5 Steps to Create an Outstanding Marketing Plan

Written by Rebecca Riserbato @BeccaRiserbato

Do you take a good, hard look at your team's marketing strategy every year?

You should. Without an annual marketing plan, things can get messy — and it's nearly impossible to put a number on the budget you'll need to secure for the projects, hiring, and outsourcing you'll encounter over the course of a year if you don't have a plan.

To make your plan's creation easier, we've put together a list of what to include in your plan and a few different planning templates where you can easily fill in the blanks.

To start, let's dive into how to create a marketing plan and then take a look at what a high-level marketing plan has inside.

Marketing Plan Outline

Marketing plans can get quite granular to reflect the industry you're in, whether you're selling to consumers (B2C) or other businesses (B2B), and how big your digital presence is. Nonetheless, here are the elements every effective marketing plan includes:

1. Business Summary

In a marketing plan, your Business Summary is exactly what it sounds like: a summary of the organization. This includes:

• The company name
• Where it's headquartered
• Its mission statement

2. Business Initiatives

The Business Initiatives element of a marketing plan helps you segment the various goals of your department. Be careful not to include big-picture company initiatives, which you'd normally find in a business plan. This section of your marketing plan should outline the projects that are specific to marketing. You'll also describe the goals of those projects and how those goals will be measured.

3. Customer Analysis

Here's where you'll conduct some basic market research. If your company has already done a thorough market research study, this section of your marketing plan might be easier to put together.

Ultimately, this element of your marketing plan will help you describe the industry you're selling to and your buyer persona. A buyer persona is a semi-fictional description of your ideal customer, focusing on traits like:

• Age
• Location
• Title
• Goals
• Personal challenges
• Pains
• Triggering events

4. Competitor Analysis

Your buyer persona has choices when it comes to solving their problems, choices in both the types of solutions they consider and the providers that can administer those solutions. In your market research, you should consider your competition, what they do well, and where the gaps are that you can potentially fill. This can include:

• Positioning
• Market share
• Offerings
• Pricing

5. SWOT Analysis

Your marketing plan's Business Summary also includes a SWOT analysis, which stands for the business's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Be patient with your business's SWOT analysis; you'll write most of it based on your market research from the sections above and your strategy below.

6. Market Strategy

Your Market Strategy uses the information included in the above sections to describe how your company should approach the market. What will your business offer your buyer personas that your competitors aren't already offering them?

In a full-length marketing plan, this section can contain the "seven Ps of marketing":

• Product
• Price
• Place
• Promotion
• People
• Process
• Physical Evidence

(You'll learn more about these seven sub-components inside our free marketing plan template, which you can download below.)

7. Budget

Don't mistake the Budget element of your marketing plan with your product's price or other company financials. Your budget describes how much money the business has allotted the marketing team to pursue the initiatives and goals outlined in the elements above.

Depending on how many individual expenses you have, you should consider itemizing this budget by what specifically you'll spend your budget on. Example marketing expenses include:

• Outsourcing costs to a marketing agency and/or other providers
• Marketing software
• Paid promotions
• Events (those you'll host and/or attend)

8. Marketing Channels

Lastly, your marketing plan will include a list of your marketing channels. While your company might promote the product itself using certain ad space, your marketing channels are where you'll publish the content that educates your buyers, generates leads, and spreads awareness of your brand.

If you publish (or intend to publish) on social media, this is the place to talk about it. Use the Marketing Channels section of your marketing plan to map out which social networks you want to launch a business page on, what you'll use this social network for, and how you'll measure your success on this network. Part of this section's purpose is to prove to your superiors, both inside and outside the marketing department, that these channels will serve to grow the business.

Businesses with extensive social media presences might even consider elaborating on their social strategy in a separate social media plan template.

9. Financial Projections

Knowing the budget and doing analysis on the marketing channels you want to invest in, you should be able to come up with a plan for how much budget to invest in which tactics based on expected ROI. From there, you'll be able to come up with financial projections for the year. These won't be 100% accurate but can help with executive planning.

How to Create a Marketing Plan

1. Conduct a situation analysis.
2. Define your target audience.
3. Write SMART goals.
4. Analyze your tactics.
5. Set your budget.

1. Conduct a situation analysis.

Before you can get started with your marketing plan, you have to know your current situation.

What are your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats? Conducting a basic SWOT analysis is the first step to creating a marketing plan.

Additionally, you should also have an understanding of the current market. How do you compare to your competitors? Doing a competitor analysis should help you with this step.

Think about how other products are better than yours. Plus, consider the gaps in a competitor's approach. What are they missing? What can you offer that'll give you a competitive advantage? Think about what sets you apart.

Answering questions like this should help you figure out what your customer wants, which brings us to step number two.

2. Define your target audience.

Once you better understand the market and your company's situation, make sure you know who your target audience is.

If your company already has buyer personas, this step might just mean you have to refine your current personas.

If you don't have a buyer persona, you should create one. To do this, you might have to conduct market research.

Your buyer persona should include demographic information such as age, gender, and income. However, it will also include psychographic information such as pain points and goals. What drives your audience? What problems do they have that your product or service can fix?

Once you have this information written out, it'll help you define your goals, which brings us to step number three.

3. Write SMART goals.

My mother always used to tell me, "You can't go somewhere unless you have a road map." Now, for me, someone who's geographically challenged, that was literal advice.

However, it can also be applied metaphorically to marketing. You can't improve your ROI unless you know what your goals are.

After you've figured out your current situation and know your audience, you can begin to define your SMART goals.

SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. This means that all your goals should be specific and include a time frame for which you want to complete them.

For example, your goal could be to increase your Instagram followers by 15% in three months. Depending on your overall marketing goals, this should be relevant and attainable. Additionally, this goal is specific, measurable, and time-bound.

Before you start any tactic, you should write out your goals. Then, you can begin to analyze which tactics will help you achieve that goal. That brings us to step number four.

4. Analyze your tactics.

At this point, you've written down your goals based on your target audience and current situation.

Now, you have to figure out what tactics will help you achieve your goals. Plus, what are the right channels and action items to focus on?

For example, if your goal is to increase your Instagram followers by 15% in three months, your tactics might include hosting a giveaway, responding to every comment, and posting three times on Instagram per week.

Once you know your goals, brainstorming several tactics to achieve those goals should be easy.

However, while writing your tactics, you have to keep your budget in mind, which brings us to step number five.

5. Set your budget.

Before you can begin implementing any of the ideas that you've come up with in the steps above, you have to know your budget.

For example, your tactics might include social media advertising. However, if you don't have the budget for that, then you might not be able to achieve your goals.

While you're writing out your tactics, be sure to note an estimated budget. You can include the time it'll take to complete each tactic in addition to the assets you might need to purchase, such as ad space.

Now that you know how to create your marketing plan, let's dive into creating a marketing campaign outline that will help you reach the goals outlined plan.

Marketing Plan Timeline

Rolling out a new marketing plan is a big lift. To make sure things are running smoothly with all of your projects, you’ll want to create a timeline that maps out when each project is happening.

A marketing plan timeline allows your team to view all projects, campaigns, events, and other related tasks in one place — along with their deadlines. This ensures everyone on your team knows what’s due, when it’s due, and what’s up next in the pipeline. Typically these plans cover marketing efforts for the entire year, but some companies may operate on a bi-annual or quarterly basis.

Once you’ve completed your analysis, research, and set goals, it’s time to set deadlines for your assignments. From new blog posts and content initiatives to product launches, everything will need a deadline. Take into account any holidays or events taking place over the course of the year.

While setting deadlines for the entire year may seem daunting, start by estimating how long you think each task will take and set a deadline accordingly. Track the time it actually takes for you to complete similar types of projects. Once you’ve completed a few of them, you’ll have a better idea of how long each takes and will be able to set more accurate deadlines.

For each project, you’ll want to build in time for:

• Brainstorming: This is the first phase where your idea comes to life in a project outline. Decide what you want to achieve and which stakeholders need to be involved to meet your goal. Set a due date and set up any necessary meetings.
• Planning: This can include determining the project’s scope, figuring out how much budget will be allocated for it, finalizing deadlines and who is working on each task. Map out any campaigns needed for each project (social media, PR, sales promotions, landing pages, events, etc.).
• Execution: This third phase is all about your project launch. Decide on a date to launch and monitor the progress of the project. Set up a system for tracking metrics and KPIs.
• Analysis: In this final phase you will analyze all of your performance data to see whether or not your marketing efforts paid off. Did you meet your goals? Did you complete your projects on time and within budget?

All projects and their deadlines should be in a central location where your team can access them whether that’s a calendar like HubSpot's tool, shared document, or project management tool.

One-Page Marketing Plan Template

As demonstrated above, a marketing plan can be a long document. When you want to share information with stakeholders or simply want an overview of your plan for quick reference, having a shorter version on hand can be helpful. A one-page marketing plan can be the solution, and we’ll discuss its elements below.

1. Business Summary

Include your company name, list the names of individuals responsible for enacting the different stages of your plan, and a brief mission statement.

Example

2. Business Initiatives

Include your company name, list the names of individuals responsible for enacting the different stages of your plan, and a brief mission statement.

Example

3. Target Market

Outline your target audience(s) that your efforts will reach. You can include a brief overview of your industry and buyer personas.

Example

4. Budget

This is an overview of the money you’ll spend to help you meet your marketing goals. Create a good estimate of how much you'll spend on each facet of your marketing program.

Example

5. Marketing Channels

List the channels you’ll use to achieve your marketing goals. Describe why you're using each channel and what you want to accomplish so everyone is on the same page.

Example

Marketing Campaign Template

Your marketing plan is a high-level view of the different marketing strategies you’ll use to meet your business objectives. A marketing campaign template is a focused plan that will help achieve those marketing goals.

A marketing campaign template should include the following key components:

• Goals and KPIs: Identify the end goal for each of the individual campaigns you’ll run and the metrics you will use to measure the results of your campaign when it ends. For example, conversion rates, sales, sign-ups, etc.
• Channels: Identify the different channels you’ll use to enact your marketing campaign to reach your audience. Maybe you run a social media campaign on Twitter to raise brand awareness or a direct mail campaign to notify your audience of upcoming sales.
• Budget: Identify the budget you’ll need to run your campaign and how it will be distributed, like the amount you’ll spend on creating content or ad placements in different areas. Having these numbers also helps you later on when you quantify the success of your campaign, like ROI.
• Content: Identify the type of content you’ll create and distribute during your campaigns—for example, blog posts, video ads, email newsletters, etc.
• Teams and DRIs: Identify the teams and people that will be part of enacting your marketing plan from start to finish, like those responsible for creating your marketing assets, budgets, or analyzing metrics once campaigns are complete.
• Design: Identify what your marketing campaigns will look like and how you’ll use design elements to attract your audience. It’s important to note that your design should directly relate to the purpose of your campaign.

Digital Marketing Plan Template

A digital marketing plan is similar to a marketing campaign plan, but, as the name suggests, it’s tailored to the campaigns that you run online. Let’s go over the key components of a digital marketing plan template to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

• Objectives: The goals for your digital marketing and what you’re hoping to accomplish, like driving more traffic to your website. Maybe you want to drive more traffic to your website, or
• Budget: Identify how much it will cost to run your digital marketing campaign and how the money will be distributed. For example, ad placement on different social media sites costs money, and so does creating your assets.
• Target audience: Which segments of your audience are you hoping to reach with this campaign? It’s essential to identify the audiences you want to reach with your digital marketing, as different channels house different audience segments.
• Channels: Identifies the channels that are central to your digital marketing campaign.
• Timeline: Explains the length of time your digital campaigns will run, from how long it should take to create your assets to the final day of the campaign.

Many people use social media in their digital campaigns, and below we’ll discuss some ideas you can use for inspiration.

Social Media Marketing Plan Templates

As marketing departments grow, so will their presence on social media. And as their social media presence grows, so will their need to measure, plan, and re-plan what types of content they want to publish across each network.

If you're looking for a way to deepen your social media marketing strategy — even further than the marketing plan template above — the following collection of social media marketing plan templates is perfect for you:

Download 10 social media reporting templates here.

In the above collection of marketing plan templates, you'll get to fill in the following contents (and more) to suit your company:

• Annual social media budget tracking
• Weekly social media themes
• Required social media image dimension key
• Pie chart on social media traffic sorted by platform
• Social media post calendar and publish time

Below, let's review the social media reporting templates, and what you'll find in each one.

1. Social Media Questions

This template lists out questions to help you decide which social media management platform you should use.

Once you know what social media tactics you're going to implement in your marketing plan, it's time to figure out what channels are right for you. This template will help you do that.

2. Facebook Live Schedule

If Facebook Live is one of the marketing tactics in your plan, this template will help you design an editorial calendar. With this template, you can organize what Facebook live's you want to do and when.

Once you've decided on dates, you can color code your FB calendar and coordinate with your editorial calendar so everyone can see what lives are running in relation to other campaigns.

3. Instagram Post Log

Are you going to begin using Instagram regularly? Do you want to increase your following? With this template, you can organize your Instagram posts, so everyone on your team knows what posts are going live and when.

Additionally, you can organize your assets and campaigns on this doc. Use this doc to collaborate with your team on messaging, landing pages linked in your bio, and campaign rollout.

4. Paid Social Media Template

With this template, you can organize your annual and monthly budget for your paid social media calendar.

You'll want to use this in conjunction with your marketing plan budget to make sure you are not overspending and funds are allocated appropriately.

5. Social Media Audit

Conducting a social media audit? You can use this template to help you gather the right analytics. Tracking the results of your marketing efforts is key to determining ROI.

Use this template to track each of your campaigns to determine what worked and what didn't. From there, you can allocate funds for the strategies that deliver the results you want.

6. Social Media Editorial Calendar

With this template, you can organize your social media editorial calendar. For example, you can include social media posts for each platform, so your team knows what's going live on any given day.

7. Social Media Image Sizes

With this template, your team can have the latest social media image sizes handy. This template includes image sizes for all major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Having a resource like this readily available for your team ensures that everyone is on the same page regarding image sizes and prevents delays.

8. Social Media Marketing Proposal

With this template, you can create an entire social media marketing proposal. This will outline the social media goals, the scope of the work, and the tactics that you plan to implement.

Think of this proposal as more of a deep dive into the marketing channel section of your marketing plan.

9. Social Media Reporting Template

With this template, you'll gain access to a slide deck that includes templates for social media reporting. If you plan to implement social media in your marketing plan, these reporting templates can help you track your progress.

If using the social media audit above, you can add all of your data here once it's been collected.

10. Hashtag Holidays

If you're going to lean into social media in your marketing plan, you can use hashtag holidays to generate ideas.

These holidays are a great way to fill out your social media publishing schedule. With this template, you'll get a list of all the hashtag holidays for the year.

Once you've come up with content ideas, you can add them to your social media calendar.

Simple Marketing Plan Template

Of course, this type of planning takes a lot of time and effort. So if you're strapped for time before the holidays, give our new Marketing Plan Generator a try.

This tool simplifies yearly planning by asking prompted questions to help guide your process. You’ll be asked to input information about:

Try our free Marketing Plan Generator here.

• Your annual marketing mission statement, which is what your marketing is focused on for the year.
• The strategy that you’ll take with your marketing throughout the year to accomplish your marketing goals.
• Three main marketing initiatives that you’ll focus on during the year (i.e., brand awareness or building a high-quality pipeline) metrics you’ll use to measure your success.
• Your target goals for those marketing initiatives like generating 100 leads per week.
• Marketing initiatives that are not aligned with your current strategy to stay focused on your goals and activities that will help you be successful.

Once you input all information, the tool will spit out a table (as shown in the image below) that you can use to guide your processes.

Pro Tip: If the tool doesn't work, clear your browser's cache or access it in incognito mode.

Start the Marketing Planning Process Today

The best way to set up your marketing plan for the year is to start with quick wins first, that way you can ramp up fast and set yourself (and your team) up to hit more challenging goals and take on more sophisticated projects by Q4. So, what do you say? Are you ready to give it a spin?

https://bit.ly/3a1bO2F

Performance Improvement Plan

 

What is a Performance improvement plan?

A performance improvement plan is a document that lists where an employee is falling short and what he can do to improve.

For instance, the performance action plan may detail skills or training the employee lacks. Alternatively, it could specify how the employee needs to change his behavior. In either case, the PIP will clearly state the steps the employee needs to take to make the necessary improvements.

An employee performance improvement plan is written by the worker’s manager and submitted to HR. It has a deadline for meeting the named objectives — usually 30, 60, or 90 days. It also states the consequences should the employee’s performance continue to fall short.

In other words, there is no clear cut answer to “What is a performance improvement plan?” Rather, a PIP is flexible enough to suit any issue. It can also be any length — all this depends on the number of objectives the employee needs to meet to perform to the desired standard.

---

The purpose and benefits of a performance improvement plan

Why do employers use performance improvements plans to resolve issues leading to poor performance when they could simply fire the employee? There are actually several benefits to using PIPs.

1. Better company culture

Using PIPs promotes a sense of accountability. Employees know that they must meet expectations or face disciplinary action.

This contributes to positive work culture. Hard-working employees feel appreciated, as they know that everyone must pull their weight.

Employees who are struggling know that managers will support them if they fall behind, by providing them with actionable objectives. Everyone better understands what is expected of them.

Bear in mind that you can use performance improvement plans for more than just problematic employees. A performance improvement plan is also appropriate for workers who want to move up in the company (but are unsure how to do so) as well as for employees who would be a better fit for a different position — i.e. they would like to move laterally.

In other words, PIPs help workers feel valued in the company, as they know their employer will support them to reach their long-term career goals. At the same time, performance action plans allow companies to improve their workforce with better-motivated employees.

2. Save time and money

Every employer wants to minimize staff turnover, as this saves time and money.

Helping current employees improve their performance eliminates the expenses associated with firing workers and searching for applicants to fill positions.

It also prevents the need to hold interviews and schedule training for new hires. Although the employee receiving a PIP may need training, it will still be less training than what a new worker would require.

3. More effective than reviews

Reviews rarely have consequences. Plus, some people react poorly to criticism, even when it is constructive feedback.

To make matters worse, most people believe that feedback is inaccurate. These factors combined mean that employees often dismiss reviews and continue performing exactly the same as before.

In contrast, PIPs provide employees with a clear idea of where they are failing and what they need to do to improve.

When framed the right "why", performance improvement plans can even encourage employees to try harder.

---

Performance improvement plan examples

After your initial conversation with the employee, his manager should draw up a draft performance improvement plan and send it to HR for review.

Here are a few performance plan examples you can use for your own PIPs.

#1 Example to improve customer service

Our first sample performance improvement plan is for customer service.

This kind of performance improvement plan could be necessary if clients are complaining about the attitude or support they receive from a particular employee.

Goal: The overall goal of such a PIP may be to improve interactions with clients.

Objectives: Possible objectives to meet such a goal could be to see better customer retention or engagement.

Action: To achieve the above objectives, the employee could work more closely with customers to resolve problems or attend a customer service training session.

Metrics: The most appropriate metrics would likely be the customer churn rate or customer satisfaction score.

#2 Example to improve the low-quality of work

In other situations, an employee may have little or no contact with customers, but he could still be delivering poor-quality work in other ways.

Goal: Improve the quality of work.

Objectives: Meet deadlines or produce work that is free from errors.

Action: The first objective is simple — the employees need to miss no deadlines within the timeframe set out in the PIP. The second objective requires collaboration with a senior team member to check for errors and judge whether the quality is acceptable.

Metrics: Number of late deadlines and quality of work (the latter may be subjective).

#3 Example for productivity

This next example is most suited to someone in a middle management position.

Let’s say that the employee is in charge of growing a program by increasing the number of subscribers. After several months, there is minimal (if any) change.

Goal: Grow program by X amount of subscribers.

Objectives: Increase the number of clients subscribed to the program and decrease the number of unsubscribes.

Action: Improve campaigns, better advertise (or increase) the benefits of the program, and implement a retention strategy.

Metrics: Subscriptions and unsubscribes.

#4 Example for unprofessional behavior

The last of our performance improvement plan samples is for unprofessional behavior.

This type of PIP could be necessary for a variety of situations, ranging from mistreatment of subordinates or coworkers to persistent lateness and unauthorized absences.

Goal: Cease behavior entirely.

Objectives: Arrive on time, treat others with respect, or attend all required meetings.

Action: Only miss work when authorized for personal or medical reasons. Receive appropriate workplace behavior training.

Metrics: Some behaviors are easily measurable (for instance, did the employee arrive no more than 5 minutes late every day?) Other situations are more subjective. For example, you may need to talk to subordinates who were finding it difficult to work with the employee.

---

Performance improvement plan template

You can create your own performance improvement plan by using our 5 step guide, also we recommend to check an existing and relevant template online to save you time.

How to write a performance improvement plan

Now you know what your PIP needs to include and you’ve seen some examples. All that’s left is to put everything together and start writing a performance improvement plan for a specific employee and issue.

To help you, here’s a step-by-step guide detailing how to write a performance improvement plan.

1. Determine acceptable performance

State what would be acceptable performance and compare this to what you are currently seeing from your employee. Be specific as to where exactly the employee is falling short, including examples of behavior and performance.

Tip: Collaborate

Instead of presenting an employee with a PIP unexpectedly, have a meeting beforehand where you discuss performance issues.

All parties (the manager, HR, and the employee) should have the chance to provide input. You want the employee to feel engaged and committed to meeting targets.

2. Create measurable objectives

Use the SMART framework to define the objectives your employee needs to meet. Determine how you will measure success.

Tip: Determine the Reason for Performance Issues

You need to be sure that a PIP is worth the effort. Find out what is causing the poor performance.

It could be that the employee feels overwhelmed by expectations at work or perhaps he is dealing with personal problems you are unaware of. Alternatively, the problem may be that the employee has no interest in staying with your company in the long term.

3. Define what support the employee will receive

List how the employee’s manager will help him reach the PIP goal. This could include training, coaching, or using additional resources.

Tip: Think of Ways You Can Best Help the Employee

The whole point of a PIP is to help the employee improve to keep him on your team. Rather than expecting him to achieve the objectives alone, consider what he may be lacking from you that could better his performance.

4. Draw up a schedule for check-Ins

Specify how often you will meet with the employee to provide feedback. Create a calendar of check-ins.

Tip: Don’t Wait Until the Deadline

It’s no use creating a PIP and then waiting until the deadline to check the employee’s progress.

Regular check-ins will allow the employee to voice any doubts or difficulties. Plus, they will allow you to confirm that he is on the right track or if further action is necessary.

5. State the consequences of a lack of improvement

Make it clear what the consequences are if the employee fails to meet the improvement goal.

By this point, you should know why you want to use a PIP, how to create a performance plan for your unique situation, and what exactly to include. There is still one thing left: your employee needs to know how to respond and pass the PIP. Share the following advice with your employee to ensure that the process runs as smoothly as possible.

Tip: Focus on Improvement Rather Than Punishment

It is critical that your employee doesn’t perceive the PIP as a sign he will soon be fired.

Remember to talk about where he is excelling and make it clear that you want to see him improve. Set a goal the employee feels confident he can achieve and that will be beneficial to everyone.

---

How to respond to and survive a PIP

As an employee, you need to know how to get past a performance improvement plan and gain something positive from the experience.

How to respond to a performance improvement plan

Your manager should have set performance objectives that are reasonable and attainable.

Now it’s up to you to decide whether these targets are worthwhile.

• If you are uninterested in staying at the company for much longer, you can save everyone time and stress by starting a search for a new job instead.
• If you do decide that your job is worth keeping (which should be the case the majority of the time), try to see the PIP positively. Consider it useful feedback to help you learn and grow both within the company and in your career as a whole.

How to survive a performance improvement plan

The next step is to survive your performance improvement plan and come out as a better-qualified, more valuable worker. This involves:

1. Making your job a priority

Avoid staying out late on work nights, accept all the optional invitations to work events, and spend your time at work on job-related activities only.

2. Seeking help when you need it

A PIP is often an indication that your company believes you are worth having as an employee. Talk to your manager or HR if you are unclear about anything.

3. Being positive

Go to work every day with a great attitude. Don’t let small challenges get you down.

A PIP is a great strategy to retain an employee whose performance has been lacking recently but who does have the potential and motivation to remain a strong team player.

Whether you are the employer or the worker, you should never see a performance improvement plan as a superficial step before termination. Rather, it should be a useful tool to transform a struggling employee into a valuable asset for the company.

https://bit.ly/3yGSySn

How to Improve Work Performance With a Performance Improvement Plan

Marisa Sanfilippo

A lot can be gained by giving struggling employees a clear path to improvement with a performance improvement plan.

Not every business is going to be filled with star employees who always meet or exceed all of the expectations placed on them. For employees who don’t fall into that category, the responsibility of helping them boost their performance often falls on their managers.

A popular tool to set them on the right path is a performance improvement plan. This document sets expectations with the goal of helping the employee improve their performance. To get the most out of a performance improvement plan, managers need to have a clear understanding of what it is, what to include in it and how to develop it.

What is a performance improvement plan?

A performance improvement plan, or PIP for short, is a document created by a supervisor or manager that outlines what employees can do to achieve their performance goals. In many instances, these plans are meant for struggling employees, though they can be used for employees who are already doing an excellent job but have opportunities to grow.

 The document outlines the following:

• The expected behavior and an objective or two
• Resources available to achieve those goals
• A timeline for improving performance (or, in the case of employees who are not struggling, the timeline to reach additional goals)

Since performance improvement plans can have a negative connotation, many human resources professionals have long believed that they were best implemented when employees’ struggles became noticeable and action was needed to correct unsatisfactory performance.

However, as the workplace continues to evolve, some HR professionals are changing their tune. Seeing the benefit performance improvement plans can have on employees who are already doing an excellent job and have the potential for even better performance, these plans are no longer being used just for struggling employees.

“Employees who hear ‘performance improvement’ may assume that something isn’t right or there are dire consequences as a result of being placed on a PIP,” said Leanne E. King, president and CEO of SeeKing HR. “This is truly a negative reaction to what is often an attempt to correct or redirect the behaviors of an employee.”

This is why King added that the preferred term is “development plan” for employees who are doing well and ready for a new assignment or responsibility.

“The catch is in the culture of the organization,” King said. “It’s all in how the process is communicated with employees. Using a single-document performance plan with a check box for improvement and development gives employees a better indication of what may be the next steps, step up or step out.”

How a performance improvement plan works in 5 simple steps

Traditionally, a performance improvement plan follows a series of five steps:

1. Determination of needs: The supervisor works on their own or with a member of the HR team to determine where the employee needs to improve.
2. PIP write-up: The supervisor outlines these improvements in a templated PIP form.
3. Formal meeting: The supervisor holds a formal performance review meeting with the employee to explain the document.
4. Questions: The supervisor gives the employee time to ask any applicable questions to ensure they are on the same page.
5. Signoff: The supervisor and employee sign the document as an acknowledgment that it was received, discussed and understood.

What are the benefits of performance improvement plans?

A performance improvement plan, or a development plan, can be beneficial for employers and employees. As an employer, you want to get the best from your employees. After all, higher-achieving employees can equate to a higher return on your business investment.

Simply telling employees they need to do better usually won’t have the desired result. Instead of sending these underperforming employees off on their own to figure it out, managers need to be proactive by clearly identifying areas for improvement and laying out a path forward for the struggling team member.

At the other end of the spectrum, identify your high performers and set benchmarks for them as well.

“Research shows that significant value for the company can be easily generated by benchmarking the top performers in a structured way, seeing how they operate, and then building those outcomes, tasks, decisions, and methodologies into how everyone else can improve themselves,” said Josh Rovner, an author and consultant in the space of building effective organizations. “This is how you can create and use a performance improvement plan for everyone in the company, not just the underperformers.”

These are some additional benefits of offering performance improvement plans:

It helps employees take responsibility.

If staff members are not aware of how management sees performance, they can’t take responsibility for it. A performance improvement plan equips team members with the information they need to take responsibility for their performance and work toward improving it.

It can increase staff retention.

As job roles evolve, your staff may not be aware of how their role affects the company or if it even matters. When employees know exactly what is expected of them, it can empower them by showing them they make a difference and give them goals to work toward, which can help you retain otherwise bored and unmotivated staff.

Feedback is valuable.

Offering a documented understanding of how employees are doing and where they can improve helps them feel engaged and improve within areas they may not have realized they were lacking in.

It removes the element of surprise.

If an employee ultimately needs to be terminated for poor performance, the process might be easier for both parties when the performance issues have been documented through a performance improvement plan. Workers who are terminated will already know their employers’ expectations and have some warning of what’s coming when they see they aren’t hitting their goals. 

How to develop a performance improvement plan process and what to include

Developing and writing a performance improvement plan is a straightforward process.

Step 1: Identify if a PIP is needed.

Sometimes, having an informal conversation with a subordinate or documenting an issue by email is enough to improve performance. An example of when a PIP might be needed is with a sales agent who isn’t meeting their sales quotas. If a PIP is needed, move on to step two.

Step 2: Focus on behaviors.

Outline the behaviors that need to improve and get to the root cause of the issue. These are some examples of actionable goals:

• For a sales professional, it might be to make 50 sales phone calls a day.
• For a customer service representative, it could be to address 95% of customers by their first name for two weeks straight to improve relationships.
• For a marketing specialist, it might be to respond to all Facebook messages within 48 hours.

Step 3: Provide proof with specific examples.

If you don’t have specific examples of the problem to give the employee, hold off on submitting the performance improvement plan and start documenting them as you see them. Provide as much detail as possible in the examples. Outlining specific examples with dates is the best way to avoid legal issues.

Step 4: List your expectations.

As part of the performance improvement process, specify your expectations in the areas where the staff member needs to improve. Expectations are different from job duties; do not pull these expectations from the employee’s job description. Instead, as noted by Winston-Salem State University, “the basis of an effective performance plan is developing and communicating clearly defined performance expectations to assist the staff member in understanding how the duties and responsibilities should be performed. Performance expectations should focus on end results, not just activities.” 

Step 5: Offer resources.

Expecting workers to improve on their own is not always realistic, especially if they have been struggling for a while and clearly aren’t sure where to turn for help. Offering resources can put a positive spin on the performance improvement discussion and give employees a way to succeed. These are some examples of resources you could include in the performance improvement plan:

• Connect them with other staff members whom they can lean on for guidance.
• Give them access to an online course they can take to improve their skills.
• Give them a book they can read to learn something new about their position’s subject matter.

Step 6: Create a timeline.

A defined timeline can help team members achieve their goals in a reasonable time frame and track their progress. A typical timeline for performance improvement is 30, 60 or 90 days. Your timeline should provide structure and offer realistic, achievable goals.

Step 7: Sign off on it.

Your performance improvement document should conclude with a place for all parties involved to date and sign.

Free performance improvement templates

You can find a wide selection of templates online to help you develop your PIP. These are some free templates to guide you in laying out the PIP:

• Smartsheet
• TemplateLAB
• SampleTemplates

https://bit.ly/39pnZWU

Creating The Ultimate B2B Experience

 

We understand the importance of creating a seamless, superior experience for B2B brands. We do this by stepping into the shoes of our clients’ key stakeholders, including prospects, customers, and employees. We bring their voice into the heart of everything our client does and at every stage of their journey. After all, how can you create the total experience if you do not understand the unmet needs and challenges of your customers and prospects? How can you be considered a B2B brand of choice if your employees are not even satisfied? How can you develop your brand and propositions if you do not understand how it is perceived to begin with?

https://bit.ly/39eV47L