Make The Most Of Your PIP

Performance management is one of the most difficult aspects of a project to get right. Because you are dealing with emotional, unpredictable human beings rather than cold, hard facts and statistics, navigating your way around the insecurities and egos of colleagues can create a lot of unforeseen tension and resentment.

Pull somebody up on their performance and they may accept the feedback professionally and greatly improve in their job as a result. But they may also react defensively, denying there is an issue with their performance and laying the blame for the project's failings at your door. Or, alternatively, the discussion may dent their confidence so badly that they just continue in a downward spiral of underachievement.

Knowing the right way to deal with performance issues is crucial in maximising the success of your project and, whilst it is by no means an exact science, there are steps that you can take to ensure that the outcome is as profitable for all concerned as possible. The key thing to remember is to prepare thoroughly and meticulously and have all the facts and arguments at your disposal before confronting the individual in question.

One of the best methods for doing this is to draw up a Performance Improvement Plan or PIP. The PIP is a document designed to generate a discussion between the employee and their supervisor about the areas in which the employee is underachieving and what measures need to be put in place to improve the employee's performance. The Performance Improvement Plan must be realistic, transparent and recorded with absolute clarity and attention to detail so that there is no room for ambiguity in what is expected of the employee.

The first item to be addressed in the Performance Improvement Plan is to identify the areas of work in which improvement is required and to agree on these with the employee. This is where it is vital to have done your research as you must have precise examples with dates and times to back up your assertions; otherwise the discussion appears at best slapdash and at worst like victimisation.

The next thing to do is to clearly state what is expected of the employee in their current role so that there can be no excuse for the employee to claim that they were unaware of their targets and goals. Hand in hand with this statement goes the provision of help and support to the employee to aid them in their pursuit of improved performance. Remember that poor performance is often a result of inadequate training or miscommunication and that you need to show that you are willing to do your part in making the employee the best that they can be.

The employee also needs to know that this discussion is not merely a one-off and that there will be regular and comprehensive feedback going forward to ensure that both parties are upholding their side of the bargain. Again this needs to be specific with future discussions and meetings pencilled in.

A Performance Improvement Plan would be of little value if there were no consequences for the employee should they consistently continue to underachieve. These consequences should be discussed and recorded soberly whilst resisting the temptation to talk down to or intimidate the employee.

Following these simple procedures should ensure that your PIP is a valuable experience for both parties in improving the performance of members of a team.