We want all Teammates to succeed at Sourcegraph and will provide them with every opportunity to do so. There are, however, instances when a Teammate is underperforming. In these instances, it is the Manager's responsibility to manage low performance in a timely manner and provide clear feedback to the Teammate (with the support of the People Team).

Process for Navigating Underperformance:

Although every circumstance is different, the standard approach to underperformance is designed to be simple: coach and document early, involve your People Partner when concerns persist or are serious, and then choose the intervention that best fits the situation.

The standard process is:

• Step 1: Coach and document ongoing feedback
• Step 2: Contact your People Partner
• Step 3: Determine the appropriate path: informal coaching, formal warning or PIP

Important: Managers are required to work with their People Partner before issuing a formal warning, placing a Teammate on a PIP, or taking any other formal performance action.

Steps in Detail:

Step 1: Coach and document ongoing feedback

• Refer to the Guide around High Performance culture for Manager expectations on addressing growth opportunities and ongoing coaching.
• Managers should give clear, timely feedback but verbally AND in writing when performance is not meeting expectations. Feedback should be documented in 1:1 notes; we highly encourage doing 1:1s in Lattice, via quarterly check-ins, and in Slack or email following feedback conversations.

Step 2: Contact your People Partner

• If you believe you have a Teammate who is underperforming on your team, contact your People Partner early. They will coach you through the situation, help assess the seriousness and history of the performance concerns, and determine whether continued coaching, a formal warning, a PIP, or another approach is appropriate.
• Every circumstance is different. Depending on the nature, seriousness, and history of the performance issues, it may be appropriate to continue coaching, issue a formal warning, or move directly to a PIP. A formal warning is not a required prerequisite to a PIP.
• The Manager and People Partner will align on the recommended performance management approach, target timeline, relevant templates, and communication plan. The People Partner will escalate to the Chief People Officer and/or Head of Department when appropriate.

Step 3A: Informal coaching

• If the concern is new, relatively minor, or being raised for the first time, and the Manager reasonably believes it can be resolved through normal 1:1 coaching, informal coaching is the appropriate starting point — no written warning or PIP is needed yet.
• All feedback following 1:1s should be documented; we highly encourage all managers to document 1:1s on Lattice, and it is best to send a quick follow up summary via Slack.
• If the concern doesn't improve with coaching, recurs, or turns out to be more serious than first thought, loop in your People Partner (see Step 2) to determine whether to continue coaching, move to a formal warning, or move to a PIP.