2 min read

What's Up With Performance Improvement Plans? 5 | 20

Brandi Neal Sep 27, 2023 12:01:31 AM

What's Up With Performance Improvement Plans? 5 | 20

Table of Contents

On this episode of the Radical Candor podcast, Amy and Kim talk about performance improvement plans (PIPs). When used correctly, performance improvement plans can be valuable if there is a commitment to help the employee improve. However, PIPs are often weaponized by frustrated managers who want to get rid of an employee who is struggling. Listen to find out how to tell the difference.

Listen to the episode:

Radical Candor Podcast Episode At a Glance: What's Up With Performance Improvement Plans?

performance improvement plans (PIP)

It is a manager’s job to both help each person on their team develop and grow in their career, and also to manage the performance of each person. 

Performance development is often informal, forward-looking, and tied to an intrinsic desire on both the part of the boss and employee to improve, grow, and succeed. Sometimes however, despite regular performance development conversations, someone might be struggling in their role. When this happens, a manager might implement a performance improvement plan as part of the performance management process.

According to SHRM, “A performance improvement plan (PIP), also known as a performance action plan, is a tool used to give an employee with performance deficiencies the opportunity to succeed. It is used to address failures to meet specific job goals or behavior-related concerns.”

While there are leaders who use PIPs correctly, others use them as a path to your being fired.

Radical Candor Podcast Checklist: What's Up With Performance Improvement Plans?

Nervous Laughter

  1. Balancing the intrinsic desire to improve and grow and the extrinsic desire for rewards like bonuses, equity, and promotion is one of the most challenging things about being a manager. Performance management is different than performance development yet they are often conflated (conversation vs. consequences). If a company is actively committed to performance development, there shouldn’t be any surprises when performance review time rolls around and a PIP should not be the first time anyone gets any guidance about underperforming.
  2. If you’re a manager and it’s your first time writing a PIP, ask someone from HR or someone who has written one before to help you. It’s important to make sure the metrics for success are neither too easy nor unattainable. It should be written in a way that gives them an opportunity to fix the problem in a timebound and specific way.
  3. Your job as a manager is to help people to do great work. The problem might be that this person is in the wrong job and their skills could be better used in a different role. This means being interested in each individual who works for you as a human being — this relationship is the true gift of being a manager.

Radical Candor Podcast Resources: What's Up With Performance Improvement Plans?

 

@hrbriap Ever been put on a PIP? Its so important to understand what this means for you and your job! #PerformanceImprovementPlan #PIP #performance #performancemanagement #performancereview #workperformance ♬ original sound - HRBriaP | Career+HR Consultant

 

 
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Episodes are written and produced by Brandi Neal with script editing by Amy Sandler. The show features Radical Candor co-founders Kim Scott and Jason Rosoff and is hosted by Amy Sandler. Nick Carissimi is our audio engineer.

The Radical Candor Podcast theme music was composed by Cliff Goldmacher. Order his book: The Reason For The Rhymes: Mastering the Seven Essential Skills of Innovation by Learning to Write Songs.

 
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Key Questions Covered

What is a performance improvement plan (PIP) and when should it be used?

A performance improvement plan (PIP), also known as a performance action plan, is a formal tool used to give an employee with performance deficiencies the opportunity to succeed. It addresses failures to meet specific job goals or behavior-related concerns. A PIP should only be used after regular performance development conversations have already taken place — it should never be the first time an employee hears they're underperforming. When used correctly, a PIP is a genuine commitment to helping someone improve, not a step toward firing them.

What is the difference between performance development and performance management?

Performance development is typically informal, forward-looking, and driven by a shared desire on the part of both manager and employee to grow and succeed. Performance management, on the other hand, involves more formal processes with consequences — like PIPs or performance reviews. The two are often conflated, but they shouldn't be. If a company is genuinely committed to ongoing performance development, there should be no surprises when review time comes around, and a PIP should feel like a natural next step — not a shock.

How can you tell if a PIP is being used in good faith or as a way to push someone out?

A good-faith PIP is specific, time-bound, and sets metrics that are neither too easy nor unattainable — it gives the employee a real opportunity to fix the problem. A weaponized PIP, by contrast, is used by frustrated managers who have already decided they want to let someone go and are using the PIP as procedural cover. Key red flags include vague or impossible success criteria, no prior feedback, and a lack of genuine support from the manager or HR during the improvement period.

What should a manager do before writing their first PIP?

If you're writing a PIP for the first time, ask someone from HR or a manager who has written one before to help you. It's critical to get the success metrics right — they should be clear, specific, and achievable within a defined timeframe. The goal is to give the employee a genuine path to improvement, not to set them up to fail. Treating the process with care reflects the Radical Candor principle of caring personally while challenging directly.

What if the real problem is that the employee is in the wrong role?

Sometimes an employee is struggling not because they lack ability, but because they're in the wrong job. As a manager, part of your responsibility is to consider whether someone's skills might be better used in a different role. This requires genuine curiosity about each person as an individual — their strengths, motivations, and career goals. Recognizing a role mismatch and helping someone find a better fit is an act of Radical Candor, not a failure of management.

Should employees be surprised when they receive a PIP?

No — and if they are, that's a sign the performance development process broke down somewhere. A well-functioning team has ongoing, honest conversations about performance, so by the time a formal PIP is introduced, the employee already understands the concerns and expectations. The Radical Candor framework emphasizes giving real-time, specific feedback so that no one is blindsided during a formal review or improvement plan process.

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