Yeah, yeah, I know you are thinking, “What a downer Dave! Can’t you write about something more inspiring like plummeting win rates….?” I don’t know if it’s the time of year, you know a kind of “out with the bad” mindset, or a reflection of something else, but I’ve been involved in a number of discussion about PIPs—Performance Improvement Plans.
Virtually all of us have been exposed to these in some way. We’ve been the subject of PIPs, we’ve inflicted them on our people, or we’ve commiserated with colleagues going through the process. And 99% of the PIP processes I’ve seen have one focus, “Avoid any legal entanglements associated with terminating someone.” The reality is they aren’t performance improvement plans, the outcome is a foregone confusion, the manager and subject of the process are just going through the motions.
But is this the way things should really be? I write extensively about this in Sales Manager Survival Guide, but let me summarize some thoughts.
The first question is, “How did we get here in the first place?” Getting to the point of putting a PIP in place represents failures from everyone involved! It’s not just a failure of the individual, it’s a failure of management. If managers are putting the right people in the right roles, if they are equipping people with the training, tools, processes, programs, they probability of entering a PIP is very low.
But most importantly, if managers are doing their jobs, providing high impact relevant coaching to their people, most of these performance issues can be avoided. But, as the data shows, the total amount of time managers spend coaching, the time they spend with each individual, and their ability to provide high quality coaching is appalling. The absence of coaching sets so many of our people up for failure.
Coaching lower performers is tougher. It’s so much fun coaching the top performers and high-fiving each other on the success. But with lower performers, we have to take the time to understand what’s causing their performance issues. We must have both the patience and diligence to help them improve. But if we don’t, they won’t change—and it’s not their fault! They don’t know what to change or how to change! That’s on managers!
Sometimes, despite our best efforts, things don’t work out. We and the person we are working with have done everything we can to reverse performance. But it doesn’t work out. Are they in the wrong job, can we move them into a job that leverages their capabilities? Alternatively, the people are very likely to recognize they are in the wrong job and will actively look for a different role. People aren’t stupid, why are they going to stay in a role they know they will fail!
But very few managers take the time, invest the effort, or do the high quality coaching to work with these poor performers. They accept the poor performance until they have to do something about it. Maybe they are “lucky” and they can hide behind a layoff. Maybe the person will come to their senses and go someplace else. But too often, managers fail to address performance problems until they are forced to do this.
But, let’s consider the case where, despite everything we’ve done, we reach a point where we and the person want to make a decision. If entering a PIP process, the outcome is a forgone conclusion, why do we want to put the person through it? Why do we want to waste our time, where we’ve already determined the outcome.
What would happen if we had an honest conversation with the person. “We’re about to put you on a PIP, the probability of a successful outcome is very low. Rather than subjecting you to this 90 days of trying to make something work, we will pay you for that time, but let you go and spend your time finding a new job.”
Think of what would change, rather than the manager, individual, and the surrounding team be subjected to the misery of something that has been predetermined, what if we just faced reality? Think of how that person could better use their time in finding the right next opportunity. Think of how the manager could use that time, either in finding a replacement or in other areas.
I’ve directly managed 100s of people in my career. I’ve only had a handful of PIPs. In all but one, the people were deeply appreciative of the offer and accepted it. They took that time and spent it in finding their new role
One didn’t. And I’m actually most proud of that person. He said, “Dave, I’m really committed to being successful! I’d like to go through this process with your support. Are you as committed to my success as I am?”
It wasn’t easy, but we found a few things that improved his performance. He became a good C player. But then he grew, eventually became a solid B player. I don’t know what it was, but somehow he found something in himself, committed to changing and had me commit to supporting him in the change.
PIPs should be rare. When we enter into a PIP it represents a failure of management, not just the individual. And the way most people manage the PIP process is just a waste of time.
Afterword: This is actually one of the better AI generated conversations of my post. It does get a little repetitive at the 6 minute point, so you may want to skip the final couple of minutes. Enjoy!
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