The Performance Play - Claude Skills
The Performance Play is a collection of seven AI-powered skills built for fractional HR partners, Employee Relations consultants, and HRBPs who are actively managing performance cases. Each skill handles a specific stage of the performance arc, from the moment you first notice something is wrong through diagnosis, conversation prep, formal documentation, and termination delivery.These are not frameworks to read. They are tools you use inside an active case.The Seven SkillsManager Avoidance Check-In reads the situation when a manager has been sitting on a problem and hasn't said anything yet. It names the avoidance pattern, refuses the rationalizations, and forces a real decision: act this week, or release the concern.Skill Gap vs. Will/Fit helps you diagnose what kind of performance problem you actually have before you reach for a PIP or an exit. It works across three categories (Can't, Won't, Wrong Seat) rather than two, which is where most practitioners get stuck.Low Performance Conversation preps the actual conversation with the employee. It builds the opening, the specific behavior language, and the follow-up structure. It refuses vague input and pushes for the specificity that makes these conversations land.Real-Time Reaction Handler is a teleprompter for when you're mid-conversation and the employee reacts: tears, anger, denial, protected-class flags, over-apologizing, shutdown. You describe what just happened; it gives you the next sentence and the trap to avoid.Performance Case Companion runs the operational layer of a case from intake through close: case folders, calendar block patterns, ER-to-manager emails, manager-to-employee coaching emails across the documented arc, post-meeting follow-ups, and a running summary-of-events document.Formal PIP Builder drafts the Performance Improvement Plan document and the manager's delivery script once the case has cleared the 3-documented-conversations gate and the surprise test. It refuses to build the PIP before those gates clear.Termination Conversation drafts the termination delivery script and the day-of logistics checklist. It covers four paths: post-failed PIP, mutual separation, for-cause, and layoff/position elimination. It does not relitigate the decision; it helps you deliver it cleanly.Who this is forThe Performance Play is built for practitioners who are already experienced in employee relations and performance management. You carry a case load. You partner with legal. You know what a coaching arc looks like. What you need is less administrative drag and more precision when it counts.This is not a training product. It does not teach you what performance management is. It works alongside your judgment so you can move faster, document better, and carry more cases without burning time on the parts that can be systematized.If you are a manager handling a performance issue with your own direct report, these skills will also work for you, though they are calibrated for the HR practitioner running cases on behalf of others.How it worksEach skill is a custom Claude AI skill. You deploy them in Claude, describe your situation, and the skill runs the appropriate stage of the case with you in real-time conversation. Skills hand off to each other when the situation moves from one stage to the next, so you always know which tool to use and when.Your purchase is for a single Claude user to use within their role. To purchase for up to 5 members of your team, adjust the quantity. To purchase a license for a larger organization, reach out to Sara directly.
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