When to Turn to PIPs and When to Skip Them

Employees may underperform for a variety of reasons—including personal problems and poor onboarding from their employer. But regardless of why it happens, it’s important that the organization step in. HR should train managers not to let poor performance fester but address it head on, including implementing performance improvement plans (PIPs), if necessary. That’s easier said than done.

“HR professionals have to be the big-picture person so that the organization is dealing with all employees consistently—not allowing one manager to overlook the same performance that another manager terminates staff for,” said Joyce Chastain, senior employment law compliance consultant with The Krizner Group in Tallahassee, Fla.

When Personal Problems Lead to Work Issues

Chastain overlooked subpar performance years ago with an employee she had helped recruit to handle a sensitive and critical job.

“For two years, she was fantastic,” Chastain said. “Then, devastating things in her personal life occurred.”

In a short period of time, the employee lost both parents and her husband died soon after being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, leaving her alone to raise two teenage daughters.

“I made excuses for critical errors she was making too long,” Chastain said. When Chastain finally confronted the employee about her performance, Chastain said she needed her to devote her undistracted attention to her work or she’d have to let her go.

The worker responded with, “What took you so long?” She went on to explain that she could no longer maintain focus to effectively perform in such a critical role, but she also couldn’t send the message to her two daughters that it was OK to quit.

It’s fine for an employer to ask—either as part of a lower-level performance counseling or in a PIP meeting—if there is anything from the employee’s perspective causing the performance problems, said Robin Shea, an attorney with Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Chastain cautioned, however, that “the supervisor should not be fishing for a why.”

Shea said she’d keep any questions about factors affecting job performance vague to avoid saying anything that could violate any law or be perceived as doing so. For example, it would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for an employer to ask an employee about whether the employee has a medical condition that is causing a performance problem.

“The employee may volunteer a medical or mental health issue or personal problems. But the employee may also provide useful information about the employer’s processes, supervision, training, sabotage from co-workers, etc., that the employer needs to hear and at least investigate,” Shea said.

If an employee claims that the performance issue is due to a medical or mental health condition, the ADA permits their employer to request documentation from the employee’s health care provider. Then, the employer should start the interactive process with the employee to identify reasonable accommodations, if they can be provided.

If an employee cites personal problems, “the employer can continue to hold the employee to its performance standards while hopefully being as supportive as possible under the circumstances,” Shea said.

Coach First

PIPs address recurring performance issues that have not improved with more informal coaching, said Emma Kazaryan, an attorney with Seyfarth in Seattle.

A supervisor should coach an underperformer as soon as their performance falls below acceptable levels, Chastain said. “After a couple of coaching sessions, if performance does not improve to a satisfactory level or better, a written PIP should follow,” she said.

PIPs are often traumatic for employees, even if they are necessary, said David Epstein, SHRM-SCP, director of human resources and talent strategy at Mobilization for Justice Inc. in New York City.

“A PIP should be considered if there is a belief that with the plan, the employee has a genuine opportunity to succeed,” he said.

An employer should consider what part, if any, it played in leading to subpar performance, said  Christine Walters, SHRM-SCP, independent consultant with FiveL Company in Westminster, Md.

“It usually takes two to tango,” she said. “If the employee is fairly new, did we make a poor selection? Did we drop the ball on onboarding? If the relationship is salvageable, what options might we have moving forward?”
She recommended asking the employee two questions: 1) Do you have what you need to get the job done? 2) If yes, can you access what you have? “If the answer to either is ‘no,’ then what can you do to rectify the situation?” Walters asked.

Chastain recommended that if the first coaching session does not result in the desired results, a follow-up one-on-one meeting with a witness present should occur within two weeks. “If two weeks later, there is not noticeable improvement, a written PIP should be provided,” she said.

When to Terminate Instead of Placing on a PIP

If an employer has decided to terminate an employee, a PIP should not take the place of termination, said Sylvia Bokyung St. Clair, an attorney with Faegre Drinker in Los Angeles.

Willful misconduct, gross negligence, or conduct that puts the employee, others, or company assets at risk may warrant immediate termination rather than a PIP, Walters said.

“If the performance issue is one that involves attitudes and behaviors—conduct versus performance—that are difficult to measure, a PIP will likely not work,” said Phyllis Hartman, SHRM-SCP, president of the Pittsburgh HR consulting firm PGHR Consulting.

“I would almost never recommend placing an employee with performance issues on a PIP until some lesser feedback had been provided first,” Shea said. However, if the inability to perform to standards “is truly abysmal”—for example, a serious mistake with severe potential consequences for the employer—the employer might move straight to termination with no prior counseling or PIP, she added.

She said other reasons for skipping a PIP include:

• Repeated failure to perform duties that the employee knows are part of the job without a legitimate excuse.
• Clear indications that the employee did not have the requisite education, training, or experience to do the job, despite representations in the employee’s resume or job interview.
• Demonstrated unwillingness to accept, or other resistance to, constructive performance feedback.

Key PIP Components

A PIP is useful for an employee whose performance does not meet quality or quantity standards or for an employee whose diligence or motivation is lacking, said Martha Boyd, an attorney with Baker Donelson in Nashville.

“It should first be confirmed that the direct supervisor—or whoever is responsible for monitoring the performance—is willing to put the time into managing the PIP,” Hartman said. “It takes time to meet and monitor so that the employee is held responsible. If that doesn’t happen, it will not work.”

The employer should clarify that continued employment for the projected duration of the PIP is not guaranteed, Walters said.

She added, “If you write that you will meet with the employee weekly, be sure you do so. If you tell the employee a deliverable is due by a certain day or date, promptly follow up if that does not happen to understand why.”

Chastain outlined the key components of a well-written PIP:

• Identify the problems. “Examples are great,” she said.
• Show the impact of the poor performance on the team, department, and organization.
• State measurable expectations.
• Make suggestions for meeting the expectations. If, for example, the error rate is too high, provide suggestions for checking work.
• Provide a date by which the performance benchmark must be met or a date when performance will again be reviewed. This should never be more than 30 days, she said.
• State the consequences of failing to meet the performance objectives.

“I believe the employee should know exactly what will happen,” Chastain said. “If this issue is significant enough to warrant a PIP, the supervisor should know what will happen if performance doesn’t improve,” whether that’s termination, demotion, or reassignment.

“I’m not a fan of the ‘cop-out’ statement ‘additional discipline up to and including termination,’ ” Chastain said. If the employee knows exactly what the consequences will be, they often resign before the first review date if they know they cannot meet the stated objectives, she said.

Common Mistakes

Employers should avoid common performance management missteps when they have an underperforming employee. “Here’s what doesn’t work: glaring at the employee and hoping that he recognizes that you’re disappointed with his performance,” Boyd said. “Effective managers communicate clearly with the employee to give that employee a chance to improve.”

Shea noted that employers should follow certain precautions with PIPs:

• Don’t be vague or general about the performance issues.
• Don’t fail to provide concrete examples of the employee’s performance issues.
• Don’t administer a PIP via phone or email.
• Don’t discount the possibility that the employee is recording the PIP meeting without disclosing that to you. Conduct yourself accordingly.
• Don’t consider the PIP meeting to be the last word. The employer had time to plan, but the employee may not have expected it. The employer should expect the employee to come back with questions and take that as a sign that the employee genuinely cares about improving.
• Don’t be vague about the time provided for the employee to get their performance up to standards.
• Don’t be vague about what will happen if the employee fails to improve as instructed.
• Don’t worry so much about avoiding hurt feelings that you fail to provide the constructive feedback that the employee needs.
• Don’t be angry or emotional in the PIP meeting, even if you are frustrated with the employee’s performance. Hold the meeting when you can be calm and level-headed.
• Don’t close your mind to the possibility that the employee may take the PIP to heart and improve sufficiently.

 “Employees deserve to have a chance to remedy their performance deficiencies by being told about them and told what they can do to improve,” Boyd said.