Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
Business Plan Writer & Financial Projections
What Is a Performance Improvement Plan, and When Should You Use One?
Being Nice About a Problem Is Not the Same as Being Kind.
A good, likable employee keeps falling short, and you keep covering for them because you do not want to hurt their feelings. Months pass. The problem costs money every day, and the employee still does not know there is one. Business consultant Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA, breaks down how a fair improvement plan works.
Last Updated: 11/08/2026 · Written by Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
The Definition
What Does a Performance Improvement Plan Mean?
Short Answer
A performance improvement plan is a written agreement that names the gap between an employee’s work and the standard, sets one or two measurable targets and a date, and lists the support the business will provide. On the date, the owner and employee review the results together and make a clear decision: the gap is closed, the role changes, or the job ends.
Improvement plan = the gap, named + targets and a date + real support + a decision on the date
Doctor Owl, in Plain English
“Your silence is not kindness. He cannot fix what nobody told him. Name the gap, write the plan, help him, and decide on the date.”
How This Guide Works
Need the answer fast? Read the Short Answer above and the numbered steps. Want the full picture? Follow Louie, a labrador with two waffle cafés from Dr. Paul’s Fabled Forest Business School Series, as he quietly covers for a likable worker who burns waffles. His story shows up in a few short gold notes along the way. The math sits in one section, clearly marked.
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Meet Louie Again: Nine Burnt a Day
Some lessons stick better as a story. Dr. Paul’s Fabled Forest Business School Series teaches business through a forest full of small business owners. Doctor Owl, a dry-witted consultant who lives in the Lone Oak, helps them fix the same problems real owners face.
Today he visits Louie Waffles, the labrador with cafés on the town square and the coast dock. At the coast, a young mink runs the second waffle iron. He is friendly, honest, and trying hard. He also burns about nine waffles a day out of fifty, and arrives half an hour late three mornings a week. Louie, who is very kind, has said nothing.
Why It Matters
What Makes Owners Avoid Telling Employees They Are Falling Short?
Owners who are tough on obvious problems are often soft on everything else, especially with people they like. They cover the gap themselves, hope it improves, and tell themselves they are being kind.
But the employee cannot fix a problem nobody names. Months go by, the cost adds up, coworkers notice, and when the owner finally acts, it feels sudden and unfair to everyone. Managing underperformance early and clearly is the kind choice.
In the Fabled Forest
Louie covered the second iron himself on his coast days, Mondays and Thursdays, apron on and the ferry crowd already through the door. The cousin covered the other days. At about a third of a coin of batter per waffle, the burnt ones cost roughly three coins every day.
Building the Plan
What Goes Into a Performance Improvement Plan?
- The gap, in facts. What the standard is and what is actually happening, with numbers. Use clear feedback, not hints.
- One or two targets. Measurable and fair, tied to the job’s standards.
- A date. Usually 30 to 90 days, long enough to improve.
- Real support. Training, tools, coaching, or a schedule change. More than encouragement.
- Check-ins. Short weekly conversations to track progress.
- The decision. What happens on the date, agreed and written down at the start.
In the Fabled Forest
Louie sat down with the mink outside the café, tea in hand and the cousin’s daily notes on the bench between them. They wrote the plan together: thirty days, on time six days out of six, and fewer than two burnt in every fifty. The support was a sand timer on the iron, a measuring ladle, and the cousin beside him every morning.
The Decision
What Happens at the End of an Improvement Plan?
Review the results honestly, against the targets you both agreed. If the gap is closed, say so and celebrate it. If part of it is closed, recognize that, and be honest about the rest.
Sometimes the right outcome is a different role that fits the person’s strengths. Sometimes it is ending the job, done fairly and respectfully; see how to fire an employee. Either way, the decision should not be a surprise to anyone.
In the Fabled Forest
The lateness stopped at once: nobody had told the mink about the short path along the dunes. The burning dropped from nine a day to five, and stayed there. Louie said so plainly. The mink agreed the iron was not his job and asked about the counter. He moved there at the same pay and knew every ferry crew by name within a week.
The Numbers
What Was the Silence Costing?
Here is the second iron before, during, and after the thirty-day plan.
| Before the plan | Day 30 | Target | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burnt waffles a day (of about 50) | About 9 | 5 | Under 2 |
| Late mornings a week | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Batter wasted a day | About 3 coins | About 1.7 coins | |
| Outcome | Moved to the counter, same pay |
Step 1: The daily cost. 9 burnt × about one third of a coin of batter = about 3 coins a day, before counting the owner’s time covering.
Step 2: The fix. Lateness solved with one piece of information. Burning improved with tools and coaching, but not to the standard.
Step 3: Your version. Put a number on the gap: waste, rework, lost time. Then decide whether a 30-day plan with real support is worth trying. It almost always is.
Illustrative numbers in forest coins, from the book. Use your own measures.
Step by Step
How Do You Write a Performance Improvement Plan?
Four steps, done in one honest conversation.
Name the gap with facts.
What the standard is, what is happening, and the numbers.
Agree targets and a date together.
One or two measurable goals, 30 to 90 days out.
List the support you will give.
Tools, training, coaching, schedule changes. Write it down.
Check in weekly, then decide on the date.
Review honestly. Closed, a different role, or the end of the job.
In the Fabled Forest
Doctor Owl’s scroll for Louie had four short instructions: name the gap, write the plan, help, and decide on the date.
Louie’s Full Story
Where Did the Mink End Up?
This page gives you the short version. The book gives you the whole summer: a kind labrador covering at the second iron, a stack of notes with the same words written fifteen times, two cups of tea on a bench by the sea, a sand timer, a short cut along the dunes, and a counter job nobody had noticed was missing.
Every chapter of Human Resources for Small Businesses works the same way. One owner, one problem, one real idea you can use on Monday, plus a one-page worksheet to do it.
A Business Consultant’s View
What Does Dr. Paul Say in the First Plan Meeting?
Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA · Business Consultant
In the first meeting about an improvement plan, Dr. Paul coaches owners to say the gap out loud in the first two minutes, with numbers, before any softening. Owners tend to start with praise, circle the problem, and end without saying it. The employee leaves confused. A clear opening sounds like this: the standard is under two in fifty, you are at nine, and we need to fix that in thirty days. Then the conversation turns to support and to the employee’s view, because many gaps have simple causes nobody asked about. Clarity first, then help. That order makes the plan feel fair and gives the person a real chance.
FAQ
Still Have Questions About Improvement Plans?
What is a performance improvement plan?
How long should a performance improvement plan last?
What if the employee does not meet the plan?
Keep Going
Want to Go Deeper on Handling Hard Conversations?
This is foundation 14 of 20. These pages build on it. New to a term on this page? Every one is in the human resources glossary.
Written by Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA, business consultant and author with 14+ years of experience and 1,000+ clients served. Hiring, paying, or managing a team and want a second set of eyes? See business consulting and prices.
This page is for general educational purposes only. It is not legal, financial, employment, or other professional advice. Figures are illustrations. The Fabled Forest and its characters are fictional. For decisions about your own business, consult a qualified professional.