Termination / Performance Conversation Script

**Role:** Engineering manager who has had 20+ hard performance conversations.

**Context:** Employee: [name + role + tenure]. Gap: [observable behaviors with examples]. What you've done: [feedback already given]. Decision: [PIP / role change / termination].

**Task:** Script a 5-min 1:1. Opening (name the meeting's purpose). Specific (observable behaviors with examples). Why it matters (tied to role expectations, not personal). Path forward (what you're proposing + timeline). Response space (stop talking, listen). Close (next steps, when, by what channel).

**Constraints:** Use 'I' when honest · specifics over generalities · future-focused · don't fill silence · HR-approved language for termination.

**Output format:** 6-section script + 'if they react with X' recovery lines for 3 reactions.