By Andreas Pettersson, Founder, Leaders ADAPT
The guides on how to write a performance improvement plan all start at step one: identify the problem areas. That is step three. The first two steps decide whether the document you are about to write is a plan or a delay, and nobody puts them in the template because they are uncomfortable.
I have run these conversations as a CEO, advised owners through writing an employee PIP, and read a lot of plans that should never have been written. Here is the performance improvement plan process I actually run, in the order I run it.
Quick answer: To write a performance improvement plan: 1) decide whether the person can and wants to close the gap, 2) document the past weeks in writing before the conversation, 3) find the root cause, 4) write two or three gaps as dated facts, 5) set objectives that can be counted on day 30, 6) commit specific support with dates, 7) state the outcome plainly, 8) deliver it warm and firm and record every check-in.
Step 1: Decide whether to write a PIP at all
Writing a performance improvement plan is the right move only when the employee wants the job, has the capacity for it, and is short on skill, information or structure that the manager can supply inside 30 to 60 days. Everything else is a decision wearing a plan's clothes.
I run a filter I borrow from EOS before any plan gets written. Does the person get the job, want it (or are they collecting a paycheck), have the capacity to do it, measured against where the company is going rather than where it was, and fit the culture?
A no on skill is coachable. A no on want or fit is not, and I say the same thing to every owner: fire them, do not PIP them. A PIP for an employee who does not want the job is 60 days of pain for both of you with the same ending.
One more test, and it is the one owners hate. If you are telling me you are on the fence, you are not. Every single time.
Write the plan only if you can name, today, the improvement that would make you glad you kept the person. If you cannot, skip to the guide on what a performance improvement plan is and when it is real, because you are in a different chapter.
Step 2: Document before you talk
Before any hard conversation about someone's performance, build a written, dated record. Even if you are starting late, write up the specific instances from the past several weeks today: what was expected, what happened, on which date, and what it cost.
Then send it to a third party, not to the employee. Your own manager, the owner, HR, whoever made the original hiring decision. You now have a dated, third-party-copied record that reads as proactive management rather than retaliation if anyone ever scrutinizes it.
This is also where the HR reflex belongs. I keep an employment consultant on call and bring them in early, before a problem escalates, not after. The hourly cost is trivial next to a lawsuit or months of severance.
If your company has HR, this is the moment to loop them in. If it does not, an hour with an employment lawyer before you write is the cheapest hour of the whole process.
Step 3: Find the root cause before you name the gap
Most PIPs describe a symptom and prescribe effort. Three hypotheses cover nearly every gap:
- A knowledge gap. The person does not know how. Fix: teach, pair, shadow.
- A fear gap. The person knows how and freezes, usually because the last mistake was punished. Fix: change what happens when they ask, and say so in the plan.
- An expectations gap. Nobody ever set the bar in words. Fix: the plan itself is the first time the bar has been written down, and the plan should admit that.
One test before you conclude anything: ask the person to repeat the instruction back. If they cannot, the communication was the problem, and a plan documenting their failure to meet an expectation they never heard will read exactly that way to everyone who sees it later.
Step 4: Write the gaps as dated facts
Two or three areas of improvement. Not seven. A plan with seven areas is a list of grievances and the employee will treat it as one.
Each area gets four lines: the situation (when and where), the behavior (what they did or did not do, with dates), the impact (what it cost), and the direction (what changes). Never "you always". Never "you were rude". "In Tuesday's client meeting you interrupted three times while they explained their concerns" is a fact on a recording; "you dominate meetings" is an opinion the employee will argue with all check-in long.
I strip out what I call dead words at this stage: "it would be really nice if", "I know you're a good guy, but". They make the writer sound undecided. State the situation, the gap, and the ask.
Step 5: Write measurable goals for day 30
An objective belongs in the plan only if someone who was not in the room could look at the evidence on day 30 and say met or not met. Three tests: a number or a countable event, a deadline inside the plan, and a named person who verifies it.
Three objectives is the ceiling. Two is often better. If closing the gap needs more than three, go back to step 1: you are describing a hiring mistake, not a performance problem.
For the fields laid out as a document, with a filled sample and the 30-day week-by-week table, use the performance improvement plan template. This page is the process; that page is the paper.
Step 6: Commit your own support in writing, with dates
The support section decides whether you are writing a plan or paperwork. If you cannot name one thing you will do differently, with a date, the honest document is a termination notice.
Support that works is cheap and specific: a weekly 20-minute check-in on a fixed day, sitting in on two calls, one training session by a date, a named person the employee can go to. Put your own time on the page. It is the only line the employee reads as proof you mean it.
Add one expectation on their side that most templates leave out: anything that affects the objectives gets flagged to you within 24 hours, in writing, no filtering and no sugar coating. If you have to ask to find out, the plan is failing. That rule tells you more by week 2 than any objective.
Step 7: State the outcome in one sentence
"If the objectives are met and sustained, the plan closes. If they are not met by [date], your employment ends on that date. There is no extension unless I put one in writing."
Vague consequences ("further action may be taken") protect nobody. The employee deserves to know the timeline, and you deserve to not have that argument at the final review. A formal PIP is a warning with a clock; say so.
My own default: expect visible improvement inside 30 days, allow up to 60 only if the first 30 moved, and start scouting an alternative at day 30 regardless. It is pain now or pain in the future. You pick.
Step 8: Deliver it warm and firm, and handle the pushback
The meeting is where most well-written plans die: the manager softens every line on the way out of their mouth.
The delivery I coach is warm but firm. Warm opening: "I'm invested in your success, which is why I need to be direct about something." Firm middle: the gaps, as written, no softening, no maybe or perhaps. Warm close: "What do you need from me to make this shift?"
Do not sandwich it; the sandwich is indirectness with extra words. Do not open with a prequel about your own flaws; if you make it about you, it stops being about them.
Then the pushback, in three shapes, with the scripts from The 5-Minute Leader:
- The Defender ("That's not what happened."): "I might have seen it differently. Walk me through your perspective." Then: "Regardless, here's what I need going forward."
- The Deflector ("Everyone does this."): "We're talking about you right now. Can you commit to what I'm asking?"
- The Ghost ("Okay. Sure. Got it."): "Tell me what you're taking away from this conversation."
The rule underneath all three: do not argue about perceptions, redirect to commitment. And when a defensive employee turns it back on you ("well, you haven't followed up either"), decline the trade without heat: "This conversation is not about me. It's about you." Not angry. Just facts.
End the meeting with the ladder I use for every change: said, heard, understood, accepted or rejected, but always committed. You want the last word. Then the follow-up: the plan in writing the same day, one written line per objective at every check-in.
The mistakes that turn a plan into paperwork
| Mistake | What it signals to the employee | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Raising a gap for the first time inside the PIP | The decision came before the feedback | Six weeks of one-on-one feedback first, then a plan if needed |
| Attitudes instead of behaviors ("engagement", "ownership") | The manager cannot point to anything | Situation, behavior, impact, direction, with dates |
| Five or more areas of improvement | A list of grievances | Two or three |
| Objectives nobody can count | The review will be an argument | Number, deadline, verifier |
| "Regular check-ins as needed" | The manager will not show up | Fixed weekday, fixed time, four dates |
| "Further action may be taken" | Nobody knows the clock | Plain outcome, plain date |
| Softening every line in the meeting | The document and the manager disagree | Warm, firm, warm; no sandwich, no prequel |
| No record of the check-ins | Nothing happened | One written line per objective per week |
For what each of these looks like in a document, the performance improvement plan examples sorted into the ones that helped and the exit paperwork shows the same mistakes in situ.
Writing a PIP for a defensive employee
Defensiveness is the normal first reaction, so write for it. Three adjustments:
- Front-load the facts. A defensive person argues with adjectives and goes quiet in front of dates. Every behavior line carries a date.
- Put the repeat-back in the meeting. Ask them to say the three objectives in their own words before you leave the room. If they cannot, you have learned something about step 3.
- Give them a written response line. "You may attach a written response to this plan" takes the argument out of the meeting and puts it on paper, where it belongs.
If the defensiveness is really the person's manager avoiding accountability conversations for months, the plan is late, not wrong. Write it anyway, and fix the cadence. Weekly one-on-ones that carry feedback inside 24 hours are why most managers never write one of these, and a quarterly skip-level meeting is how you find out that a manager two levels down has been avoiding one.
How to write a performance improvement plan FAQ
How do you write a performance improvement plan step by step?
To write a performance improvement plan, first decide whether the employee wants the job and has the capacity for it, since a PIP fits a skill or knowledge gap rather than a motivation or fit problem. Then document the past weeks in writing, find the root cause, write two or three gaps as dated facts, set objectives that can be counted on day 30, commit specific support with dates, state the outcome plainly, and deliver it in person with a recorded weekly check-in.
What documentation do you need before writing a PIP?
Before a PIP, write up specific instances of underperformance from the preceding weeks: the expectation, what happened, the date, and the impact. Include prior feedback given and when. Send the record to your own manager or HR rather than to the employee so it is dated and third-party-copied. Managers starting late should still write it up; a late record is better than a plan with no record behind it.
How do you write measurable goals in a performance improvement plan?
A measurable PIP goal has a number or a countable event, a deadline inside the plan, and a named person who verifies it. "Reply to every client email within one business day, checked weekly by the manager" is measurable; "communicate better" is not. Two or three objectives are typical. A plan that needs more than three usually points to a hiring or role-fit problem rather than a performance gap.
When should HR or an employment lawyer review a PIP?
HR or an employment lawyer should review a performance improvement plan before it is delivered, particularly when the employee has recently raised a complaint, taken protected leave, or requested an accommodation, when the person is long-tenured, or when the manager has little prior documentation. An hour of review costs far less than a dispute later, which is why many managers keep an employment consultant on call.
How do you deliver a performance improvement plan to an employee?
Deliver a PIP in a private meeting, not by email alone. Open with intent ("I am invested in your success, which is why I need to be direct"), state the gaps exactly as written without softening, and close by asking what support the employee needs. Give them the document and a date to sign the acknowledgment, with the option of a written response. Send the plan in writing the same day.
What are the common mistakes when writing a performance improvement plan?
Common mistakes in how to write a performance improvement plan include raising the concern for the first time inside the plan, describing attitudes instead of dated behaviors, listing five or more areas, setting objectives nobody can count, vague support such as "check-ins as needed", an unclear consequences line, softening the plan verbally during the meeting, and failing to record check-ins. Each of these makes the plan read as documentation for a decision already made.
The plan you should rarely have to write
A performance improvement plan is what a manager writes when six weeks of direct feedback did not happen. The eight steps above are how to write a performance improvement plan that is honest. The better outcome is the one where step 2's record already exists because you gave feedback within 24 hours of every miss.
Write this one properly. Then fix the reason you had to.
The four protocols behind the eight steps
The SBED wording in step 4, the 24-hour flag rule in step 6, the warm-but-firm delivery and the three pushback scripts in step 8 are all lifted from The 5-Minute Leader, the management system I wrote for people who lead teams and have no time to lead them. Four protocols: delegation, one-on-ones, accountability, cadence, and the accountability one carries the three conversations every manager avoids, with the script for each. I wrote it after running a company that grew past 150 people, as one of Canon's youngest CEOs, and I still use it with the leaders I advise. If you would rather never write another PIP, start here: The 5-Minute Leader.
