Workflow Template
Performance Improvement Plan Workflow
Manages a Performance Improvement Plan from manager submission through HR review, employee acknowledgement, manager progress reviews (with extension loop), to a final outcome of successful completion, extension, or not-met with HR disciplinary follow-up.
Larger organisations managing performance improvement plans need a consistent, auditable process that gives HR, managers and employees clear visibility at every stage, rather than relying on scattered emails and documents. This workflow takes a manager's submission through HR review, employee acknowledgement, active progress monitoring with an extension loop, and a final outcome of successful completion, extension, or not-met with HR disciplinary follow-up. Managers, HR team members, and the employee (via emailed forms, without needing an account) are all involved as the plan record moves through defined statuses with a full timeline of activity.
Business Outcomes
- Supports a more consistent PIP process across managers and teams
- Helps give HR clearer visibility of plan status and review comments in one place
- Reduces reliance on ad hoc emails by capturing acknowledgements and progress notes directly on the record
- Makes it easier to track extensions and outcomes through to a final decision
- Improves traceability of each plan via reference number, status and timeline
Workflow Steps
Steps
- 1Create PIP Recordcreate record
Creates the PIP record from the manager's submission.
- 2Set Status to Draftupdate record
Sets the plan status to Draft.
- 3Email Manager Acknowledgementsend email
Sends the manager an acknowledgement email with the plan reference number.
- 4HR Review of Plancreate task
Creates a blocking task for HR to review the plan and record comments, due in 3 days.
- 5Save HR Commentsupdate record
Persists HR's review comments to the record.
- 6Set Status to Awaiting Acknowledgementupdate record
Sets the plan status to Awaiting Acknowledgement.
- 7Employee Acknowledgement Requestrequest external input
Emails the employee the plan details and waits for them to acknowledge it and optionally add comments.
- 8Save Employee Acknowledgementupdate record
Persists the employee's acknowledgement and comments to the record.
- 9Set Status to Activeupdate record
Sets the plan status to Active now that the employee has acknowledged the plan.
- 10Manager Progress Reviewcreate task
Creates a blocking task with no due date for the manager to record progress notes and the review outcome.
- 11Save Review Outcomeupdate record
Persists the manager's progress notes and review outcome to the record.
- 12Route on Review Outcome
Routes the plan based on whether the outcome is Met, Extend, or Not met.
review_outcome: "Met"→Set Status to Completed - Successfulreview_outcome: "Extend"→Extend Plan and Loop Back to Reviewreview_outcome: "Not met"→Set Status to Not MetDefault→End - 13Extend Plan and Loop Back to Reviewrestart from step
Closes this iteration and restarts the manager review task for another progress check, up to 2 extensions.
- 14Set Status to Completed - Successfulupdate record
Sets the plan status to Completed - Successful.
- 15Email Employee - Plan Completed Successfullysend email
Notifies the employee that the plan was completed successfully.
- 16Set Status to Not Metupdate record
Sets the plan status to Not Met.
- 17HR Disciplinary Process Taskcreate task
Creates a fire-and-forget HR task due in 5 days to start the disciplinary process.
- 18Email Employee - Plan Not Metsend email
Notifies the employee that the plan was not met and HR will be in touch.
Fields
Show all 14 fieldsShow fewer fields
FormNew Performance Improvement Plan
- Manager Name*· Text
- Manager Email*· Email
- Employee Name*· Text
- Employee Email*· Email
- Performance Concerns*· Long text
- Improvement Objectives*· Long text
- Support Actions*· Long text
- Review Date*· Date
TaskHR Review of Plan
- HR Review Comments*· Long text
TaskManager Progress Review
- Review Progress Notes*· Long text
- Review Outcome*· Choice
Other fields
- Plan Status*· Choice
- I acknowledge this Performance Improvement Plan*· Checkbox
- Employee Comments· Long text
- Manager Name*
- Manager Email*
- Employee Name*
- Employee Email*
- Performance Concerns*
- Improvement Objectives*
Forms
New Performance Improvement Plan
8 fields
Data Views
PIP Plans Overview
employee_name, review_date, review_outcome, plan_status
Dashboard Widgets
Recommended integrations
Setup the following integrations to extend workflow capability.
Send email in the workflow
AWS SES
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FAQs
What does this workflow record at each stage of the PIP?
The record captures the manager's original submission (performance concerns, objectives, support actions, review date), the HR Review Comments from the HR review task, the employee's acknowledgement and comments, and the manager's progress notes and review outcome from each review cycle. Every status change and step is also kept in the record's timeline, giving a running history of the plan from creation through to its final outcome.
Who is involved in reviewing and progressing a PIP?
A manager submits the initial plan and later completes the Manager Progress Review task to record progress notes and an outcome. HR completes the HR Review of Plan task, adding review comments, and is also assigned the HR Disciplinary Process Task if the plan is not met. The employee takes part through emailed forms to acknowledge the plan, without needing to log in or hold an account.
How do we change the steps in this workflow?
A workspace can describe the change it wants in plain English, or edit the steps directly in the workflow editor, such as adjusting task due dates or the wording used in emails. Earlier versions of the workflow are kept, so changes can be reviewed against the previous setup.
What happens if the manager's progress review outcome is 'Extend'?
When the review outcome is Extend, the workflow closes that review iteration and restarts the Manager Progress Review task for another progress check. This loop can run for up to 2 extensions before the plan needs to move to a Met or Not met outcome, with each cycle's progress notes and outcome saved to the record.
What happens when the plan outcome is 'Met' or 'Not met'?
If the outcome is Met, the plan status is set to Completed - Successful and the employee is emailed to confirm the plan was completed successfully. If the outcome is Not met, the status is set to Not Met, a fire-and-forget HR task is created (due in 5 days) to start the disciplinary process, and the employee receives an email letting them know HR will be in touch.
Is HR review of the plan a blocking step?
Yes, the HR Review of Plan task is a blocking task with a 3-day due date, meaning the workflow waits for HR to review the plan and record their comments before moving the status to Awaiting Acknowledgement. This ensures the plan carries HR's review comments on the record before it reaches the employee.
Does the employee need an account to acknowledge the plan?
No, the employee takes part through an emailed form sent as part of the Employee Acknowledgement Request step, without needing to create or log into an account. Their acknowledgement response and any comments they add are saved directly to the plan record.
How is the HR Disciplinary Process Task different from the other tasks in this workflow?
The HR Disciplinary Process Task is fire-and-forget, meaning the workflow does not wait for it to be completed before continuing. Any Disciplinary Process Notes entered on that task stay with the task itself, shown in the record's task list, rather than being saved as a field on the main record.
Can this workflow be published and used right away?
Yes, this template is ready to use: a workspace can publish it in minutes and start running live Performance Improvement Plans immediately, without any installation or development project. Each business should confirm the plan structure and steps meet its own internal policies before relying on it.
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