Being placed on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) can feel unsettling. It also often comes when you are already under pressure, and it can be hard to know what it means, how to respond or what to do next.
As a business performance coach, I am invited to train or support people who are undergoing a PIP at work. Sometimes this is training delivered in a group, and sometimes it is one-to-one coaching.
In this guide, I’ll explain what a PIP is, how the process usually works and what you can do to get through it, with some examples from our practice along the way.
Key Takeaways
- A PIP is a formal process an employer uses when they feel an employee’s performance is not meeting the standard required.
- Despite what you might have heard, being placed on a PIP does not automatically mean you will lose your job.
- Take the process seriously, keep your own records and ask for clear, measurable targets.
- Look after your wellbeing. Stress and anxiety have an impact on memory, learning and behaviour. So, making time to relax is part of the work, not a distraction from it.
- If a disability or health condition is affecting your work, tell your employer. They have a legal duty to consider reasonable adjustments.
- You do not have to work through a PIP alone. Unions, Acas, Citizens Advice and independent coaching can all help.
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What is a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)?
A PIP is a formal documented process an employer uses when they believe an employee is not meeting the standard required for their job. It sets out specific areas for improvement, the support and resources available for the process, and the period of time in which progress will be reviewed.
Why Do Employers Use a PIP?
It’s part of a process that starts via the organisation’s performance appraisal system and other meetings where performance concerns have been raised. It is used when the employer considers that the employee has not addressed the concerns raised in these early stages to a sufficient level.
It may be used to demonstrate to third parties that the employer has been reasonable in how they have treated the employee, specifying dates and resources (training, coaching) provided. The plan provides a formal record of the improvement process, which helps show that a fair process has been followed in compliance with UK law.
How the Performance Improvement Plan Process Works
Every organisation handles PIPs differently, but the process usually follows a similar pattern.
- Concerns are raised. Usually informally at first, in a one-to-one or day-to-day conversation with your line manager.
- Appraisal and review. Concerns are then discussed more formally, often through the organisation’s appraisal process, with a chance to improve.
- The PIP is agreed. If your employer feels the concerns have not been addressed, they then set out a written plan with targets, support and a timescale.
- Support and check-ins. You work towards the targets, with regular review meetings to discuss your progress.
- The outcome. At the final review, the plan may be closed successfully, extended, or lead to a change of job role. If performance has not improved enough, your employer may move to a formal capability process, which can lead to dismissal.
PIPs commonly run for somewhere between one and three months. You’ll usually be working with your line manager and, if your organisation has one, with HR involved in the background or at formal meetings.
What Does a Performance Improvement Plan Include?
If you have been searching for an example of a Performance Improvement Plan, most follow a similar structure. A typical PIP includes:
- Feedback on current performance: clear, specific observations of where your employer feels your work isn’t meeting the standard required.
- Specific objectives: the areas where your employer wants to see improvement
- How success will be measured: the targets or standards you’ll be assessed against.
- A timescale: how long the plan will run.
- Support offered: for example, training, coaching and mentoring.
- Review dates: when progress will be discussed.
- Possible outcomes: what happens at the end of the plan.
You should receive a copy of the plan. If any of the targets feel vague, it is reasonable to ask for them to be clarified. Clear, measurable targets are fairer for everyone and make it easier to show your progress.
Before a PIP: responding to early performance concerns
If your boss raises concerns about your performance at work, the first thing to do is to respond seriously to the issues raised before you get to a PIP. Do your best to address the issues and to review your improvement with your boss. Ask for their guidance and support.
Top Tip: Keep a Record
Ensure the improvements you make are recorded either on your appraisal or in the formal notes of whatever meetings you are attending, and that you keep your own copies of these.
These early meetings may include discussion of whether this particular role is the right one for you. Large organisations often offer a variety of roles for which you may be better qualified and may enjoy more.
How to Survive a Performance Improvement Plan at Work
If, despite your efforts through the appraisal process, you are moved onto a PIP, here is how to approach it.
Take the Process seriously
The first thing is to take the process seriously.
This is a formal process that may lead to your dismissal if things do not improve, so it is worth giving the process your full attention. The PIP process should enable you and your employer to agree on areas where specific improvement is required by them in a specified time period.
Be aware that the PIP process will be demanding. You must be available to attend and take seriously any training or coaching alongside your normal work and make time for any additional learning and skills practice required.
A few practical things can help:
- Keep a simple written log of what you have done towards each target, and when.
- Prepare for each review meeting. Note your progress, any obstacles, and any questions you may have.
- If the plan promises support, such as training or coaching, ask for it early on in the process so you have time to use it.
Look after your Wellbeing: Try to Manage your Anxiety
If you reach the PIP process, your levels of anxiety and stress will likely soar. It is normal to start worrying when you are concerned about losing your job. Anxiety causes ‘brain fog’ and impacts short-term memory, which impacts learning, as do emotions such as anger or frustration.
You will likely be stressed and anxious through the process. The process will make significant demands on your private and family time. Try to break up the worry with activities that help you relax. Make time for these.
Remember that your health and your family matter. If you have a partner, talk to them early on, especially about finances. Partnered or not, seek advice on money from NGOs such as Citizens Advice.
When the Performance Issue is a ‘Capacity’ Issue
Sometimes work ‘capability’ issues are more to do with ‘capacity’.
Some jobs are highly demanding of your time, and your emotional or technical skill sets, and it is possible that you might just have taken too much on. Pressures at home (for example, children, a new baby or divorce) also make demands on your capacity.
It is better to address this through your review meetings with your line manager before it escalates to a PIP.
Keep Work Relationships Positive and Constructive
It is not inevitable that you will be dismissed, but the PIP process may well change how you see your relationship with your current job and your employer. Try to stay adult and not burn bridges with your manager; they usually find the process difficult as well.
You don’t have to work through this on your own
A PIP can feel isolating, especially when it’s hard to speak openly at work. Coaching gives you a confidential space, entirely independent of your employer, to think things through and plan your next step.
When ‘capability’ is a disability or serious health concern
Most employers think very carefully about their employment of individuals with disabilities, as part of their duty of care to employees. However, not every organisation or local manager is so concerned.
Some disabilities are invisible, yet they impact an individual’s ability to perform satisfactorily in a job. Employers are legally required to adjust for such conditions (they will usually need a diagnosis to do so).
Some people have been so shamed about their invisible disabilities that they feel shy about telling their employers. If you are entered into the PIP process, you should tell them.
Know Your Rights
Under the Equality Act 2010, employers must consider reasonable adjustments for disabled employees. This includes conditions you might not immediately think of as a disability, such as dyslexia, ADHD, MS or cancer. Adjustments might include assistive software, changes to deadlines or duties, or a move to a different role. You may be able to get more practical support through the government’s Access to Work scheme.
Performance Improvement Plan Examples from Our Practice
Every PIP is different. These anonymised examples from our practice show some of the situations I see most often.
A community nurse and the adjustments that were not made
A nurse working in the community had a stellar track record until their employer introduced technology that required them to submit written visit reports within 15 minutes (online) of a visit. They were dyslexic. No adjustments were provided (such as voice-to-text software).
Because they could not meet the new requirement, they were highlighted on the report management system and entered into the organisation’s PIP process. They came to us for guidance. It was apparent that the local manager was either unaware of or had ignored the dyslexia. With our support, the nurse used their union to challenge (and win) the PIP process.
Key Takeaway: If a change at work affects you because of a disability, you’re entitled to reasonable adjustments and to challenge a PIP that doesn’t take them into consideration.
An Auditor with MS and a Costly Oversight
An auditor with MS (a progressive chronic disease which, like cancer, is classified as a disability under UK law) was denied adjustments for their role (or transfer to a different role) and was entered into the PIP process. The MS meant that they were not able to complete the audits in the time allowed. The organisation was in breach of the law and paid a very substantial sum to rectify the situation. The auditor moved to a new role elsewhere.
Key Takeaway: Employers who don’t make reasonable adjustments can be in breach of the law. Sometimes, the right outcome is a fresh start with an employer that values you.
Hidden Factions in an Underperforming Team
Training a group of IT staff and managers who were underperforming revealed a mix of issues, including dyslexia and alienation. With a certain amount of ‘rumbling’ from the disaffected, the training was delivered, found useful and accepted by the group and appropriate feedback to the organisation was made.
Key Takeaway: When a whole team is underperforming, the causes are often wider than any one person. If people don’t feel safe to speak openly, those causes can stay hidden, which is why psychological safety in the workplace is so important.
When a PIP is not Really About Performance
We worked one-to-one with an office manager who had fallen out with their line manager, who then placed them on a PIP. It transpired that they were placed on the PIP when an affair with their manager ended. As a result of our work, the organisation was informed; a disciplinary process was then invoked, and the office manager took a different job.
Key Takeaway: A PIP should be about performance. If you believe it is being used for other reasons, it is worth raising this through the proper channels and seeking advice.
Capacity not Capability
The professional’s work had always been excellent, but then suddenly their performance plummeted. Despite being provided with several months of confidential counselling by their employer, they seemed to dive deeper into this decline. When they approached us, their distress was palpable, and their stress levels were really elevated as they tried to address every issue, all at once, by working harder. They later said they had been totally confused by the situation they had found themselves in. Using our systemic approach, where we look at all the issues in an individual’s life, we quickly identified the issue as one of capacity, not capability or motivation. Through a series of supportive sessions, this analysis, and our ongoing emotionally ‘holding’ support, allowed them to understand what was happening and how to move forward. They moved away from their professional training into a new area of opportunity.
Key Takeaway: Sometimes life throws circumstances at individuals that require attention, and their capacity is overwhelmed. Moving forward personally may force a transition if life priorities are to be honoured, which often leads to renewal. You can learn more about burnout recovery here.
Is this the Right Job for You?
Choose Your Battles
The PIP process itself may start you thinking about ‘is this the right job, and/or the right employer for you’?
Don’t ‘fight shy’ of this reflection. It is worth giving this question some honest thought.
Early on in employment, the costs of moving on to a new job are often minimal. The older you are, or the more senior, the costs are higher and the difficulties of moving to a similar role are greater. It might be the right employer but the wrong job, or the wrong employing organisation, or maybe it’s an issue with a local manager.
It’s worth thinking seriously about how much the PIP process is demanding of you, and if the job is worth that investment.
Staying in a job that is making you miserable, might not be a battle worth fighting.
Ann Todd, Founder of The Performance Practice
Predictable ‘Difficulty’ Points
Some organisational changes (such as a new boss, new targets, new owners) may make the workplace very different to the one you joined. As an employee, even a relatively senior one, there is often little you can do to change this new environment. It may be best to move on.
Getting Support During a PIP
In unionised organisations, it is often helpful to take your trade union representative along with you into formal meetings. In addition to seeking coaching support, which helps you clarify and action what you want from the PIP process, you may wish to seek advice from others such as:
Other sources of support include:
- Your trade union representative: advice and support at formal meetings, if you are a member.
- Acas: free, impartial advice on workplace rights, including a helpline.
- Citizens Advice: free advice on employment rights and money worries.
- Access to Work: practical and financial support if a disability or health condition impacts your ability to work.
- An employment lawyer: for personalised advice on your specific situation.
- Your GP: if stress or anxiety is affecting your health
How Independent Coaching Can Help During a PIP
Going through a performance improvement plan can be isolating and can also feel like a ‘verdict’ on you, but it does not have to be. It can be a moment to take stock of your role, your wellbeing and what you want from your working life. Whatever the outcome, you can survive a PIP and come through it with a clearer sense of what comes next.
Depending on your organisation, it can be hard to talk openly at work, and friends and family may not fully understand the pressures you are under.
Independent business coaching services provide you with a safe place to think things through, especially when it is hard to talk openly at work, alongside a coach who can help you feel that there is someone who is on your side, not just your employer’s. Sessions are confidential, with feedback to your organisation only necessary, such as if there has been abuse or law-breaking. And there are no reports back to your organisation.
Together we can:
- Make sense of what’s being asked of you, and plan how to meet it
- Prepare for, rehearse, and review meetings and difficult conversations.
- Find ways of managing anxiety and overwhelm while the process runs.
- Think through whether this job is still right for you and what comes next.
I also work for organisations, delivering training for teams and managers where performance concerns the whole group.