Performance Managed or Set Up?
In many workplaces, so-called “performance management” is not a good-faith effort to help you improve. It is a slow-burn strategy to wear you down, corner you into resignation, or manufacture a dismissal that looks lawful on paper. But the Fair Work Commission has seen through this tactic time and again. And if this sounds familiar, it might not be poor performance—it might be employer misconduct. Its no secret why “Performance Improvement Plans” (or PIP) are often informally referred to as a “Paid Interview Period,” inferring that it is better use of your time to start looking for alternative employment as opposed to actually being able to successfully pass this period.
You are often given impossible goals or timelines. Feedback is vague or ever-changing. Praise dries up. Tasks are reassigned, or you’re given more complex responsibilities. Meetings feel more like cross-examinations than conversations. Eventually, your confidence is shot and you’re left asking if you’re the problem.
Many employers deliberately initiate a campaign to isolate, demoralise, and trap an employee into failing. The playbook is textbook: ignore concerns, delay reviews, keep warnings broad, avoid documentation until the final moment, then deliver a sharp blow to your employment status. But just because they called it “performance management” does not mean it was fair.
The Fair Work Commission has made it clear: lawful dismissal pertaining to performance must involve proper warnings, genuine support and chance for improvement, and an overall fair process that does not simply look like they are going through the motions, acting on a pre-determined decision. It is not enough to say you were spoken to. They must show that:
The concerns were specific
You had a reasonable chance to respond
You were actually supported to improve
If the employer fails to actively assist you to improve—or better yet, if they never raised the issue until the termination—they will have a serious problem justifying their decision.
If you are suddenly micromanaged or blamed for errors that were never raised before, your instincts are probably right. It was not a fair process. You are entitled to a workplace that respects procedural fairness. You are entitled to know what is expected of you.
