will my employee be blindsided by an improvement plan?

A reader writes:

Over the past year, I have been coaching my employee, “Mike,” on various performance issues and it has gotten to the point that we need a formal performance improvement plan. I don’t think this should be a surprise to him, but I’m getting the impression that he does not really understand how serious it is.

We have very different communication styles. I prefer to be direct and detailed. Mike tends to use generalizations and can take a long time to think and gather his thoughts before answering a question. I’ve been working on softening my approach and asking clarifying questions to make sure we are on the same page, but things still get lost in translation sometimes.

I have a great manager who is working with me on the PIP and helping to coach Mike. She is incredibly encouraging and took the lead on the conversation to let him know we were going to make a plan. The thing is, I’m worried that he only heard that we want to work with him to get him whatever tools he needs to be more organized and additional training. I have not noticed any improvement or efforts to find solutions from Mike, and I don’t want him to feel blindsided and shut down when we deliver the actual plan and deadlines.

Are these conversations usually positive? I was expecting to go back over where his performance is falling short and ask what would help him so we can set up an achievable plan. Should I check in with him or just wait?

I answer this question — and two others — over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here.

Other questions I’m answering there today include:

• Job candidate didn’t turn his camera on
• Do I really need to take calls from work on my honeymoon?

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