We have become aware of an alarming number of “Development Plans” launched since the beginning of the year. Although we don’t have a precise number, since the company doesn’t disclose this information, the ones we are aware of come from discussions with several employees from different teams.
Besides their number, what is inside the Development Plans is also worrying, blaming employees for not doing everything that is expected from them at their level when several people have already been reporting high workloads and increasing pressure. Several employees under a Dev Plan shared that they have blurry and hardly measurables objectives, without real support from their manager.
If you are currently under a Dev Plan, know that you are not alone, and that it is not necessarily justified, contrarily to what people might tell you.
This tool is often used by companies to mentally break employees, going as far as making them doubt of their skills and of their work. The context in which Dev Plan are pushed also often leads employees to not share their situation, by “shame” or fear of judgement, which amplifies the feeling of being isolated.
In light of the alarming number of Dev Plan, a support group has recently been created, so that employees can share their situation, support each other, and get help. Solidaires Informatique supports this initiative.
If you are currently under a Dev Plan and wish to benefit from this support, contact us, and we will put you in touch with the group.
The aims of this group are:
- to analyze the content of your Dev Plan and understand the context that led to it
- to highlight blames that don’t seem justified, management shortcomings or lack of support
- to track the evolution of your Dev Plan
- but also, more simply, to have a space to share with people that could be in a situation similar to yours, in order to help each other and avoid the feeling of being isolated
Knowing about those Dev Plan would also allow us to get a better idea of their volume, but also to highlight (if they exist) patterns that target a specific category of employees (e.g., a specific seniority level, or people that are vocal with regards to AI usage). In a context where Back Market doesn’t recruit new people apart from backfilling departures, and consultants, a significative volume of Dev Plan could highlight a will to let go of some employees, by using Dev Plan as a tool to justify that.