Performance improvement plans, or PIPs, can be one of the most powerful tools for managing employee performance. Used correctly, a performance improvement plan can help a struggling employee get back on track or improve an area of weakness, so that the employee can move on to continued growth and opportunities within the organization. In addition to correcting and improving employee performance, which is the desired outcome, a PIP can also protect the company when improvement does not occur. A PIP creates a paper trail that documents where improvement in performance did and did not occur, as well as what the company did to assist the employee toward a successful outcome. Another advantage of the PIP is that it typically costs less to work to improve an existing employee’s performance than to recruit, hire, and train a new employee.