LO6

• performance improvement plan (PIP)



  effective way of giving employees struggling to meet performance standards the opportunity tosucceed, while still holding them accountable for past performance.
• six steps for creating a PIP



  1. Getting Started
  2. Develop an Action Plan
  3. Review the Performance Improvement Plan
  4. Meet With the Employee
  5. Follow Up
  6. PIP Conclusion
• Getting Started


  The first step in a PIP is to document the employee’s current performance and the areas that require improvement
• Develop an Action Plan.


  should contain specific goals, such as “the

  employee should not be late for work once during this 90-day performance

  improvement cycle.”
• Action plans


  are typically 60 or 90 days in duration.
• Review the Performance Improvement Plan.


  Before meeting with the employee, the manager should seek assistance from HR to ensure that the

  plan is clear, specific, unemotional, and attainable within the set timeframe
• Review the Performance Improvement Plan.


  This is an important step in the event that the employee does not meet the performance improvement objectives and may proceed toward termination
• Meet With the Employee


  the manager should clearly lay out the areas for improvement and the action plan.
• Follow Up


  These meetings should discuss any potential roadblocks encountered and required tools or training, and provide the opportunity for the employee to ask questions or to seek

  guidance or clarification.
• PIP Conclusion.


  Following the PIP period, if the employee was able to meet the objectives, then the PIP is closed and the employee continues employment.
• If the employee was unable to improve and meet the objectives in the plan, then the employer should close the PIP and terminate employment.
• If the employee did improve a bit but perhaps did not quite meet performance expectations set out in the PIP, there are several options.


  1. The employer may agree to extend the PIP for another few weeks or months.

  2. the employer may seek to revise the objectives, believing in

  retrospect that the objectives were too challenging or not within the

  employee’s control.

  3. the employer may terminate employment because the

  standards simply were not met.
• performance management process


  also provides insight into effectiveness of HRM​
• If poor performance is widespread, many employees are excluded from promotions and transfers
• Unacceptably high numbers of poor performance may indicate errors in the HRM function​

  • e.g., selection process may be screening candidates poorly; job analysis information may be inaccurate
• performance appraisal form


  is a legal document
• Raters must use only performance criteria that are relevant to the job
• Nonrelevant criteria


  can be avoided if performance standards are established through a thorough job analysis

  and recorded in a job description.
• a legal requirement that a reasonable timeframe be set for performance improvement.
• Well-documented performance shortcomings and use of feedback interviews have been viewed favourably in court and with arbitrators.