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Manager or supervisor name: [HERE]
Employee name: [HERE]
Date written: [HERE]
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Some companies use PIPs to warn you that you are about to be fired and mostly as a means to CTA (cover their a**es). This is not the case here.
I have put together this PIP in hopes that not only will you have crystal clarity in where you have opportunities to improve, but also understand tactically how to get there. My request is that we go through this together and that you keep an open mind on what is being asked of you.
In the end, we’ll discuss it together and you can decide what you would like to do. I want this to be a collaborative effort. Let’s dive in.
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Over the past X months, your performance around the following major issues has been raised:
Unfortunately, even with repeat and directed feedback, there has been very little, significant improvement made on these fronts. Below is how I would like us to consider addressing these problems.
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This performance improvement plan addresses the performance related issues listed above.
I will be checking in with you once a week for the next four weeks to see whether the milestones listed below have been achieved or not. If you are successful in meeting each of these milestones, this will bring you from a dissatisfactory performance level (1-2 out of 5) to a satisfactory one (3 out of 5).
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These are the problems that we just went over above, along with the improvement that needs to be seen, how we’ll measure whether you’ve hit those improvements or not, and lastly, a date for us to check in on your progress.
If you hit and maintain all of these milestones at every checkpoint, we will consider this PIP a success and you will be at a satisfactory level of performance at the company.
If at any checkpoint, these milestones haven’t been hit or maintained, we will have to part ways.
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I’ve left some common examples below for you to take a look at and use. Please fill the table in with the performance issues you wrote above. Then, delete me.
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| Problem | Improvement desired | Metric | Check-in date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Here is the current state of the problem today as it stands. | Here is what success would look like pending improvements (with suggestions listed below on how to reach these improvements.) | What does success look like? List something actually measurable and tangible, where there’s a clear “yes” or “no” on achieving this metric. | What date will you check in on this? (Make sure a calendar event is saved ahead of time for these checkpoints.) |
| Repeated missed deadlines on projects, as indicated during daily stand-up check-ins. | Consistent progress made on projects. | Each day, you will provide an update during daily-standup on progress that has been made. | 7 days from now |
| Lack of sense of urgency around small tasks with need for repeated follow-ups. | More urgency around small tasks without the need for follow ups from manager. | Each day, you will respond to customers within 12 business hours addressing their concerns and reaching out to proactively solve problems. | 14 days from now |
| No asynchronous updates provided in Slack; team is out of the loop. | Provide asynchronous updates in Slack for projects to keep full team in the loop | Every 2 days, you will share an update of what is on track, what’s lagging, and how you’re fixing it in the appropriate Slack channel. You will tag the appropriate teammates for help as needed. | 14 days from now |
| Lack of self-management of priorities across projects. | You are self-directed and a self-starter when it comes to managing the projects you have. You prioritize to the best of your ability, and | Every day, I will check on your Master Task Board / tickets to see how well you’re prioritizing your tickets. I will also expect a Start of Day and End of Day report on the progress you’ve made. | 28 days from now |
Now is the point where I would like us to discuss everything that has been noted above.
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Based on your direct report’s answers, you will want to offer them the choice: do they want to move forward with improving, or do they want to part ways?
You can tell them they can think about it for the day, and give you an answer tomorrow once they’ve processed the above, but stay firm on the timeline you set - the checkpoints are non-negotiable.
Try using this phrasing if they try to negotiate the checkpoints: I understand that the checkpoints seem daunting, but that is what we need right now to keep up with the output of the rest of the team and to hit the goals that have already been set.