Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) for Managers: A Practical HR Guide (Australia)

A performance improvement plan (PIP) for managers in Australia is a structured process used to address leadership performance gaps by setting clear expectations, defining measurable outcomes, and providing targeted support such as training or coaching. When implemented correctly, a PIP improves performance, reduces risk, and protects the organisation from unfair dismissal claims.

Many HR professionals and senior leaders view the Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) as a precursor to termination, yet this mindset often creates the very failure it seeks to document. Research from Gallup indicates that only 1 in 3 employees strongly agree that their performance is managed in a way that motivates them to do outstanding work. When the individual underperforming is a manager, the stakes are significantly higher. A struggling manager does not just underperform in isolation: they create a ripple effect that reduces the engagement and productivity of their entire team.

Managing the performance of a leader requires a different lens than managing a frontline contributor. It involves addressing not only the "what" of their outputs but also the "how" of their leadership. This guide provides a structured, Australian-centric approach to implementing a PIP for managers that prioritises genuine development while maintaining the necessary rigour for organisational accountability.

What is a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) for managers?

A Performance Improvement Plan for managers is a formal document and structured process designed to address specific performance deficits in a leadership role. It serves as a roadmap to bridge the gap between a manager’s current performance and the expected standard of their position. Unlike basic disciplinary measures, a PIP is meant to be a supportive tool that provides clear expectations, resources, and a timeline for improvement. It works best when it is paired with capability building, for example structured performance management training, so managers learn the habits they are expected to demonstrate.

When should you use a PIP for a manager?

• Persistent Performance Gaps: When informal coaching and feedback cycles have failed to produce the required changes over several months.
• Specific Skill Deficiencies: When a manager lacks specific competencies such as budget management, strategic planning, or effective delegation.
• Behavioural Misalignment: When leadership style issues like poor communication or lack of team accountability are negatively impacting the workplace culture.

When should you NOT use a PIP?

• Serious Misconduct: Issues involving harassment, fraud, or safety breaches should be handled via immediate disciplinary or termination protocols.
• Redundancy Situations: A PIP should never be used as a "soft" way to manage someone out of the business when the role itself is no longer required.
• Personal Animosity: If the issue is a simple personality clash between a director and a manager, a PIP is an inappropriate and potentially litigious tool.

Identifying the root cause: Skill gap vs. behaviour issues

Before drafting a PIP for managers, it is essential to diagnose why the performance is lagging. In our experience working with organisations across Australia, we find that manager underperformance usually falls into one of two categories.

1. The Skill Gap
This occurs when the manager possesses the right attitude but lacks the necessary tools or training to execute their role. This might manifest as an inability to interpret complex financial reports or a weak understanding of performance management expectations in Australian workplaces and HR performance management processes. Skill gaps are highly fixable through structured leadership training and targeted workshops, as well as practical manager courses that give them repeatable systems for planning, delegation, and follow through.

2. The Behavioural Issue
Behavioural issues are more complex. These include a lack of emotional intelligence, a tendency toward micromanagement, or a failure to uphold company values. While these can be addressed via a PIP, they require significant self awareness from the manager and often benefit from emotional assertiveness training or professional coaching.

The three biggest mistakes HR makes with PIPs

Even with the best intentions, many PIP processes fail because they are poorly designed or executed. Avoiding these common pitfalls is crucial for a successful outcome.

1. Going too formal too early

Jumping straight to a formal PIP without documented informal conversations can feel like an ambush. This often triggers a defensive or litigious response from the manager. Effective performance management starts with "courageous conversations" and informal support before the paperwork begins.

2. Unclear or "Vague" expectations

Vague goals like "improve team morale" or "be more professional" are impossible to measure. If a manager cannot see the finish line, they are unlikely to reach it. Every objective in a PIP must be objective and evidence based.

3. Lack of a support structure

A PIP is not a test to see if the manager can "sink or swim." If you identify a performance gap but fail to provide the resources to fix it, the process is inherently flawed. This might include providing access to personality questionnaires to help them understand their leadership style, enrolling them in a supervisor program to refresh their fundamentals, or adding targeted performance management training so they can run clear expectations and feedback conversations with their own team.

The Management Performance Pivot: A structured PIP framework

To ensure a PIP is effective, we recommend following the Management Performance Pivot framework. This approach ensures the process is collaborative and focused on long term success for Australian HR teams and the managers they support.

1. Diagnostic Conversation: Sit down with the manager to discuss the performance gaps. Listen to their perspective. Are there external factors, such as resource shortages or personal issues, contributing to the decline?
2. Clear Outcome Definition: Define exactly what success looks like. Instead of "better communication," use "conduct weekly one on one meetings with all direct reports and provide written minutes."
3. Behaviour and Performance Expectations: Outline both the hard targets (KPIs) and the soft skills (leadership behaviours) required. This creates a holistic view of the role.
4. Support and Training: Identify the specific support the organisation will provide. This may involve a performance management training option to lift capability quickly, a structured leadership training program to embed consistent standards, or a management course to build specific competencies.
5. Weekly Review: Do not wait 90 days to check in. Hold weekly or fortnightly meetings to review progress, provide feedback, and adjust the support as needed.

How to write a performance improvement plan for a manager

If you are searching for how to write a performance improvement plan for a manager, keep it simple and structured. A strong performance improvement plan for a manager makes the standard clear, makes the support real, and makes the next review date non negotiable.

Use this step by step guide as a practical baseline.

Step 1: Write the performance problem in plain language

Start with facts, not opinions. Name what is happening and the business impact.

Include:

1. The expectations of the role
2. What is currently happening
3. Evidence you can point to
4. The impact on the team, customers, quality, risk, or deadlines

Example:
"The manager has missed two project milestones in the last eight weeks and has not provided status updates to stakeholders. This is creating rework and delivery risk for other teams."

Step 2: Confirm the root cause using the Management Performance Pivot

Before you lock in actions, diagnose the problem using the Management Performance Pivot.

Ask:

1. Is this a skill gap that training can fix?
2. Is this a clarity gap where expectations have not been made concrete?
3. Is this a behaviour gap where the manager is not meeting leadership standards?

This stops your performance improvement plan for a manager turning into a list of generic tasks.

Step 3: Set 3 to 5 outcomes that are specific and measurable

This is the part most plans get wrong. Keep outcomes observable.

Good examples:

1. "Run a weekly one on one with each direct report and capture agreed actions in writing"
2. "Provide a weekly project update to stakeholders by 4 pm each Friday"
3. "Meet milestone dates for the next two delivery cycles"

Avoid outcomes like "be more proactive" unless you define what proactive looks like in practice.

Step 4: Set the timeline and the review rhythm

State:

1. The total length of the PIP (often 30, 60, or 90 days for manager roles)
2. The review frequency (weekly works best)
3. What will be reviewed at each meeting

If you are writing a performance improvement plan for a manager, weekly reviews matter because manager behaviour affects others fast.

Step 5: List the support you will provide, and make it specific

A performance improvement plan for a manager should include real support that matches the gap.

Examples of support:

1. Targeted performance management training so the manager can run feedback and accountability conversations properly
2. A structured leadership training pathway to lift day to day people leadership habits
3. A relevant management course to build core management systems like delegation, planning, and prioritisation
4. Coaching support to turn insight into behaviour change between reviews
5. Templates and checklists, for example meeting agendas, one on one structures, and stakeholder update formats

Write the support in the plan as commitments with dates, not suggestions.

Step 6: Define what success looks like at the end of the PIP

Be explicit. Include:

1. The performance standard required at the end of the timeline
2. How you will assess it
3. What evidence will be used

This reduces argument later and keeps the plan fair.

Step 7: Put it in writing and have the conversation properly

A performance improvement plan for a manager is not just a document. It is a conversation and a weekly cadence.

In the meeting:

1. Walk through the document line by line
2. Check understanding, do not assume agreement
3. Confirm the first review meeting date before you finish
4. Send the final version immediately after the meeting

If you need a simple internal standard, we suggest building your PIP around the Management Performance Pivot and keeping the plan short enough that both HR and the manager can actually use it every week.

How Marcus navigated leadership misalignment

Marcus was a regional manager for a national logistics firm in Melbourne. While he was excellent at logistics strategy, his team engagement scores were the lowest in the company. His staff reported feeling undervalued, and turnover in his department was 25 percent higher than the company average.

The HR director initiated a 60 day PIP for Marcus. Rather than focusing purely on "turnover numbers," they focused on the behaviours that lead to turnover. Marcus was required to attend a developing teams workshop and implement a new feedback loop for his staff.

By the end of the 60 days, Marcus had not only stabilised his team but had also reported a shift in his own job satisfaction. The structured nature of the PIP gave him the "permission" to step away from his spreadsheets and focus on his people, something he previously viewed as a secondary task. This case study highlights that a PIP, when framed correctly, can be a tool for professional reinvention rather than a disciplinary burden.

Example PIP for a manager: Poor team engagement and missed deadlines

When you are learning how to write a performance improvement plan, seeing a practical example is often the most helpful step.

Performance Area: Team Accountability and Project Delivery
The Issue: The manager has missed three major project deadlines in the last quarter and two direct reports have lodged informal complaints regarding a lack of clear direction.

Improvement Objectives:

• Implement a project tracking system (e.g., Trello or Monday.com) for all team tasks within 14 days.
• Conduct weekly team "stand up" meetings to identify bottlenecks.
• Achieve a 100 percent on time delivery rate for all project milestones over the next 60 days.

Support Provided:

• Enrolment in our Mastery Program to improve organisational and delegation skills.
• Fortnightly coaching sessions with the Senior Operations Director.

Legal considerations for Australian managers

In Australia, the Fair Work Act 2009 sets the standard for how performance should be managed. In Australia, a PIP is a legitimate management tool intended to drive improvement, and it must be administered fairly to avoid unfair dismissal or adverse action claims.

• Procedural Fairness: The manager must be given a genuine opportunity to respond to the performance concerns.
• Reasonable Opportunity: You must allow a reasonable amount of time for the manager to improve. For complex leadership roles, a 14 day PIP is rarely considered sufficient by Fair Work Australia. 30, 60, or 90 days is more standard.
• Documentation: Every meeting, email, and feedback session must be documented. If it isn't written down, in the eyes of the law, it didn't happen.
• Support Persons: Always inform the manager of their right to bring a support person to any formal PIP meeting.

When a PIP won’t work

A PIP for managers is a powerful tool, but it is not a magic wand. There are times when even the best structured plan will fail.

• No Willingness to Change: If the manager is defensive and refuses to acknowledge there is a problem, the PIP will likely fail.
• Values Misalignment: If the manager’s core values are at odds with the organisation’s culture, no amount of skill training will bridge the gap.
• Repeated Behaviour: If a manager successfully completes a PIP only to slide back into old habits a month later, it suggests the change was performative rather than authentic.

In these instances, the organisation must be prepared to move toward more formal disciplinary action or termination, ensuring all FAQs regarding internal policy have been consulted.

Summary and key takeaways

Managing an underperforming manager is one of the most difficult tasks a leader or HR professional will face. However, by adopting a structured, supportive approach, you can often save a valuable career and protect the health of your team.

Key Takeaways:

• Diagnose First: Determine if the issue is a skill gap (fixable with training) or a behavioural misalignment (requires coaching/self awareness).
• Be Specific: Use objective metrics rather than vague leadership jargon.
• Provide Real Support: Do not expect a manager to improve without providing tools, such as online learning or habits coaching.
• Follow the Law: Ensure your process adheres to Australian Fair Work principles by providing reasonable time and documentation.
• Focus on the "How": Leadership is about more than just output. Ensure your PIP covers the behavioural standards required of a manager.

If you are currently managing a PIP or about to implement one, getting the structure right early will determine whether the manager improves or exits. We can help you design a practical, defensible approach that actually changes behaviour.

Next Steps for Your Leadership Team:
Download our [Manager Performance Diagnostic Checklist] to identify whether your leaders have the tools they need to succeed. If you are ready to implement formal development, you can also explore our leadership training or speak with our team via the contact page to discuss a tailored corporate subscription for your organisation.

This article was developed with input from our senior trainers, drawing on decades of experience in Australian corporate leadership development and performance recovery.