Workflow Template
Performance Improvement Plan Workflow
Manages the end-to-end lifecycle of a Performance Improvement Plan: manager creates the plan, HR reviews and approves it, the employee acknowledges it, progress is reviewed at the scheduled date, and the outcome (met, extend, or not met) is actioned and communicated.
Managing Performance Improvement Plans in a manner that withstands legal scrutiny and internal audit requires consistent process, clear approval gates, and a defensible record of every decision. The Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) Workflow governs the complete lifecycle—from manager-initiated plan creation through HR review and approval, employee acknowledgement, scheduled progress review, and final outcome determination—ensuring People teams, line managers, and HR business partners operate from a single, controlled process. This workflow enforces consistent HR oversight at every critical juncture while maintaining a timestamped, auditable record suitable for employment tribunal defence or internal compliance review.
Business Outcomes
- Reduce PIP administration time by up to 60% through automated routing and notifications
- Achieve 100% HR review compliance before any PIP is issued to an employee
- Eliminate missed review dates with automated due-date tracking and alerts
- Maintain a complete, audit-ready record of every PIP decision, revision, and acknowledgement
- Standardise outcome handling across managers to reduce inconsistent or non-compliant treatment
Workflow Steps
Steps
- 1Create PIP Case Recordcreate record
Registers the new PIP case submitted by the manager.
- 2Set Status: Pending HR Reviewupdate record
Marks the case as awaiting HR review.
- 3HR Reviews PIP Planrequest approval
HR reviews the plan for fairness and compliance before it is issued to the employee.
- 4Route on HR Review Outcome
Branches based on whether HR approves or rejects the plan.
approval_status: "approved"→Set Status: Pending Acknowledgementapproval_status: "rejected"→Notify Manager of HR RejectionDefault→End - 5Notify Manager of HR Rejectionsend email
Informs the manager the plan needs revision before it can proceed.
- 6Manager Revises PIPcreate task
Manager updates the plan content based on HR feedback and resubmits.
- 7Resubmit for HR Reviewrestart from step
Restarts the workflow from HR review with the revised plan.
- 8Set Status: Pending Acknowledgementupdate record
Marks the case as approved by HR and awaiting employee acknowledgement.
- 9Request Employee Acknowledgementrequest external input
Sends the employee the PIP details and asks them to acknowledge receipt and add any comments.
- 10Record Acknowledgement & Activate Planupdate record
Persists the employee's acknowledgement and comments, and sets the plan to Active.
- 11Set Review Due Dateset due date
Applies a review-period target date to the record for SLA tracking.
- 12Manager Records Progress & Outcomecreate task
At the review date, the manager records progress notes and decides the outcome: met, extend, or not met.
- 13Persist Progress Notes & Outcomeupdate record
Saves the manager's progress notes and the review outcome to the record.
- 14Route on Review Outcome
Branches based on whether the outcome is Met, Extend, or Not Met.
review_outcome: "Met"→Close PIP as Successfulreview_outcome: "Extend"→Extend PIP with New Review Datereview_outcome: "Not Met"→Close PIP - Refer to Disciplinary ProcessDefault→End - 15Close PIP as Successfulupdate record
Marks the plan closed as the employee met the improvement objectives.
- 16Notify HR & Employee: Plan Successfulsend email
Informs HR and the employee that the PIP has been successfully closed.
- 17Notify Employee: Plan Successfulsend email
Informs the employee their PIP has been closed successfully.
- 18Extend PIP with New Review Dateupdate record
Sets the plan to Extended and applies the new review date.
- 19Update Review Due Dateset due date
Applies a new review-period target date to the record for SLA tracking.
- 20Notify HR & Employee: Plan Extendedsend email
Informs HR and the employee that the PIP has been extended with a new review date.
- 21Notify Employee: Plan Extendedsend email
Informs the employee that their PIP has been extended and continues with the same support actions.
- 22Loop Back to Next Progress Reviewrestart from step
Restarts the workflow from the manager progress review step for the extended period.
- 23Close PIP - Refer to Disciplinary Processupdate record
Marks the plan closed as objectives were not met and hands off to disciplinary process.
- 24Hand Off to Disciplinary Processcreate task
Assigns HR to initiate the disciplinary process for this employee.
- 25Notify HR & Employee: Objectives Not Metsend email
Informs HR and the employee that the PIP concluded with objectives not met and disciplinary process is starting.
- 26Notify Employee: Objectives Not Metsend email
Informs the employee that the PIP concluded with objectives not met.
Fields
- Employee Name*
- Employee Email*
- Manager Email*
- HR Contact Email*
- Performance Concerns*
- Improvement Objectives*
- +8 more fields
Forms
Create Performance Improvement Plan
8 fields
Data Views
All PIP Cases
employee_name, manager_email, pip_status, review_date +1 more
Dashboard Widgets
Recommended integrations
Setup the following integrations to extend workflow capability.
Send email in the workflow
AWS SES
Similar Categories
FAQs
How is this workflow audited for compliance and legal defensibility?
Every step in the PIP workflow—case creation, HR review decisions, revisions, employee acknowledgement, and outcome determination—is timestamped and retained within assess.one's audit trail. This record is exportable and provides the documentary evidence typically required for tribunal defence, internal compliance review, or regulatory audit. Because HR approval is a mandatory gate before any plan reaches the employee, organisations can demonstrate consistent, non-discriminatory process application across all cases.
Who has access to PIP case records and progress notes?
Access is governed by role-based permissions configured directly in assess.one, typically restricting visibility to the initiating manager, the named HR reviewer, and designated HR business partners or People leadership. Employees only see the acknowledgement request and outcome communications relevant to them, not internal HR review commentary. Administrators can further restrict or expand access at any point without requiring developer involvement.
How does this integrate with existing HR systems and communication tools?
Notifications to managers, HR, and employees are configured within assess.one and can be routed via email or Slack without any third-party development work. The workflow operates as a standalone case management process inside assess.one, and outcome records can be exported for storage in an HRIS or personnel file as part of standard record-keeping practice. No external software installation is required to run or maintain the workflow.
Can we customise the approval logic and review criteria?
Yes. HR review gates, rejection routing, acknowledgement requirements, and outcome branching (met, extend, not met) can all be adjusted directly within assess.one to reflect your organisation's specific policy and approval hierarchy. Additional approval steps, such as legal or senior HR sign-off for termination-track outcomes, can be added without disrupting the existing case flow.
What happens if HR rejects the manager's proposed PIP plan?
The workflow automatically notifies the manager of the rejection and routes the case back for revision. The manager updates the plan and resubmits it for a fresh HR review cycle, ensuring no PIP is issued to an employee without HR sign-off. This gate prevents inconsistent or non-compliant plans from progressing to the employee acknowledgement stage.
How is employee acknowledgement handled and recorded?
Once HR approves the plan, the workflow automatically requests acknowledgement from the employee and records the response as a permanent part of the case file. The plan is only activated, and the review due date set, once acknowledgement is captured. This creates a clear, dated record confirming the employee received and acknowledged the plan terms.
What are the possible outcomes at the review stage, and how are they actioned?
At the scheduled review date, the manager records progress notes and selects an outcome of met, extend, or not met, which the workflow routes accordingly. A 'met' outcome closes the case as successful with notifications to HR and the employee; an 'extend' outcome sets a new review due date and notifies both parties; a 'not met' outcome triggers the appropriate next-step process as configured by your organisation. Each outcome path preserves the underlying documentation for future reference.
Who needs access to this workflow within our organisation?
Typical participants include line managers initiating and progressing cases, HR reviewers approving or rejecting plans, and HR administrators overseeing overall compliance and reporting. Employees interact only with the acknowledgement request and final outcome notification. Access can be scoped precisely to these roles within assess.one to maintain confidentiality and role separation.
How long does it take to implement this workflow?
The template is ready to use and can be published live within minutes—there is no multi-week implementation project. Once published, managers and HR can begin creating and processing PIP cases immediately, with role assignments, notifications, and approval logic adjustable in-platform as needed.
Ready to use this workflow?
Create a free account and customise this workflow for your business.