When you’re having trouble with an employee, it’s a challenge to figure out how to address their behavior in a way that is productive and that leads to real, sustained change. The two most commonly used paths for employers are corrective actions and performance improvement plans. But neither is automatically successful! The effectiveness of a corrective action or performance improvement plan varies depending on how and why it’s being implemented.
I spoke with Lacey Partipilo, Xenium’s Director of HR and Client Success, about the difference between corrective actions and performance improvement plans, how to implement them, and how to support the employees who need them.
Corrective actions are for workplace policy violations.
Some people call these write-ups or written warnings, but “corrective action,” as Partipilo said, “speaks to the fact that we are trying to correct behavior,” not just report it.
Corrective action is most useful when an employee has violated a specific policy. Maybe the employee is having attendance issues, like routinely showing up late or leaving early. Perhaps they are not following safety protocols.
Partipilo suggested creating a template to use for all corrective actions. This form should have a space to note specifics regarding what is being reported, like dates the violations occurred and witnesses to the incidences. “For example, if an employee is using profanity at work, we would include who witnessed it, when it happened, and what the employee said in the ‘incident’ portion of the form,” she said.
“Be honest with the employee about where they are as far as performance goes.”
– Lacey Partipilo
The form should also state consequences for violating the policy. These will vary in severity depending on whether or not the employee has been warned in the past. If you have determined the employee will be terminated after their next violation of the policy—like, for example, the next time they are late for work—that should be noted on the corrective action form so the employee knows what to expect.
“Be honest with the employee about where they are as far as performance goes. If their job really is on the line, be clear that if you don’t see immediate improvement, if they violate the policy again, they may not have a job with the company anymore,” Partipilo said.
Most importantly, the corrective action should include a clear redefinition of your expectations. If needed, you can also provide resources the employee may access to get help making those improvements. In some cases, it may be best to ask the employee to establish their own plan.
“If we are feeling like there’s a lack of commitment on the employee’s part,” Partipilo said, “that we’ve been having these conversations over and over asking, ‘Why can’t you get to work on time? What’s holding you back?’ then we may ask them to write their own comments and commitment to improving their performance.”
Finally, the form should be signed by the employee to show they acknowledge the consequences and are aware of the need to change their behavior. “There’s usually some language in the signature section that talks about the fact that the employment is still at will,” Partipilo said. “It doesn’t change the fact that the company may choose to terminate at any time. Signing the form just reaffirms that type of relationship.”
Performance improvement plans are for addressing lackluster performance and murkier workplace behavior issues.
When you can’t pinpoint an employee’s behavior to violation of a specific policy, or an employee is violating multiple policies, it’s usually time to implement a more robust performance improvement plan, or PIP. Partipilo said PIPs are similar to corrective actions in that they should be used to highlight areas for growth, not just to report errors. But unlike corrective actions, PIPs require detailed paths to progress.
Maybe an employee needs help in managing their communication with coworkers and customers. In that case, Partipilo said, the best course of action would be to cite specific examples of the employee’s inappropriate emails or phone calls along with explanations of why they were not in line with the company’s mission or values. Perhaps the employee is also part of the sales team, and they aren’t hitting their numbers. And maybe on top of all this, they also arrive at the office late and leave early. All these areas of improvement would be listed on a PIP along with all support that is available to the employee, your expectations for that employee, and a detailed plan for achieving those expectations.
“A really well-written performance improvement plan includes an objective, measurable tasks for the employee to accomplish,” Partipilo said. Those tasks might include completing a certain number of sales calls per week, or receiving no customer complaints over the next 90 days.
Unlike corrective actions, PIPs include regular check-ins with the employee to ensure they’re staying on track. “PIPs require a little bit more work on the manager or supervisor side,” Partipilo said. “There are scheduled weekly, maybe even bi-weekly meetings with the employee. There’s a designated timeframe for the plan with clear-cut goals that the person needs to accomplish during each set time period. That way, we have a clear picture of whether this person is going to be able to meet their goals and then be able to sustain this changed behavior.”
“A performance improvement plan can be extended, too,” she added. “It’s not like at 90 days, if the employee has missed some goals, we are at a place where we have to terminate.”
Partipilo said any time a long-tenured employee is having performance problems, managers need to evaluate how they have fallen behind in their supervisory duties. “When we get into these performance improvement plan conversations,” she said, “I can tell pretty quickly that the manager has not been giving direct feedback when the employee is surprised by the report. If we are giving our employees ongoing, constructive, direct, authentic feedback, nothing should be a surprise.”
“Our job as managers and supervisors is to help our employees thrive and feel fulfilled in the work they do, and sometimes that means having these difficult conversations to improve performance. The goal is for our employees to be successful.”
-Lacey Partipilo
Like corrective actions, PIPs should be signed by the employee and their manager, and ideally an additional witness. This shows you have given the employee the structure they need to be successful, and that now it’s on them to follow the plan and improve performance or not.
Partipilo said that while corrective actions and PIPs are invaluable for addressing acute problems, it’s crucial that managers and supervisors be objective and communicate about performance for an employee’s entire time spent with the company.
“Our job as managers and supervisors is to help our employees thrive and feel fulfilled in the work they do, and sometimes that means having these difficult conversations to improve performance. The goal is for our employees to be successful.”