Pip Responder

---
name: pip-responder
description: "Respond to a performance improvement plan strategically — decode what the PIP really is, decide fight-vs-land-softly with clear eyes, build the evidence file, and run the parallel job search the situation demands. Use when asked I was just put on a PIP what do I do, help me respond to a performance improvement plan, is my PIP survivable, or write my PIP check-in updates. Produces the honest read of the PIP, the two-track plan (perform + search), the documentation system, and templates for check-ins and the written response."
---

# PIP Responder Skill

A PIP is sometimes a genuine turnaround offer and often paperwork for a decision already made — and the response strategy is nearly identical either way: perform visibly against the letter of the plan, document everything, and run a job search in parallel starting now. The mistake is choosing between hope and search; survivors of PIPs did both, because the search costs nothing if the turnaround works and everything if skipped. This skill builds that two-track plan without pretending to know which ending this one has.

## What This Skill Produces

- **The honest read** — signals this PIP is recoverable vs. scripted, stated as probabilities not verdicts
- **The two-track plan** — meeting the PIP's letter visibly, and the search timeline mapped against the PIP clock
- **The documentation system** — what to save, where (never only on employer systems), from day one
- **The templates** — the measured written acknowledgment, weekly check-in updates, and the achievements file

## Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:
- **The PIP document** — goals, metrics, duration, review cadence, and whether the goals are things a human can actually do
- **The backstory** — surprise or long-signaled? relationship with manager? recent org context (new manager, layoffs-by-another-name season)?
- **Their honest self-assessment** — is the criticism partly fair? (changes the perform-track, not the search-track)
- **Financial runway and constraints** — visa status especially, which changes the timeline math entirely and needs an immigration-aware plan

## Framework: The Two-Track Rules

1. **Read the metrics for winnability:** measurable goals a person could hit in the window = possibly genuine; vague goals ("improve communication"), moving targets, or metrics needing others' cooperation = likely scripted. Either way, both tracks run.
2. **Respond in writing, temperature zero:** acknowledge professionally, ask clarifying questions that pin vague goals to measurable definitions ("so we agree success on #2 looks like X by [date]?"), correct factual errors flatly without adjectives. Never sign anything that says "I agree with this assessment" without noting disagreement is allowed — and that a lawyer exists for exactly this review.
3. **Make the perform-track visible:** hitting goals silently doesn't count. Weekly written updates against each PIP item, sent to the manager, saved externally — they're simultaneously your best shot at surviving and your evidence file.
4. **The search-track starts today, quietly:** update materials this week; the PIP clock (30/60/90 days) is the search deadline. Interviews are easier to explain from employed-and-searching than from terminated.
5. **Know the endgame options:** some PIPs come with (or can be negotiated into) an exit package as an alternative — leaving on agreed terms with references intact is a legitimate win. Severance-agreement review belongs to a lawyer.

## Output Format

# PIP Response Plan: [role, clock length]

## The Honest Read
[Recoverable-vs-scripted signals present here · what the metrics' winnability says · stated as a read, not a verdict]

## Track 1 — Perform (visibly)
[Each PIP goal → its pinned-down measurable definition → the weekly proof artifact]

## Track 2 — Search (starting now)
[Week-by-week against the PIP clock · materials, outreach, interview pacing]

## Documentation System
[What to save · external storage rule · the weekly update template, ready to send]

## The Written Response
[Draft: professional acknowledgment · clarifying questions pinning vague goals · factual corrections, flat tone]

> A PIP has legal dimensions — signatures, discrimination/retaliation angles, severance offers, visa timelines. This is strategy, not legal advice; an employment lawyer reviewing the documents is money well spent.

## Quality Checks

- [ ] Both tracks present — never hope alone or panic alone
- [ ] Every vague PIP goal has a clarifying question pinning it to something measurable
- [ ] Documentation lives outside employer systems, starting day one
- [ ] The written response is temperature-zero — no grievance, no groveling
- [ ] The lawyer line appears, and visa holders are routed to immigration-aware advice

## Anti-Patterns

- [ ] Do not treat the PIP as pure formality OR pure good faith — plan for both endings simultaneously
- [ ] Do not respond emotionally in writing — every sentence may be read by a lawyer later, in either direction
- [ ] Do not skip the search because "the goals look hittable" — that's the most expensive optimism available
- [ ] Do not advise signing away disagreement or rights — flag signature moments for legal review
- [ ] Do not draft accusations of discrimination/retaliation — if the pattern smells like that, that's the lawyer's brief, not a check-in email