There is a conversation a manager knows they need to have and keeps not having. The work is not good enough, it has not been good enough for a while, and every week that passes makes the conversation harder to open — because now the first question is why nobody said anything sooner.
By the time it does happen, it often has to carry too much: months of accumulated frustration, a decision that has effectively already been made, and a person who is genuinely surprised. That is bad for them and it is bad for you.
What to have ready before you open your mouth
The evidence, written down, before the conversation. Not impressions — what happened, when, and what was expected instead. Record specific relevant examples and follow your approved process; if you cannot point to any, that is worth discovering before you are in the room rather than during.
What "improved" would actually look like. Observable targets, a date, and what support they get. A plan that says "communicate better" gives the person nothing to do and gives you nothing to assess later.
Who has authorised what. A performance conversation, a formal improvement plan and a separation are three different things with three different approval paths. Check which one you are actually in before you start, because language that belongs to the third one has a way of leaking into the first.
How it gets recorded. A recap written the same day, while you both remember it, is worth more than a perfect memo written a month later when something has gone wrong.
What the kit is
Four editable preparation modules: a Performance Review Workbook with an evidence table and conversation prompts; an Improvement Plan Workbook with observable targets, support and check-in records; a Termination Preparation and Conversation Framework built around an approval checklist and language supplied by the authorised team; and Documentation and Follow-Up Templates for recaps and a document log.
Note where the boundary sits in that third module. It does not supply the decision or the words — it prepares you to carry a decision and language that your authorised team supplies. That division is deliberate, and it is worth checking for in anything else you use.
The part worth being honest about
These are preparation worksheets. They are not separation agreements, not state-by-state final-pay rules, and not a substitute for required company forms. HR and, where appropriate, qualified counsel must review formal plans and separation actions.
The kit does not decide an employment outcome or establish legal compliance. What it provides is space to organize the facts, the questions you plan to ask and the follow-up — so that when you walk into a hard conversation you are working from a record rather than a recollection.
What is in the download
One ZIP, nine files: four editable Word documents, four PDF reading copies and a START-HERE.pdf with module selection, working rules and limits. The PDFs are not fillable forms. $59.99, instant download.
Performance Review + PIP + Termination Kit — Four Preparation Modules
Use these with the forms and process approved by your organization.