Assessments done, performance reviews complete, now you’re at your desk wondering how to write a performance improvement plan that actually helps the employee. That’s where the problem grows complicated, as there are many ways to fix a problem but determining what is best for the employee and the company takes some work. Performance improvement plans are a critical way to streamline employee growth at the company and make changes that are in line with the needs of the organization. The HR role in designing performance improvement plans is undeniable and it often falls to them to lead the planning themselves or coordinate with the manager to design a plan that can be implemented and tracked accordingly.
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What Is a Performance Improvement Plan?
A performance improvement plan (PIP) or performance action plan is a detailed assessment of an employee’s current performance and the steps necessary to address any performance limitation or behavioral issues displayed by the individual. With a specific timeline and measurable goals in mind, the performance improvement plan allows both the employer and the employee to have a clear idea of what steps need to be prioritized and in what order they will be completed and tracked.
It allows for documentation to be easily available during a review or for reference when management needs to understand what efforts were made to support and lead an employee. Those who are provided with PIPs and follow through with the recommendations usually see some level of improvement, but any failure to live up to company expectations after repeated attempts is usually met with severe action.
The HR role in a performance improvement plan is essential to determine whether the plan is an appropriate one and does not put unnecessary burdens on the employee. Progress is desirable but irrational plans will be difficult to follow and will only set the employee up for failure. The HR role is also essential in order to understand whether the expectations from the employer or manager are reasonable for the timeline that is given and that it actually targets the expected areas of improvement. It can be very easy to get caught up in a generic plan that is distributed to all employees who have been identified but this will only lead to limited results, the actual issues going unaddressed. Any bias from managers or mistakes by those just learning how to write a performance improvement plan needs to be caught by HR as well.
How to Write a Performance Improvement Plan
The process and guidelines on how to write a performance improvement plan might vary from company to company, and those internal guidelines will have to be followed primarily to get the job done. If there are no guidelines set then that is an additional role for HR in performance improvement planning, to ensure employees are trained to design and implement these well. In any case, if you’re trying to figure out how to write a performance improvement plan on your own, here are some things to keep in mind.
Understand the Problem Carefully
What is a performance improvement plan? A solution to a very specific problem. Before writing a PIP, it is important to understand what behavior is being targeted and what needs to change in order to encourage improvement in the area. A generic plan might help with some skill development, no doubt, but the performance of the employee will continue to suffer overall. To get to the source of a problem, it is quite helpful to have a conversation with the employee themselves to understand what the current limitations might be.
An employee might display poor results with the work repeatedly but that might have less to do with their own skills at work and more to do with how information is being communicated to them in the first place. The employee might be left out of critical conversations that have data they need to do their job, but the company will not be aware of this unless they ask the employee what the problem is. They might also show poor performance due to their team leaders misunderstanding the task and haphazardly assigning the work. Addressing these issues might be necessary to truly see change.
Set a Clear Goal
While there are many benefits of performance improvement plans and they can help with resolving an array of issues, targeting all of them at once can be excessive. It helps to have a clear primary goal and then break down the tasks under it to make the plan easy to follow. This can be in the form of stages that the employee needs to work on one by one or a collection of guidelines they need to keep their eyes on as they work.
For someone who needs to improve their time management skills, the action steps can be divided into meeting their deadline for every stage of the task so they finish in time for the overall project submission, which is the main goal. It could also involve sub-goals that require them to work with a mentor on their editing skills or planning process so these tasks can be completed much more quickly. The second strategy involves more learning phases instead of a linear timeline that focuses on completing stages quickly. Work with the employee to set a clear goal and plan what is necessary to make the change possible.
Set Aside Time For Regular Check-Ins
In the process of learning how to write a performance improvement plan, acknowledge that you might have to participate in the execution of the plan as well. An employee might be able to execute the requirements of the plan on their own but it is also helpful to check in regularly to assess whether everything is on track. Sometimes there might be additional support necessary or the plan might have to be adjusted due to extraneous circumstances. The employee might need additional documents they do not have access to or the mentor they are working under might quit the company.
In such situations, during the weekly check-in, additional could be provided to the employee or a new mentor could be assigned. This will reassure the HR team and the managers that progress is being made and reassure the employees as well, indicating that the company is actually considerate of their needs. Plan ahead for when these meetings will be held and what kind of updates could be discussed.
Provide Additional Assistance and Support Where Appropriate
In some cases, the employee might struggle to keep up with the performance improvement plan. The active HR role in the performance improvement plan is to keep an eye out for these possible struggles and provide the support the employee might need. Planning ahead for any possible assistance the employee might need can ensure that resources are kept available in advance rather than scrambling for them at the last minute. Whether in terms of training, manpower, role shifts, extended deadlines, or anything else that might impede the performance, try to plan for the employee’s needs.
Set Consequences in a PIP
The toughest part of writing a performance improvement plan is making a note of the consequences of failure if the employee is not able to significantly improve their performance through the plan. The purpose of an improvement plan is to improve employee performance and quality of work to match the standard set by the company. An employee who fails to do this reduces the overall productivity at work and can accelerate the speed of work being done at the organization. As such, efforts need to be made to improve their performance or replace them if they are unable to fit into the workplace.
Not all consequences have to result in an immediate firing and the company is free to choose the severity of the consequence according to their internal preferences. An employee could be instructed to enroll in an additional program if their performance doesn’t improve or asked to step down from a project and work on certain skills before taking up the role again. Informing the employee of the possible consequences right at the start is better than surprising them with it at the last minute, which is why it is important to incorporate it while writing the performance review.
Knowing how to write an effective performance improvement plan is an important skill for leaders, managers, and HR professionals. When executed well, the benefits of a performance improvement plan will be quite rewarding, with a more firm alliance established between the employee and the employer. Employers need to listen well and consider the feedback of their employees, providing a clear explanation of what the performance improvement plan is and why it is necessary. When employers and employees are on the same page, the company will find success easily.