• Erica Rivera is a career coach who formerly recruited for Google and Indeed.
• Rivera said that she's coached many employees who've been labeled as underperformers.
• She advises employees who've been labeled as underperformers to seek clarity as a first step.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Erica Rivera, a 37-year-old career coach now based in Barcelona. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Before becoming a career coach, I worked as a recruiter for Indeed for three years and Google for roughly another two.

I now work with people one-on-one to navigate career changes and transition into new roles. As a coach, I've helped those who have been labeled as underperformers, and it breaks my heart when I hear them talk about it.

First, there's the initial shock — Hey, I'm labeled as an underperformer? — and then I see how deeply they internalize that as their truth. The people I've talked with feel like they're broken, that there's something wrong with them because they're not seen as meeting expectations.

When this happens, I say, take a second to breathe. This label is just that, a label — and it doesn't mean that there's something wrong with you.

Many times, people who get that label are not underperforming; they're just caught up in unfortunate situations. Sometimes, new management comes in, or goals shift, and the employee isn't made aware.

I tell them, It doesn't define you. It doesn't define the rest of your career. Instead, it could be time to stop and evaluate your next steps. No matter the scenario or why you received this label, here are four steps to take if you're labeled an underperformer at work.

Seek clarity

Many times, if there isn't clarity about what is being asked of an employee or if they don't fully understand what their manager is looking for, it creates a gap — first in communication, then in performance.

Maybe there is a misunderstanding of what the goals are versus what the manager has been expecting. If that's the case, it's time to assess bridging the gap.

When having a conversation with your manager, ask: What am I being measured against? What does success look like in the next 60 to 90 days? Can you help me understand where I'm missing the mark? How does that align with the team's expectations and the greater organizational goals?

By getting clarity, you have something to measure your performance against.

Take action and document it

Once you have had that conversation with your manager and understand the expectations, it's time to take action and track your progress.

I tell people all the time, "You need to document, document, document," because you have to make sure that you're covering yourself in the work that you're doing.

This might include documenting any kudos you get, your metrics (which your manager should also be tracking), and any internal awards — anything that can show where you're delivering in your role and exceeding.

Check-in with your manager

You should be having weekly, or at least bi-weekly, one-on-ones with your manager. During these conversations, update your manager on your wins, your metrics, and key positive feedback you're receiving.

After your one-on-one, send them a follow-up email: Hey, just as a follow-up, here's my understanding from our conversation. Here are the wins, areas of opportunity, and what I'm focusing on this week.

Your manager might not read it, but at least you're documenting it, sending it out, and taking ownership.

In the end, be thorough in documenting and updating your manager to show that you are progressing toward the goals you have set.

Update your résumé and look elsewhere

Although you might be doing all that you can internally, make sure you're also updating your résumé and LinkedIn. Start tapping into your network and possibly just re-engaging with people that you haven't connected with in a while.

You could check in with your connections and say that you're interested in seeing what openings are available at their organizations.

When doing so, it's best not to bash your old company because, a lot of times, that can reflect poorly on you, and when looking for work, you'll want to keep it more neutral.

If you're asked why you're looking for new opportunities in an interview, you might say: There was a shift in the direction of the organization, and as a result, there was no longer alignment between the work that I was doing and the new priorities that were being implemented. I am looking for a long-term opportunity where I can grow with the next organization that I'm in.

Whatever you do, you don't want to call yourself out and label yourself as an underperformer.

If you're a recruiter with career tips you'd like to share, please contact this editor, Manseen Logan, at mlogan@businessinsider.com.

• Chris Williams is a former VP of HR at Microsoft with more than 40 years of experience.
• Williams says simply doing a good job isn't enough to avoid being called an "underperformer."
• He suggests employees work on becoming well-known in one of four ways.

Several companies are laying off people they call "underperformers." Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Intuit have all recently done this.

The lesson from these layoffs is that simply doing your job well isn't enough. You can toil away for decades doing a fine job and still get caught up in these layoffs.

To avoid what seems like a random label, it helps to understand how it happens.

What is underperformance?

On its face, it seems obvious: If a company wants to reduce costs, it makes sense to discard the poorest-performing people.

The issue is the haphazard way these evaluations are often done. Dozens of long-term employees from Meta, Microsoft, and others have taken to social media to share their shock. They tell of 10, 20, or even 30-year careers with unbroken strings of excellent reviews, only to get one surprise terrible review followed promptly by a layoff.

No one would challenge that poor performers — people who can't meet basic metrics and who repeatedly fall short despite warnings — are candidates for dismissal. That's exactly why companies use this label.

Companies know that layoffs are distasteful, but getting rid of poor performers looks great

Widespread news of a layoff brands the company as in distress. Companies know that potential candidates for their thousands of open positions would avoid joining a company that just did a layoff.

On the other hand, branding a layoff as culling the poor performers looks great.

The company is removing dead wood, holding higher standards, and striving to be the best. Rather than looking in distress, it looks aggressive and healthy. High-performance people will seek out companies like this.

In addition, terminating people for performance helps avoid a range of potential legal issues. Many notification rules don't apply when performance is the justification. A company can avoid or minimize severance obligations when firing for performance, and many of the discrimination laws could be sidestepped as well.

If the performance-based layoff hits older or other protected-class workers disproportionately, the excuse could be, "But their performance."

The way companies execute these layoffs is a problem

These companies already have built-in mechanisms to identify and remove chronic poor performers. Several of them have quota systems that require a certain percentage of their employees to be labeled in the bottom performance tier. Those employees are routinely removed in what is called "unregretted attrition."

But then come these layoffs. Managers at all levels are told to identify poor performers and lay them off. They've already done that for years.

Now they may have to find more, and that's often done in a cynical and random fashion. "They've been here forever, how about them?" "Nobody likes them, they can go." or "What have they done for me lately?"

That's the haphazard way even good people could get branded as underperforming.

How to avoid the underperformer label

Managers don't simply stack rank their team and pull the bottom people — that well is dry. What they do is get together with their peers to try to find the layoff candidates among their ranks. They'll discuss individuals and their accomplishments.

The worst possible thing that can happen in that meeting is for the group to promptly agree on you. That might be because of very visible mistakes you've made, disagreements you've fomented, or chaos you've caused.

Avoiding the label at that point is difficult or impossible. No one around the table will rush to your defense.

But it's just as bad if the group says, "Who?" — for them to be unaware of what you've done and the impact you've had. Your manager might defend you, but without support, you're in trouble. Even decades of hitting KPIs cannot insulate you if you're doing it in isolation.

The way to avoid this is to make sure you're well known. Fortunately, there are several ways to do that.

1. Get noticed beyond your team.

Volunteer for visible projects. Offer to be the face of the work outside your team. Make that presentation to the VP. Find ways to highlight your work well outside your immediate team.

2. Work with other teams in the company.

Volunteer to be the liaison between your team and the groups it's dependent on. Raise your hand to participate in those random companywide initiatives that always come up.

3. Move around to various teams in the company.

Stretch your impact by working for different people, in different groups, in very different parts of the organization — even if they're unusual or off your perceived career track.

4. Network well beyond your team.

If you can't actually move to other teams, make connections there. Look for ways to connect with your boss's peers and the people who work for them. Find other people well outside your discipline and reach out. Have a coffee or a Zoom and make a connection — any connection.

The best defense is a good offense

If you do this well, the managers will move on to someone else, and you'll survive this round of layoffs.

Unfortunately, once you've received this label, it's often too late. Even if it seems you've been randomly assigned the label, it's hard to shake it off.

Work proactively on becoming well known. Find and make connections with people who are likely to be around that table. At all costs, avoid being the "who?"

Chris Williams is a former VP of HR at Microsoft. He's an executive-level advisor and consultant with over 40 years of experience leading and building teams.

• Meta may plan for annual performance-based job cuts to boost employee performance.
• The strategy aims to increase "non-regrettable attrition" and remove the lowest performers.
• Affected employees will still receive bonuses and stock vesting despite the layoffs.

Meta's performance-based job cuts could become an annual occurrence, according to an internal FAQ document viewed by Business Insider.

The document, shared with employees by Hillary Champion, Meta's director of people development growth programs, addresses whether Meta's upcoming performance-related layoffs will happen every year.

"We are committed to a culture of high performance and are trying to raise the bar by increasing our annual non-regrettable attrition and moving faster to move our lowest performers out," Champion's memo says. "We may use future performance cycles to do that."

The development comes amid an already intense review process designed to cut about 5% of Meta's workforce deemed to be its lowest performers. These cuts are set to be finalized by February 10 for US-based employees, with some international notifications occurring later.

The FAQ also reassures employees that location will not influence their ratings or termination risk and confirms that anyone impacted by the performance reviews will still receive their February 15, 2025 vesting, any due dividends, and bonuses if any are eligible.

Do you work at Meta? Contact BI reporters from a nonwork email and device at jmann@businessinsider.com and pdixit@businessinsider.com.
You can also reach them via Signal at jyotimann.11 and +1408-905-9124.