In Human Resources, it’s important to hire candidates who are qualified and capable for the job. But even talented, hard-working staff occasionally encounter performance difficulties. Sometimes, employees have difficulties such as transitioning to new job duties or having challenges with one specific area of their job.
When employees have continued performance issues, one of the best ways to help them improve is a performance improvement plan (PIP). A PIP is a written contract between the employee, manager, and HR designed to help the employee address and correct these challenges.
When creating a PIP for an employee, here are important components to include:
A defined, measurable, and time sensitive goal. The best PIPs specifically outline the area where the employee isn’t performing up to standard, and define where the employee needs to improve. For example, state that “Employee Z needs to have a turnaround time of three days on 95% of assigned reports.” Create a realistic timeline that for improving the task, such as three months, by which the employee will accomplish the goal.
A training plan. Outline in writing how the company will help the employee improve their performance. Common ways to provide support include regularly scheduled meetings with managers, completing additional training, and learning tasks from coworkers.
A plan for evaluations and progress reports. Have the employee’s manager write updates on the employee’s progress at least monthly. The reports should include the employee’s current level of performance and what they still need to do to meet the goal.
What will happen if the employee does not meet the goal. HR and management need to be transparent in the contract about what will happen if the employee doesn’t meet the goal in a specified time period. Depending on your company, this could involve actions such an internal transfer to a more suitable position or termination due to performance issues.
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