What is the purpose of a performance improvement plan?

Answer from Emily, PHR:

Ideally, a performance improvement plan helps employees meet performance expectations and avoid termination, but it also helps employers reduce the risk of a termination if that becomes necessary.

In general, a performance improvement plan specifies your expectations for employee performance, defines what success looks like going forward, sets regular meetings with the employee to discuss their progress, and explains the consequences for failing to make and sustain performance improvements as outlined in the plan.

If you follow a performance improvement plan and the employee’s performance does not improve, you then have documentation showing that the employee was made aware of their poor performance, given a chance to improve, failed to do so, and understood the consequences.