Are you of the mindset that Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) are what you ‘have to do’ before you fire an employee? Have you ever wanted to terminate a non-performer, but were told that you first have to ‘put them on a PIP’? If you have answered yes to this you are not alone.
Most leaders can share experiences where they have an employee that is simply not performing, and they just want to ‘get rid of them’ and hire someone that can actually do the job. It is at this point that the manager is told that even though the employee is underperforming, they will first need to put them on a PIP before they can terminate employment.
While this seems like the answer, the easy way out is rarely the best road to take. Rather than viewing a PIP as the first step to terminating employment, consider it a genuine opportunity to work with your employee to bridge the performance gap, and bring the awareness and support needed to improve performance.
A PIP is a performance improvement plan with an emphasis on improvement. The intent of putting an employee on a PIP is to work in partnership to identify the performance gap and put a strategy in place to improve and then sustain performance over a period of time. An employee should never be surprised about a PIP because they should be receiving regular feedback and coaching during one-on-ones and performance reviews.
A PIP is a helpful tool to both the employee and the leader as it provides them with a clear road map to navigate long-term success. They should always be positioned as a mechanism that generates clarity, mutual understanding, and partnership. When both parties enter the PIP discussion with an open mind and a shared determination to succeed; amazing things can happen.
Unfortunately, many leaders consider PIPs as merely a ‘tick a box’ activity that they must do to ensure that they have the appropriate document trail should the termination be challenged. The employee might as well pack up their belongings and start using their lunch breaks to seek alternative employment.
In the 'tick a box' scenario the chance that the employee will exit is high, but the leader stands to lose more than the employee when they exit. Sure there was an underperformance issue, but the leader needs to ask themselves the following:
The good news is that PIPs can be the ‘aha’ moment that the employee needs to truly understand that they are not where they need to be. This is a coaching challenge and when used positively, can be extremely helpful as it forces a transparent conversation about what improvement is required. Authenticity in feedback is empowering, and with it comes employee confidence.
Not all employees on a PIP will be able to improve and sustain performance. This will be for a variety of genuine reasons, however it should never be because the leader has ‘written them off’.
There are many examples of employees successfully completing PIPs, keeping their jobs, and even going on to secure projects or promotions. Sometimes employees didn’t realise that they were not meeting expectations and the PIP provided the clarity, support and direction that they needed.
When employers approach PIPs as just the waiting room for employee termination, they are failing in their role as coach and mentor and forgetting that most employees want to do the work to improve. Good people underperform in every workplace and sometimes they just need a leader who is prepared to ‘get into the trenches’ with them and give them the tools to dig themselves out.
It may seem easier to use a PIP merely to commence exiting the employee but it takes a strong and authentic leader to see the real employee potential, and the PIP as an opportunity to ‘manage them in’ as opposed to ‘managing them out’.
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Georgina is Senior HR Content Editor – Publications at Ai Group. She is an accomplished Human Resource professional with over 25 years of generalist and leadership experience in a broad range of industries including financial services, tourism, travel, government and agriculture. She has successfully advised and partnered with senior leaders to implement people and performance initiatives that align to business strategy. Georgina is committed to utilising her experience to create resources that educate and engage and is passionate about supporting members to optimise an inclusive workforce culture that drives performance.
