How to Put an Employee on a PIP (Fairly)
Putting someone on a performance improvement plan is one of the heaviest things you’ll do as a manager, and most people learn it under pressure, with HR watching and a nervous employee across the table. This guide walks you through how to put an employee on a PIP in a way that’s fair, legally sound, and actually gives them a real shot at turning things around. Do it well and you protect the person, the team, and yourself.
What’s inside
What a PIP is (and what it isn’t)
Before the PIP: the work that should already be done
How to decide a PIP is the right call
Writing goals that are specific and measurable
Setting a fair timeline and check-in rhythm
How to deliver the PIP conversation
Managing the plan without hovering
What happens when the PIP ends
What a PIP is (and what it isn’t)
A performance improvement plan is a formal, documented process that spells out where someone is falling short, what “good” looks like, and how long they have to get there. That’s it. It is not a countdown to firing someone, and it should never be used as paperwork to justify a decision you’ve already made. If you’ve quietly decided the person is gone, a PIP is dishonest and, in many places, legally risky.
Used well, a PIP is a clarity tool. It converts vague frustration (“they’re just not cutting it”) into concrete, observable expectations. Plenty of people come out the other side stronger, because for the first time someone told them plainly what was wrong and what to do about it. Go in genuinely wanting that outcome. If you can’t, pause and figure out why before you formalize anything.
Before the PIP: the work that should already be done
A PIP should never be the first time an employee hears that their performance is a problem. If it is, that’s a management failure, not a performance one. Before you get here, you should have given direct, specific feedback in one-on-ones, named the gap out loud, and given the person a chance to adjust with your support.
Good managers let people struggle a little and learn, rather than either rescuing them or writing them off. There’s a real difference between someone who’s still finding their footing and someone who’s had clear feedback and hasn’t moved. Blomma’s piece on why letting your team fail is part of the job is a useful gut-check here: have you actually created the conditions for this person to succeed, or just expected it? If the honest answer is that expectations were fuzzy and feedback was thin, fix that first. A PIP built on a shaky foundation won’t hold.
How to decide a PIP is the right call
Not every performance issue needs a formal plan. Reach for a PIP when the gap is real, persistent, and hasn’t closed despite direct feedback and support. Ask yourself three things: Is this a pattern, not a one-off bad week? Have I named it clearly already? And is it about capability or behavior, not something outside their control like unclear priorities or a broken process?
If the problem is really that the role changed, the team is under-resourced, or the person never got onboarded properly, a PIP just punishes them for a system failure. Separate the signal from the noise. It’s also worth being honest about whether this is underperformance or a mismatch — someone can be talented and still be in the wrong seat. Managing underperformance formally is appropriate; using formality to avoid an honest conversation about fit is not. Loop in HR early so the process is consistent and documented from the start.
Writing goals that are specific and measurable
This is where most PIPs fall apart. Vague goals like “improve communication” or “be more proactive” are impossible to meet and impossible to assess fairly. Every goal should be observable and tied to evidence. Instead of “improve quality,” write “reduce reported bugs in shipped work to fewer than two per sprint, measured across the next three sprints.”
For each item, spell out four things: the current gap, the specific target, how it will be measured, and what support you’ll provide. That last piece matters — a fair plan names what the company will do too, whether that’s training, closer feedback, or reassigned work to create room to focus. Limit yourself to three or four goals. A plan with ten items is a plan designed to fail. Write it in plain language the employee could read back to you and know exactly what’s expected. If you can’t measure it, you can’t fairly hold them to it.
Setting a fair timeline and check-in rhythm
Most PIPs run 30, 60, or 90 days. Match the length to the goals: a behavioral change might show in 30 days, while rebuilding a technical skill or hitting a sales ramp realistically needs 90. Too short and you’re setting a trap; too long and you’re prolonging stress for everyone. Pick a window where genuine improvement is actually possible.
Then build in regular check-ins — weekly is standard. These aren’t gotcha meetings; they’re where you review progress against each goal, acknowledge what’s improving, and course-correct early. Document each one briefly: what you discussed, what progress you saw, what’s still off track. This protects the employee (no surprises at the end) and protects you (a clear record). The rhythm is the whole point. A PIP you set and ignore until day 89 isn’t a fair process, it’s an ambush.
How to deliver the PIP conversation
Deliver the plan in person, or over video if you’re remote, never by email alone. Be direct and human. Say plainly that the person is being placed on a performance improvement plan, why, and what it means. Avoid softening it into mush — false reassurance now makes the whole thing more confusing and more painful.
Walk through the document together. Cover each goal, the measures, the timeline, and the support you’re offering. Then stop talking and let them respond. Expect emotion; give it room. Some of what they raise may be fair, and you should be willing to adjust genuinely mistaken items. The tone you’re aiming for is serious but not adversarial: this is a real chance, and you want them to take it. Managing people through hard moments is exactly the work that makes good managers worth keeping around. Close by confirming next steps and when you’ll first check in.
Managing the plan without hovering
Once the PIP is live, your job is to coach, not surveil. Standing over someone’s shoulder guarantees the anxiety that makes people perform worse. Give them room to work while staying genuinely available — clear on expectations, generous with feedback, and honest at each check-in about where they stand.
Hold up your end of the plan. If you promised training, a mentor, or lighter load, deliver it. A PIP where the company doesn’t keep its commitments isn’t fair and won’t hold up if it’s ever scrutinized. Keep documenting each check-in factually: progress, misses, and what you discussed. If things are improving, say so clearly and specifically — recognition mid-plan is motivating and honest. If they’re not, don’t let the check-in slide into vague encouragement. The employee deserves to know the truth in time to act on it. Fair management here is mostly consistency: the same clarity, the same support, every single week.
What happens when the PIP ends
There are three honest outcomes. The person meets the goals and comes off the plan — celebrate it and mean it, then keep supporting them so it sticks. They make real progress but aren’t fully there, and the fairest move may be a short, defined extension if genuine improvement is underway. Or they don’t meet the bar, and you move toward separation, cleanly and respectfully, with HR.
Whatever the outcome, no one should be surprised. If your weekly check-ins were honest, the ending simply confirms what both of you already knew. That’s the mark of a fair PIP process: the result was earned through the plan, not decided before it. And if it does end in exit, handle it with dignity — how you treat someone on the way out is watched closely by everyone who stays. For the employee who turns it around, this can become a real growth chapter, especially if you keep making room for their development afterward.
How Blomma helps managers run a fair PIP
Most managers write their first PIP alone, at night, hoping they’re doing it right. Blomma is an always-on AI career coach you can think out loud with — to pressure-test whether a PIP is even the right call, draft goals that are specific and measurable instead of vague, and rehearse the conversation so you deliver it with clarity and care. It’s private, it’s judgment-free, and it’s there at 11pm when the plan is due tomorrow. If you’d rather not manage one of the hardest parts of the job by guesswork, see how Blomma coaching works.
Draft a fair PIP with Blomma free →
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