, nearby leadership (team/squad lead or even a “buddy/onboarding mentor”) intersecting with someone who wasn’t already competent, curious, and self-motivated. I view those successes as (at least partially) leadership failures that we corrected alongside the employee. This framing is both generally accurate, but importantly, also removes the “stain” for future reviews and promotions. We truly do “put it behind us.” Anything less would be terrifically unfair. We have ex-PIPers get promoted, go on to lead teams/projects, etc.