How to Build a Performance Improvement Plan
by Dan Catterson
CareerBuilder.com
As a manager, one of your goals, is to help bring out the best in your employees. Sometimes all it takes is a nudge to improve an employee’s performance. Other times, it requires a little tough love from your part.
A Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) does not necessarily have to be negative. A PIP should be designed with employee enhancement in mind, not as a way to weed the employee out. In the best of circumstances, a PIP exists to help an underperforming employee improve performance, and do his or her best for your company. By laying out clear guidelines, you give an employee a clear sense of what is expected and the room and direction necessary to improve.
A successful PIP enables you to set goals, measure success, conduct review sessions, and chart progress. You should build it to facilitate constructive discussion between the employee and yourself, and to clarify the level of work performance to be improved. Your PIP must specifically outline the performance deliverables and minimum expectations that must be achieved within a given timeframe.
Take Measures into Your Own Hands
There are several key points to consider when it comes time to build your own Performance Improvement Plan for an employee. The first is that you must identify the job duties or responsibilities that are not being performed at an acceptable level. These can be broad categories such as attendance, customer service skills, meeting deadlines, etc. It is important here that you outline specific, work-related examples of actual work performance. Focus on performance, not your employee. You then want to indicate acceptable work performance standards and expectations that must be performed on a consistent basis. Set the standards high, measurable, and achievable.
Once you have the performance issues and the proper recourse clearly stated, invite the employee, as well as his or her supervisor (if applicable), to review with you the Performance Improvement Plan thus far. During this review, discuss plans for performance improvement and list the support and resources you plan on providing to assist the employee. Emphasize that change is necessary; performance must be improved and maintained. Also at this time, communicate your plan for providing feedback to the employee. Specify meeting times, with whom and how often. Specify the measurements you will consider in evaluating progress. Once you have completed the PIP form, give a copy to your employee and keep the original for your files.
After issuing a Performance Improvement Plan to an employee, be sure to schedule dates for follow-up discussions. Allow the employee between 30 to 90 days to make the recommended improvements. During this 30 to 90 day period, provide regular feedback and coaching to the employee. At the end of the 30 to 90 day period, the status of the employee’s improvement must be recorded. Provide a copy of the completed PIP to the employee and keep a copy for your files. You should then submit the original version of the completed PIP to Human Resources to be kept in the employee’s file.
Measuring the Results
Once the Performance Improvement Plan has been completed, you need to determine whether or not it was successful. You should have a method of measuring the employee’s progress. This will make it easier to determine if the employee has improved his or her day-to-day performance, or if he or she remained an underachiever.
If the Performance Improvement Plan was successful, you and your employee will have both benefited from the experience. Conversely, if the plan failed to improve the employee’s overall job performance, you’ve at least taken steps toward the next course of action. You have to be willing to do everything in your power to help your employee succeed, except place the success of your company in jeopardy.
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A Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) does not necessarily have to be negative. A PIP should be designed with employee enhancement in mind, not as a way to weed the employee out. In the best of circumstances, a PIP exists to help an underperforming employee improve performance, and do his or her best for your company. By laying out clear guidelines, you give an employee a clear sense of what is expected and the room and direction necessary to improve.