I am consultant at PA and this year am given PIP due to low utilisation. is this normal ? btw i am with PA since 4 yrs with 3 ratings in previous years.

PIP?

Personal improvement program(PIP), personal development program(PDP)

This is normal when your manager thinks there have been opportunities and ways you could have raised your utilisation that you missed/didn't take up. Where utilisation is down across the board (without knowing your practice I couldn't say if that's been the case) your utilisation would have been particularly low to make you stand out.Besides the common performance reasons for your utilisation being down (e.g. turning projects down too often), if you've been there four years, it could be that you're now at a grade where your manager expects you to be generating work for yourself and others. Without knowing personal circumstances, I couldn't say if that's likely.

Its a way of legitimising sacking you later down the line and to counter the risk of you suing for unfairful dismissal and the like

How can you have low utilisation? Most practices are sold out up to / including PC level and have been for most of the year.

Yup - even BOP is sold out at the moment (lovely public sector jobs mainly)If you're not hitting your utilisation target in the current environment, then you have a performance problem, which is why you're on a PIP.I've known a couple of folk to survive a PIP, but my advice is to start scanning the market for a new employer

Unless you really control your utilisation, then its an unfair measure to be judged on. Especially true for all junior staff. Its like blaming slavery on the slaves.Utilisation levels are more likely to be a reflection of the seniors' sales capability, whether resource managers are any good and whether business unit heads can run a business unit. Nipping the bottom 10% of partners in the bud will also be better for profit and morale than kicking the grunts.

Nipping the bottom 10% of partners hasn’t worked in BOP. All three of them need to go.They canned one of out lazy partners last year, but its done nowt to spur the others into action. They are still focussed on selling tiny public sector jobs, that no one else would touch.We keep being told that we are hiring in all these wonderful new partners any day now, but none of them materialise

You can try and get on jobs outside of your practice.Or leave if you have so little belief in the management team, there are plenty of better options out there in industry and consulting than BOP.

I heard all the staff below partner are rubbish too, eh?

If you have been there 4 years you know the score and know that if your utilisation doesn't improve then you need to start looking around.

GuysI have resigned PA and joined Deloitte, and life is back to normal.Just to clairfy my utilisation was low as i was not keen in going public sector jobs. Thanks for your messages.

Whoops, way to reveal your identity and start out on the wrong foot at DC.We're all "really" looking forward to working with a PIP-calibre consultant. You won't get staffed on any of my projects now I can promise you. Look forward to another long, lonely period in bench purgatory!

Doh!

Greendotlifer please let him on to some of your projects, he said he was on a PIP because his utilisation was low not because he didn't perform well once on a job. I'm sure he could do a good job for you, can you give him a chance to prove himself or maybe find out how he has done on other people's projects and then let him on to one of yours?

Anyone else just look this guy up on Joiners & Leavers?

No, I was unable to because I don't work for The Green Dot

Oh my Ghosh - we'll never be able to figure it out.

Come on guys, this chap is probably feeling pretty uneasy right now so why don't we give him a break?I can see why endless public sector assignment would sap anyone's will to live - they are generally dull, provide few opportunities to develop new skills (or even practice existing ones) and most of the time you'll not get any thanks from the client.After a couple of years it's easy to see why someone might be disillusioned.

Well, leaving to move on from BOP PA, aint a bad thing. The attrition rate is pretty awful at PA. Whether it be the partners or the public sector focus, they are so yesterday and going elsewhere is a step forwards.