I was put on a Performance Improvement Plan on my 10th day. - Software Engineer II Appian Employee Review

1.0
24 Mar 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I wasn't there long enough to see much of the company, but it seemed like the Engineering department is pretty solid - just poorly managed.

Cons

I was put on a Performance Improvement Plan on my 10th day at the company after "not meeting expectations" at the end of the Academy (intensive training program to learn how to use Appian's platform). No face-to-face discussion beforehand, just a meeting scheduled with my manager's manager & an HR rep. They told me my project didn't meet all the requirements, my quiz scores were too low (the instructor explicitly said they were just for learning & didn't matter, and I got a 93 on the comprehensive final), and because I was late to Academy. I could talk about mitigating factors like how I had the flu during Academy, but does it really matter? I don't really think anyone should be put on a PIP that soon. Give them at least 2 months to get a full assessment of their strengths and weaknesses. I was on a PIP the day I met my team & got my own desk. Obviously I quit shortly after. There were 6 people in my Academy group and I wasn't even the only one to quit within their first 6 weeks, so that should tell you something. If you look through the other reviews, there's another employee who was let go on the spot after Academy.

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Appian Response
7y
Thank you for being candid about your experience. As you can imagine, this is not an outcome that we are happy about either, as it is not a common one (we have put many hundreds of new employees through this program without incident), and not something we are looking to repeat. We always want to improve, and in the wake of your situation we are taking a comprehensive look at the Academy experience. Specifically we are looking into setting clearer expectations up-front during the recruitment process for our potential employees and providing clearer feedback for those during the program who are struggling to meet those stated expectations.

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