Amazon is rollingout a new training program this week aimed at helping underperforming employees placed on the company's infamous performance improvement plan,according to an internal email obtained by Business Insider.The new program, called "Pivot," pairs the underperforming employee with a "subject matter expert" called Career Ambassadors who give guidance and support for a fixed period of time, the email says.The program comes as Amazon's hard-charging work cultureand its impact on employeesfacesincreasing scrutiny."Pivot is a program for employees who show a sustained period of underperformance, despite coaching and support. The program provides employees with options to (1) improve performance, (2) voluntarily leave Amazon with severance, or (3) appeal their managers decision to place them in Pivot," writes the email."Throughout an employees time in the Pivot program, they receive process guidance and support from a dedicated team of Pivot subject matter experts called Career Ambassadors (CAs)."The new program is the first step Amazon is taking to improve its notorious performanceimprovement plan, more commonly known as "PIP," which is designed to put pressure on those deemed to be failing to reachtheir goals. The Pivot program is available to those placed on PIP.Previously, PIP did notprovide any coaching or training, according to a 2014 Gawker report.Being put on PIP is considered a "death sentence," according to some employees that Business Insider hasspoken to. The NY Timesdescribed it as "Amazon code for 'You're in danger of being fired'" in a criticalprofile of the company in 2015(Amazon strongly refuted the New York Times report, which described a brutal and stressful workplace).According to one person familiar with the matter, Amazon'sHR managerssaid during an internal conference call that the new Pivot program is "our way of coaching and enforcing changes in behavior" and a "necessity" to ensure performance of their teams.'Game-changing' projectA number of Amazon employees we spoke to did not know aboutPivot, as the program just launched earlier this week. A lot of themwere not even aware ofthe title, Career Ambassadors.But a job post for Career Ambassadors, posted just six days ago, gives a clue to what the position entails.It says the position is seeking "an innovator with expertise in coaching, facilitation, employee relations and HR to help us launch a game-changing project for helping employees reach their full potential."All Career Ambassador positions require over seven years of experience in "HR, mediation, and social services," and are availableacross the whole company, including its cloud service, Amazon Web Services.Pivot is likelypart of Amazon's broadereffort to rectify its brutal "stack ranking" annualreview process. Until last year, Amazon used a system that rates employees against each other to filter out the lowest-rated employees before puttingthem on PIP. The company said in November that it was planning to overhaul the entire review process this year.It could also shed a positive light on Amazon's work environmentthat's often been described as being more hostile than other companies.In November, anAmazon employee was reported to have attempted suicide at its Seattle headquarters, although the motive remains unclear.Amazon declined to comment on this story.SEE ALSO:Amazon wants government permission to run mystery wireless tests in rural WashingtonJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: A Harvard psychologist reveals the best way to fake it till you make it
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