By Andreas Pettersson, Founder, Leaders ADAPT
Search "performance improvement plan" and the results split into two rooms. In the first, HR departments and software vendors describe a supportive development tool. In the second, thousands of people on Reddit and LinkedIn say the same sentence: a PIP means you are being fired, start interviewing. The manager who has to write one tonight is standing in the hallway between them.
I have been that manager, as a CEO of a company that grew past 150 people, and I now advise business owners about to write one. Here is the guide I wish those two rooms had produced together: honest about what most performance improvement plans are, clear about when one is real, and specific about how to run it.
Quick answer: A performance improvement plan (PIP) is a written document from a manager to an employee that states the specific performance gaps, the measurable objectives to close them by a set date, usually in 30 to 90 days, the support the manager will provide, and the consequence if the objectives are not met. It is not required by law in most US workplaces, and in practice many PIPs end in the employee leaving.
What a performance improvement plan is, and what it is not
A performance improvement plan is a dated, written agreement between a manager and an employee naming the gap to the role's standard, the measurable goals that close it, the manager's support, a timeline with check-ins, and the outcome if it is not closed. The word people skip in that definition is agreement. A document that only lists what the employee must do is a warning with a signature line.
What a PIP is not: a legal requirement (in most US states, at-will employment lets an employer end the relationship without one), a guarantee of either outcome, or a substitute for the six weeks of direct feedback that should have come first.
Is it a warning? It sits on the same shelf. In most companies a PIP is the formal step after informal feedback and before termination, and the employee reads it that way whatever the cover note says. So the honest question is not "how do I write one" but "should I".
Does a performance improvement plan mean termination?
Often, and I will not pretend otherwise. The forum layer of the search results is right about the pattern and wrong about the reason.
Most PIPs end in an exit not because the tool is designed to fail but because they are written after the decision has been made. The manager has been frustrated for a quarter, has avoided the difficult conversation with the employee, and now needs a record. The plan is written in the future tense about a past decision, and the employee can feel it.
I have a rule when an owner tells me they are on the fence about someone. Every single time a CEO says "I think maybe, I'm on the fence," the answer is: no, you are not. If you are debating it, you already know. The PIP that follows is paperwork, and paperwork should be short.
Can a PIP actually help an employee?
Yes, and I have seen it. A plan written for a person who wants the job, has the capacity for it, and is short on a skill the manager can supply, with the manager's own time on the page, is a real chance. I have watched a fire-him conversation about a struggling manager turn into an expand-his-role conversation within a quarter, because the owner actually managed him first. That is what happens when you are leading people who want to be led.
Both outcomes are real. Know which one you are writing before you write it.
When to use a PIP, and when to skip straight to the exit
Before a word gets written, I run a filter I borrow from EOS, the Traction system, on the person: do they get the job, want it, and have the capacity to do it. I add culture fit. A no on skill or knowledge is coachable, and that is what a PIP is for. A no on want or fit is not, and I tell owners the same sentence every time: fire them, don't PIP them.
One nuance that trips up growing companies. Capacity is measured against where the company is going, not where it was. When you raise the bar from a friendly small business to one that has to hit revenue and margin, people who had capacity two years ago may not have it now.
That is not underperformance to be fixed in 30 days. It is a role that outgrew a person, and it deserves a different conversation, the one I describe in the necessity of firing and how to do it properly.
Two more cases where a plan is the wrong tool:
- The person who does not know they are underperforming and is not competent. Unaware but competent people can be trained with direct feedback. Unaware and incompetent is toxic for the team, regardless of tenure.
- The bottom performer who has been carried for years. On any team of five or more, the bottom performer gets coached for a bounded period and removed if nothing changes. A plan written after five years of tolerance is an apology to the rest of the team.
When the person is a leader, the calculus changes again, and the ADAPT framework for letting a leader go covers that version.
The difference between a performance improvement plan, a gap conversation, a termination, and eliminating the role
| Tool | When it fits | Clock | What the employee hears | Risk if you pick wrong |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gap conversation (informal, direct) | First time the gap is named; a skill or expectations problem; no HR record needed yet | Visible improvement in 30 days, up to 60 | "The bar is here, you are here, close it" | Too soft: months of drift with no record |
| Formal PIP | The gap conversation happened, movement was partial, the person wants the job and can do it | 30 days with weekly check-ins, extended to 60 only if the first 30 moved | "This is the last structured chance, and here is exactly what met looks like" | Written for someone who does not want the job: 60 days of pain, same ending |
| Immediate exit | A no on want, fit, integrity or basic competence; a bottom performer already coached | Days, not weeks | "This is not working, and here is why" | Skipping documentation and the conversation the person deserved |
| Eliminating or changing the role | Capacity outgrown by the company; the person is good at a job that no longer exists here | Weeks | "The role changed, you did not fail" | Using it to avoid a decision |
The table is the whole page in one glance. Most managers reach for the second row when they are really in the first (no direct conversation with the underperforming employee yet) or the third (decided months ago). The root cause of the gap decides the row, so find it before you pick.
How long should a performance improvement plan be: 30, 60 or 90 days
My own clock, which I have used as a CEO and now set for the owners I advise: expect visible improvement inside 30 days on any real performance gap, allow the plan to run to 60 only when the first 30 showed movement, and start scouting an alternative at day 30 regardless of what you hope will happen.
Ninety-day plans mostly exist so nobody has to decide anything for a quarter. If a gap needs 90 days to show any movement, either the objectives are wrong or the person is in the wrong role. Four weekly check-ins with one written line per objective are what make a 30-day plan a plan rather than a countdown.
It is pain now or pain in the future. You pick. A long PIP is an avoided conversation with a calendar attached.
What a performance improvement plan should include
Eight fields, and the wording inside them matters more than the fields: names and dates; a one-sentence purpose; two or three gaps as dated facts (situation, behavior, impact, direction), never attitudes; objectives that can be counted on day 30; your support, with dates; the weekly check-in schedule; the outcome in one plain sentence; and an acknowledgment line that says what the signature means.
The full document, on the page as copyable text with a filled 30-day sample and the cover letter, is the performance improvement plan template. The process for producing it, from the decision to the delivery, is the step-by-step on how to write a performance improvement plan.
How to run the performance improvement plan meeting
The meeting is where honest plans go soft: the manager who wrote clear objectives at the desk adds "but you're doing great overall" to every sentence in the room. Four rules:
- Warm, then firm, then warm. Open with intent: I am invested in your success, which is why I need to be direct. Deliver the gaps exactly as written, no softening, no maybe or perhaps. Close with support: what do you need from me to make this shift. Do not sandwich it; a sandwich is indirectness with extra bread.
- No prequel. Never open a hard conversation by discrediting yourself ("I'm not perfect either, I have gaps too"). You are discrediting the value of every word that follows. If you do not make it about you, it stays about them.
- Decline the trade. When the employee turns it around ("well, you haven't followed up either"), answer without heat: this conversation is not about me, it is about you. Facts, not temperature.
- Say what the signature means and what the clock is. The employee will search "should I sign a PIP" at 11 p.m. tonight. Answer it in the room: signing confirms we reviewed this, you may attach a response, and here is the date and what met looks like.
Keep the check-ins separate from your regular one-on-one meetings. The one-on-one is a coaching conversation about the person's growth. The PIP check-in verifies three objectives and writes down the result.
The moral frame, for managers who cannot bring themselves to be this direct: being firm and warm now is what spares the person the pain of being fired later. Softening it only delays the pain. Now they have a chance, and an honest one.
Documentation, HR and the fear of being sued
Before the meeting, write up the specific instances from the past weeks with dates and send them to your own manager or to HR, not to the employee. Even if you are starting late, a dated record shared with a third party reads as proactive management rather than retaliation.
I keep an employment consultant on call and bring them in early, before a problem escalates; the hourly cost is trivial next to a lawsuit or months of severance.
And on the fear itself: I have been sued personally in prior businesses. The manager is often named first and the claim moves to the company's insurance quickly. It is a routine cost of employing people, not a reason to freeze. Freezing is how a 30-day gap becomes two years.
The employee has rights too, written up from their side in your rights on a PIP and how to respond; a manager who knows what the employee can lawfully ask for writes a better plan.
What happens at the end of a performance improvement plan
Three endings, all named on page one of the plan:
- Objectives met and sustained: the plan closes as completed, in writing, and the cadence returns to the normal one-on-one. Say so plainly, in the room, or the person will assume the plan follows them forever.
- Partial movement at day 30: the one case where I extend to 60, same objectives, in writing, with a firm end.
- Objectives not met: the outcome stated in the plan happens on the date in the plan. Quick, firm and warm. State the situation, the reason, the arrangements, and end it; anything longer prolongs the pain for both of you. Then part with a gift, not resentment: name honestly what would make them succeed elsewhere, and mean it.
I fired a man once who intimidated the team and would not listen, and I told him directly why. Two years later he came back wanting to work with me again. He said nobody else had ever dared tell him the truth, that he had spent three months on it with a psychologist and an advisor, and that he had landed a role paying nearly double.
There is a great job and a great culture and a great company out there for the person you are letting go. It just does not happen to be yours. That is the sentence to hold in your head at the final review.
How performance improvement plans differ for managers and individual contributors
A plan for an individual contributor measures output: deals, deliverables, response times, error rates. A plan for a manager measures the team's outcomes and the manager's observable behaviors: a logged one-on-one with every report every week, a named owner on every project, one recorded piece of feedback per report per week, with the manager's own manager reviewing the notes on Fridays.
The other difference is the gap itself. With individual contributors it is most often skill or knowledge. With first-time managers it is almost always expectations: nobody told them what managing meant here. Expectations gaps are the most fixable kind, which is why the manager cases in the performance improvement plan examples end well more often than the forums predict.
Performance improvement plan FAQ
What is a performance improvement plan?
A performance improvement plan (PIP) is a written document from a manager to an employee that states specific performance gaps, sets measurable objectives to close them by a fixed date, lists the support the manager will provide, schedules check-ins, and states the consequence if the objectives are not met. Plans commonly run 30, 60 or 90 days. In most US workplaces a PIP is a company practice, not a legal requirement.
Does a performance improvement plan mean you are getting fired?
Not automatically, but a PIP is usually the formal step before termination in companies that use one, and many end with the employee leaving. Whether a specific plan is a genuine chance depends on its contents: dated, specific gaps, objectives that can be counted, and concrete support from the manager point to a real plan; vague gaps described as attitudes and no support commitments point to documentation for a decision already made.
Is a performance improvement plan a warning?
A performance improvement plan functions as a formal warning in most workplaces. It typically follows informal feedback and precedes termination in a company's progressive discipline sequence, and it creates a written record that expectations were communicated. Some organizations distinguish a PIP from a formal written warning in their policies, so the employee handbook is the place to check how a particular employer treats it.
How long should a performance improvement plan last?
Performance improvement plans most commonly run 30, 60 or 90 days. Thirty days with weekly check-ins is enough to see visible movement on a genuine skill or process gap, and many managers extend to 60 days only when the first month shows progress. Ninety-day plans are common in larger organizations and in cases where the objectives depend on a longer sales or project cycle.
What should a performance improvement plan include?
A performance improvement plan should include the employee's and manager's names and the plan dates, a one-sentence purpose, two or three specific gaps written as dated facts with their impact, measurable objectives with a deadline, the support the manager commits to, a check-in schedule, the outcome if objectives are not met, and an acknowledgment line stating that the signature confirms the plan was reviewed, not that the employee agrees.
Should you quit if you are put on a PIP?
Resigning usually forfeits severance and, in many US states, unemployment benefits, because the departure is voluntary. Many employees choose to work the plan while interviewing quietly, since a completed plan keeps the job and a termination for performance may preserve unemployment eligibility depending on state rules. The decision depends on finances, the job market, and whether the plan reads as a genuine chance or as documentation for an exit.
Decide first. Then write.
The two rooms in the search results are both describing real PIPs. The HR room describes the plan written for someone who wants the job and lacks a skill. The forum room describes the plan written after the decision. The only thing that separates them is a manager who was honest with themselves before opening the template.
So decide first. Run the filter: get it, want it, capacity, fit. If any answer is no, have the shorter conversation and do it well. If every answer is yes, write a 30-day performance improvement plan with your own time on the page, deliver it warm and firm, and verify it every Friday.
Then fix the reason you needed one: feedback delivered within 24 hours, every time, is the version of this page that never has to be written.
The five minutes that replace the sixty-day plan
Almost every performance improvement plan I read is six months of avoided feedback compressed into one document. The 5-Minute Leader is the system I wrote to make that impossible: four protocols, delegation, one-on-ones, accountability, and cadence, each built to run in five minutes a day. The accountability protocol carries the three conversations managers avoid and the exact words for each.
I built it while scaling a company past 150 people as one of Canon's youngest CEOs, and I run it today with the owners I advise. It includes one rule about timing that changes more outcomes than any template on this site. The 5-Minute Leader.
