Performance Improvement Plans in 8 Steps

How Do I Create an Effective Employee Performance Improvement Plan?

1.   Set Clear Goals

Ensure employees are clear on what goals they need to hit to successfully complete the PIP. If goals aren’t clear, then employees will be confused and will not meet their objectives. Ask questions to ensure the employee understands the PIP.

2.  Communication

The PIP should be a collaboration between the employee and manager where honest dialogue is encouraged. Employees should feel comfortable expressing difficulties to their manager and suggesting tactics or communication methods that may work better for them. Managers should be clear about their expectations and how they plan to help the employee to achieve their PIP goals.

3.  Regular Check-ins

Regular check-ins are necessary to measure progress towards goals, discuss any difficulties, and make tweaks to the plan if needed. They provide small milestones in the goal and give the employee a chance to discuss how the PIP is going.

4.  Root Causes

Managers should use sensitive questions to check if there are any underlying causes that may be affecting their performance. The employee may have had a bereavement or other personal issues that are throwing them off track. The employee might even be experiencing issues in the workplace they haven’t been able to talk about. Respectfully enquire into anything that might be troubling them and discuss how they are feeling.

5.  Positivity

Emphasize the positive aspects of the employee’s performance as most employees will be good employees besides one aspect. Congratulate them on successful duties or projects or great results in other areas of their work. Including praise in a PIP is key to motivating the employee. Being placed on a PIP will cause the employee stress, so soften the blow a little by letting them know they are a valued employee.

6.   Structure

Structure is another crucial element to successful PIPs. This includes creating a clear timeline, organizing regular formal meetings and check-ins, and providing a clear list of expectations.

7.   Provide Extra Training and Support

For a PIP to succeed, the employee should feel like the company, their managers, and supervisors are on their side. This can be done easily by providing extra training and support for the employee. If the employee had a bad on-boarding process or wasn’t trained correctly, then the issue can be easily resolved by providing additional training. This is why it is vital to dig down to any underlying issues and fix gaps in skills. This might be internal training, extra time or training sessions with their supervisor, or a formal course.

8.   Clear Consequences

The employee must be clear on the consequences of continued poor behavior or performance on the PIP. It must be documented and give the employee incentive to change their behavior or performance.