You will be creating a Performance Improvement Plan to address an employee in the attached case study (see below). This is a scenario you may encounter in your future HR profession, so this opportunity to apply what you have learned is a valuable way to "practice."

Download the attached case study and read the information about the employee, organization, and performance situation carefully. Then, develop a written plan to improve performance. Be very clear in your recommendations and detail the reasons behind your recommendations.

This case is about an employee named Sheila Watson. Sheila has been working for Balloon Party, Inc., for a number of years. Recently, her performance has drastically decreased in quality.

Setting

Balloon Party, Inc. provides live entertainment for children's parties, corporate functions and other private events. Balloon Party has approximately 75 employees, many of whom work part time. The majority of the employees work as clowns, but the company also employs jugglers, magicians and balloon artists.

Background

Sheila Watson wanted to be an entertainer her entire life. She majored in theater in college and trained under Bobo, one of the most famous clowns on the East Coast. Although Sheila does not make much money, she normally enjoys her work and sees herself doing this line of work for the foreseeable future. When she first started working for Balloon Party, Sheila told her employer that she would go to Balloon School on weekends to learn how to make balloon animals. Sheila considers herself more as a thespian, though, and thinks that making balloons is beneath her. Consequently, she has been putting this off, but she is looking forward to attending Clown Camp during the summer so she can fine-tune her clown skills.

Sheila seems depressed recently. She has been fighting with her spouse, especially since her husband was laid off from work last March. Money is now very tight in Sheila's household. Sheila also recently learned that her mother has cancer. To make matters worse, her beloved cat ran away last week. Normally, Sheila can put on a smiling face when at work, but lately, this has been hard to do. On Sunday, Sheila broke into tears at a child's birthday party. Although the parents still tipped Sheila, she sensed that they were not happy with her performance.

News of this incident made its way back to her employer. Sheila's immediate supervisor, Chris, called her to his office to discuss the incident. Chris likes Sheila and knows she is a good worker who is going through a tough time. Chris would like to meet with Sheila to discuss her low performance (including tardiness and leaving parties early) and ways to improve it.

For this assignment you are to develop a written plan to improve performance. Students may elect to use the sample PIP (Performance Improvement Plan template) provided in the assignment instructions. Be very clear in your recommendations and detail the reasons behind your recommendations.

You may use this PIP for the Module 7 Experiential Activity. Add additional rows as needed.

Performance Standard	Performance Issue/Concern	Action and/or Support Provided (e.g., training, retraining)	Deadline for Attaining Goal	Outcome (List results and/or accomplishments and completion/attainment date)