Vocations · Professional Development

A plan someone
can actually meet.

A performance improvement plan should give someone a real chance to succeed: clear expectations, a way to measure each one, help from the organization and regular check-ins. Write each plan with its expectations, measures and targets, the support offered and six fairness checks. The guide works out the end date and check-ins and flags vague expectations, plans that are the first feedback and plans that ended with no outcome.

Write a planWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Job search kit, $29 for 41 items.

Improvement plans

The worked example is made up: a front desk plan halfway through, a teaching assistant’s plan with no examples or earlier feedback, and a bookkeeper’s plan that ended ten days ago with no outcome written. Saved on this device only, by employee code.

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What you get

Vocations · Professional Development$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A record per plan: employee code, role, start date, length, check-in frequency, expectations with measures and targets, support, outcome so far and six fairness checks. Works out the end date, days left and number of check-ins; lists plans by end date; flags expectations with no measure or target, plans that are the first feedback, no support named and plans past their end with no outcome.
Who it is for
Managers, supervisors and HR staff in schools, nonprofits and small organizations.
Format
Browser guide with a saved plan per employee code. Prints one plan to share with the employee, every plan in a table or a blank plan; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Job search kit ($29) and the Vocations Suite pass ($99), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Professional Development space in Caveat Vocations.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Give clear feedback before any plan.
  2. Turn each concern into a measurable expectation.
  3. Name the support you will give.
  4. Check in on schedule and write it down.
  5. Record the outcome on the end date.

Write a plan

Make it measurable

From a complaint to an expectationWhat managers sayPlan saysMeasured by“Better attitude”Greet each student by name at the doorTwo observations a week“More reliable”Arrive by 7:45 for morning dutySign-in sheet“Sloppy work”Code 19 of 20 invoices correctlyMonthly audit of 20“Slow to respond”Return voicemails the same dayCall log, each FridayFrom a complaint to an expectation“Better attitude”Plan says: Greet each student by name at the doorMeasured by: Two observations a week“More reliable”Plan says: Arrive by 7:45 for morning dutyMeasured by: Sign-in sheet“Sloppy work”Plan says: Code 19 of 20 invoices correctlyMeasured by: Monthly audit of 20“Slow to respond”Plan says: Return voicemails the same dayMeasured by: Call log, each Friday
If an expectation cannot be measured, the employee cannot know when it is met, and the plan cannot be judged fairly.

Fair, not a formality

A plan written to document a decision already made helps nobody. Dated examples, earlier feedback, a second reviewer and the same standard others are held to are what make a plan fair, and what make its outcome defensible.

When health comes up

If an employee mentions a health condition or disability affecting the work, the Americans with Disabilities Act calls for an interactive conversation about reasonable accommodation. Pause and involve HR; the plan may need to change.

Sources

  1. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement guidance on reasonable accommodation and undue hardship under the ADA (eeoc.gov).
  2. U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Performance management: addressing poor performance, including opportunity periods (opm.gov).
  3. Society for Human Resource Management. Performance improvement plan guidance (shrm.org).
  4. Locke, E. A. and Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation. American Psychologist, 57(9).

The worked example is made up. This is not legal advice; follow your organization’s policies and any union agreement. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.