Performance improvement plan draft prompt: free ChatGPT template
Updated · By Robert Breen
Use this when coaching hasn't fixed a performance problem and you need to put expectations in writing. A fair plan names the specific gap with dated examples, says exactly what meeting the standard looks like, lists the help the employee will get and sets dates to review progress. This prompt turns your documented facts into that structure and doesn't decide outcomes or speculate about causes.
Have HR or an employment attorney review it, and never include health, family or other personal details.
Have a professional review it. This prompt helps you draft, not decide. Employment rules vary by state and country, so have HR or an employment attorney review it before you share it.
The prompt
Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every [BLANK] with your own details. It uses the four parts from Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task and Format.
Role: You are an HR assistant at [COMPANY] helping a manager draft a performance improvement plan that HR will review. Context: The employee is [EMPLOYEE AND ROLE]. The standard for the role: [STANDARD]. What has happened, with dates: [EXAMPLES]. Coaching already given: [PAST COACHING]. Support we will give: [SUPPORT]. The plan length, check-in dates and the result HR has approved if goals are not met: [TERMS]. Task: Draft the plan using only these facts. Describe the gap neutrally, tied to the dated examples. Turn the standard into three to five goals that can be measured. List the support. Lay out the check-in dates. State the outcome exactly as given in the terms and add nothing harsher or softer. Do not guess at causes or mention personal circumstances. After the draft, list anything a reviewer would ask about that my facts don't cover. Format: Plain text with headings: Purpose, Where things stand, Goals, Support, Check-ins, Outcome. Goals as a numbered list. Then a list called "Questions for HR". No emoji.
Fill in the blanks
[COMPANY]- Your organization's name.
[EMPLOYEE AND ROLE]- The employee's name and job title.
[STANDARD]- What the job expects, from the job description or a written target.
[EXAMPLES]- Specific, dated incidents. Facts only, no labels.
[PAST COACHING]- When you raised it before and what was agreed.
[SUPPORT]- Training, tools, a weekly one-on-one or a buddy.
[TERMS]- Length, check-in dates and the outcome HR has approved. Leave the outcome to HR if it isn't set.
Example, filled in
A made-up example from the free lesson Build an AI Vendor Follow-Up Agent in n8n. Ridgeline Supply Co. is the made-up warehouse business from the AI Vendor Follow-Up Agent lesson, where late and short purchase orders get chased from a Vendor Follow-Ups sheet. The purchasing coordinator and every date here are invented.
Role: You are an HR assistant at Ridgeline Supply Co. helping a manager draft a performance improvement plan that HR will review. Context: The employee is Dev Patterson, purchasing coordinator. The standard for the role: every late, pending or short purchase order gets a vendor follow-up within one business day and is logged in the Vendor Follow-Ups sheet with a due date. What has happened, with dates: PO 4471 was five days late before anyone contacted Tallpine Pallet Co. (week of September 22); PO 4492 arrived 12 rolls short and was not logged until a week later. Coaching already given: talks on September 8 and 24. Support we will give: a 15-minute weekly one-on-one with the operations manager. The plan length, check-in dates and the result HR has approved if goals are not met: 60 days, check-ins every other Friday starting October 16, outcome to be decided by HR at the end. Task: Draft the plan using only these facts. Describe the gap neutrally, tied to the dated examples. Turn the standard into three to five goals that can be measured. List the support. Lay out the check-in dates. State the outcome exactly as given in the terms and add nothing harsher or softer. Do not guess at causes or mention personal circumstances. After the draft, list anything a reviewer would ask about that my facts don't cover. Format: Plain text with headings: Purpose, Where things stand, Goals, Support, Check-ins, Outcome. Goals as a numbered list. Then a list called "Questions for HR". No emoji.
What a good answer looks like
- "Where things stand" names PO 4471 and PO 4492, with dates, in plain neutral words.
- Goals you can check from the sheet, such as every open order logged with a due date within one business day.
- Check-ins listed every other Friday from October 16, and the outcome left to HR as you wrote it.
- Questions for HR, such as how often the sheet will be reviewed and who signs the plan.
How to check it before you use it
An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the Reply Faster lesson: check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out.
- Match every date and PO number to your own records.
- Delete any sentence that guesses at why, or that describes the person instead of the work.
- Make sure the goals are reachable with the support listed. A plan nobody could meet isn't fair.
- Have HR or an employment attorney review it before you meet with the employee.
Practice it in the free lesson
Build an AI Vendor Follow-Up Agent in n8n: Build an AI agent for Ridgeline Supply Co. that writes follow-up messages for late or pending purchase orders and saves them to Google Sheets — chat trigger, AI Agent, system prompt, model, memory, and the Sheets tool. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of n8n, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Also useful: Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format
Terms used here
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