Ex-Meta principal engineer shares 4 strategies to avoid being an underperformer

• Adrien Friggeri worked at Meta for over 10 years. He made it to the rank of principal software engineer.
• Friggeri shared four tips for avoiding low performance in the tech industry with Business Insider.
• "Compared with 10 years ago, there is less organizational 'slack' and expectations tend to be tighter," he wrote.

Silicon Valley is raising its standards for talent.

Adrien Friggeri spent over a decade combined at Meta — including back when it was called Facebook — with stints at Michael Bloomberg's Hawkfish and Clubhouse as well. Now, he works as a partner software engineer at Microsoft, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The consequences of underperforming are "more drastic" now than they were 10 years ago, Friggeri said on "The Peterman Pod."

In an email to Business Insider, Friggeri wrote that there is less "organizational 'slack'" and higher expectations for tech employees.

"That means performance gaps are identified and addressed faster, and if someone is not meeting clearly defined expectations over time, the path to a formal performance-management process (and potentially a role change or exit) can be shorter than it used to be," Friggeri wrote.

Meta has been especially strict with its performance expectations. The tech giant laid off roughly 3,600 employees in February, labeling them low performers.

There are also benefits to being above the pack. Meta is introducing higher bonuses for top performers, Business Insider reported on Monday.

In his email, Friggeri clarified that the trend was not specific to Meta. Rather, it was industry-wide and reflected the state of the market. Meta did not respond to a request for comment.

Friggeri shared four tips with Business Insider to stay ahead and avoid underperformance.

1.) Workers should make expectations explicit.

"Align with your manager on priorities and what 'great' looks like for the next 30/60/90 days," Friggeri wrote.

2.) Employees should seek out feedback.

They shouldn't wait for review cycles, Friggeri wrote. Feedback should be sought out "early and often."

3.) Focus on "visible, high-leverage work."

"Pick projects tied to clear outcomes and communicate progress, risks, and tradeoffs," he wrote.

4.) Keep investing in your skills

Friggeri wrote that employees should "treat learning as part of the job, especially as teams and priorities shift."

On the podcast, Friggeri advocated for being independent and building new projects — and not being silent about them. It's not helpful to "lock yourself in a room," build for three months, and show up with the finished product.

"Overcommunicate is really the strategy I would recommend," he said.