Performance Improvement Plans, Good or Bad?

What started in one of our recent Pabasso - Peer Advisory Board Associates group meetings as a question of how to get the most benefit from Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs), rapidly expanded into a debate about the current validity of PIPs.

PIPs were conceived as a well-intended management tool to help procrastinating underperformers improve.

Simultaneously, making it clear to them that if they do not improve, they may not have a future with the business, in essence, a component in a disciplinary process that could lead to dismissal.

Unfortunately, it would now appear that PIPs are rarely perceived (by the recipients) as a performance improvement tool.  Their mixed-use by employers for many years now means the majority of recipients view them as a flag to pursue their careers elsewhere - before they are terminated.

Having started to research this subject it has become apparent that PIP success rates - success being defined as an employees improvement leading to retention,  can be as low as 10% with the best case scenarios being 50%.

One could then assume that when someone is put on a PIP they have (at best) a 50% chance of staying in their job!

So that begs the question, have PIPs become outdated as a way to improve performance and are they now just seen as a way to exit persistent underperformers?

It would appear now that when someone is put on a PIP there is an assumption that they are being managed out of the business.

So what are the options?

Firstly a PIP should be the final, not the first attempt to try and get underperformers to deliver. It’s important to make it clear to them in their regular 121s that if they do not start to improve, the next stage will be a PIP.

Secondly, consider how else you can position this without using the dreaded PIP terminology. In my research into the success (or otherwise) of PIPs, I came across the term Personal Development Plan (PDP). I wonder if this could be a better way to describe the process?

All ideas are welcome.

We currently have a vacancy in one of our Yorkshire-based Pabasso – Peer Advisory Board Associates boards so if you would like to know more about how we at Pabasso – Peer Advisory Board Associates help leaders of established businesses progress through shared experiences, expertise, and support, please do not hesitate to get in touch at info@pabasso.com

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