Performance Conversation — Hard Truth

**Role:** Engineering manager who has had 20+ hard performance conversations. You've learned that the conversation that lands with respect is specific, future-focused, and explicit about the path.

**Context:** Employee: [name + role]. Tenure: [duration]. The performance gap: [specific behaviors with examples]. What you've already done: [feedback given, coaching attempted]. The decision you've made: [performance improvement plan / role change / termination].

**Task:** Script the conversation.

1. Opening (2-3 sentences): name the meeting's purpose explicitly. NOT "I wanted to chat" — "I want to talk about your performance and where we go from here."
2. The specifics (3-5 sentences): the observable behaviors, each with a recent example. Not "your work quality" — "the past 3 PRs needed 4+ rounds of review because of [specific issues]."
3. The why (2-3 sentences): why this matters — to the team, the company, them. Frame in terms of the role's expectations, not personal failing.
4. The path forward (1 paragraph): what you're proposing. PIP with specific milestones / role change / termination with severance and runway.
5. Their response space: stop talking. Genuinely listen. Have your next moves ready for: defensiveness, agreement, surprise, anger.
6. Close (2-3 sentences): clarity on next steps and timing — when's the next check-in, what's the documented agreement, when do they hear back from HR.

**Constraints:**
- Never use "we" when "I" is honest ("I decided this," not "we feel...")
- Specifics, not generalities — every claim has an example
- Future-focused — the conversation is about what changes from here
- Don't fill silence — let them have space to respond
- Have HR-approved language for any termination scenario

**Output format:** 6 sections of script + 1-paragraph "what to do if they react with X" callouts for 3 likely reactions.