How to Create a Performance Improvement Plan

Creating a performance improvement plan is important when you rely on a PMS platform. One of the main reasons for using a PMS platform is to gauge the performance of your team members to improve areas that may be lacking. The eLeaP People Success Platform, which features a continuous performance management system, provides organizations with powerful options to attract and retain high-caliber team members.

However, if you don’t have an efficient plan for crafting an improvement program, everything may be done for no reason. Luckily, creating an efficient performance improvement plan isn’t as difficult as you think.

If you’ve been using a PMS platform and have enough data centered around the right metrics to begin performance improvement but are having hang-ups, this article is for you. These are the best ways to create a performance improvement plan.

A performance improvement plan should be centered around some type of timeline, regardless of how you set it up. This gives team members a window of time and incentive to make the corrections to their work habits.

One of the first steps to creating a performance improvement plan is to craft a framework. The framework should be set up similarly to the following points.

Goals

Outline the end goals of the performance improvement plan. What is the desired outcome after everything is said and done?

Action

The action portion is a brief statement explaining the employee’s roadmap to achieve the goals. What steps will be taken to arrive at a successful ending?

Metrics

This is how the employee will be measured by management and human resources to determine whether the goal was met. How will you determine what success looks like? The metric portion of the framework will outline this information.

Now that you have the framework in place, you need to learn how to implement the improvement plan.

Executing the Plan

Whenever you plan on executing a performance improvement program with an employee, there should be careful planning leading up to this event. It’s important to give employees plenty of time to prepare for this, and plenty of information regarding the process should be available.

It’s good practice to hold a meeting with a team member well before deploying the improvement plan. This gives them time to digest everything and become more comfortable with what’s coming. Explain to them that this is an opportunity for improvement and not a punishment.

Bring together team leaders, the team member, and yourself as management to discuss the entire situation. This will give everyone a chance to provide valuable input regarding the situation.

This meeting gives you a chance to convey to the team member that this is for their benefit and long-term well-being within the company. Explain to them that if they don’t thrive, it’s impossible for the company to thrive.

Support

The next element you want to consider is support. Consider the following elements:

• The team member going through the improvement plan now has the improvement plan to juggle and their normal workload. This can become incredibly stressful, and they may have reservations about their ability to manage everything.
• Explain to the team member that they have multiple support options during the improvement plan.
• It’s important to make sure they don’t become too overwhelmed, otherwise, the whole meaning of the improvement plan becomes lost in the stress.

You should encourage check-ins with the team member by other team leaders and peers. These check-ins should be conducted on a daily basis in order to ensure that the team member is managing everything efficiently.

It’s important that the employee is able to speak candidly regarding their feelings on the entire process. Once everything begins, it’s important that you get their feedback on the improvement plan.

If you feel like the team member is having a difficult time halfway through the process, you need to reassure them. Convey the message that they won’t be terminated if their goals aren’t met. In the event they fall short, it just means you have to go back to the drawing board.

Alternatively, if they are doing a top-notch job throughout the improvement plan, don’t forget to praise them. Keep them in high spirits and let them know you’re proud of the changes they’re making.

Ending and Analysis

In the end, a proper analysis needs to be done about the entire process. The metrics you set up in the beginning, will judge whether or not the team member was successful.

If they indeed were successful, go over the areas where they thrived the most. Give them plenty of praise and let them know that they did a great job and that you’re excited about the future because of the improvements they made.

However, if they were not successful, you shouldn’t come down hard on them. Assure them that their job is not in jeopardy, and study the metrics with them together. Analyze the areas that were difficult, and have a meeting with them and other team leaders to uncover important information.

Ask them where the most significant areas of difficulty were. Most likely, they will have input regarding areas where they experienced the most difficulty. After the meeting, hold another session with just yourself, team leaders, and HR.

Craft a plan that entails a better way to give the team members the best chance for success. Maybe it’s a scenario in which they would do better in a different department. Whatever the case is after the decision is made with the HR department and team leaders, go back to the team member and explain what the next course of action is.

Takeaways

Improvement plans are vital with any PMS platform. Approaching them and creating them in the proper manner is vital to manifest the highest level of improvement. In the end, this gives team members and your organization the best chance to thrive together.

It’s important to keep your team members in the loop throughout the entire process. When employees are left in the dark regarding important issues regarding advancement and job performance, they sometimes feel threatened, and this can cause anxiety. Reassure them that they’re not being punished, and be transparent. This is the best way to keep a good relationship with management and team members to promote a positive environment.