HR and payroll

What is a performance improvement plan, or PIP, and when should I use one?

By Mahmoud SaiedLast updated 27 October 20262 min read

The short answer

A PIP is a formal document that gives an underperforming employee a set period with measurable goals, clear support and regular follow-up. It usually runs one to three months, and you use it after informal conversations have failed and when improvement is genuinely possible, not as a formality before a decision already made.

Step by step

  1. 1

    The gap in facts

    What is required and what the current performance is, with specific examples and numbers from the past period.

  2. 2

    Measurable goals

    Two to four clear goals, each with a success standard and a deadline.

  3. 3

    The support offered

    Training, a colleague as mentor, tools, or a temporary change in tasks, written down and specific.

  4. 4

    Follow-up dates

    A meeting every week or every two weeks, with short minutes of progress and comments signed by both sides.

  5. 5

    Possible outcomes

    Write what happens if the goals are met and what happens if they are not. The plan is a management tool, not a penalty, since disciplinary penalties in Egypt are listed in Article 139 of Labor Law No. 14 of 2025.

  6. 6

    The final decision

    Close the plan successfully, extend it once if there is partial improvement, or take the action set out in the approved regulations and the labor law.

A common mistake

A plan with impossible goals in a short time is seen by the employee, and by anyone who reviews it, as a step toward dismissal rather than a real chance. Set the goals at what is expected of anyone in the same role.

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