What is a 30 60 90 day plan?

A short written plan for a new hire's first three months, split into a learning phase, a contributing phase and an owning phase, each with a few checkable outcomes.

Who writes the 30-60-90 day plan?

The manager drafts it, ideally before the person joins, and agrees it with the new hire in the first week. HR makes sure one exists and that reviews happen.

How many goals should each phase have?

Three to five outcomes per phase is usually enough. More than that turns the plan into a task list nobody remembers.

Does a 30-60-90 day plan replace probation?

No. Probation is a contractual period. The plan is a working document whose reviews provide evidence for the probation decision.

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Writing a 30-60-90 day plan for a new hire

A new hire who does not know what is expected of them will guess, and the guess is usually to stay busy. A 30-60-90 day plan replaces the guess with a short written statement of what the first three months are for.

It is a manager's document, not an HR form. HR's part is to make sure one exists for every new hire and that the reviews happen. This guide covers writing it and using it.

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Written for: Managers with a new person starting soon, and HR teams who want every new hire to have a written first-quarter plan.
You will be able to: Write a short three-phase plan with outcomes for each month, review it at each milestone, and use it as the evidence for the probation decision.

What each phase is for

The three phases are not arbitrary. Each has a different purpose, and outcomes that would be right in one are wrong in another.

Days 1 to 30, learn: the product or service, the people, the systems, how decisions are made. Outcomes are about understanding, such as being able to explain the team's main processes.
Days 31 to 60, contribute: take on defined pieces of real work with support. Outcomes are first deliverables completed to standard.
Days 61 to 90, own: take responsibility for an area or a recurring piece of work. Outcomes look like the role's normal expectations, at a smaller scale.

Write outcomes, not activities

Attending induction sessions is an activity. Being able to process a month's reimbursement claims without help is an outcome. Write three to five outcomes per phase, each one something both manager and employee could agree has or has not happened.

Tie at least one outcome in each phase to the role's KRAs, so the plan connects to how the person will be assessed after probation. Leave room for one outcome the employee proposes, especially in the third phase.

Watch for itA plan with fifteen items per phase is a task list. Keep it short enough that both people remember it without opening the file.

Name the support each phase needs

For each phase, write down what the new hire needs from others: the people to meet, the access to be given, the documents to read, and the buddy or senior colleague they can ask. Many plans fail because the outcome depended on access nobody arranged.

Review at each milestone, briefly and in writing

Hold a short review at days 30, 60 and 90. Go through each outcome: met, partly met or not met, with a sentence of evidence. Adjust the next phase if the first one showed the plan was unrealistic.

Record the reviews. If the role has a probation period, these notes become the evidence for the confirmation decision, which is far easier to defend than a manager's recollection at the end of six months.

Hand the plan into the normal cycle

At day ninety the plan ends. Its last review should produce the person's first ordinary goals or KRAs for the rest of the year, so there is no gap between the onboarding plan and the regular performance cycle.

Checklist

Before you call it done

Every guide ends here rather than in a summary. If a line below is not true yet, that is the next thing to do.

Plan written before or on the first day
Three to five outcomes per phase, each one checkable
At least one outcome per phase tied to the role's KRAs
Support, access and contacts listed for each phase
Reviews scheduled at days 30, 60 and 90
Each review recorded with evidence against each outcome
Plan notes available for the probation review
Regular goals set at the day-90 review

FAQs

Questions about this guide

A short written plan for a new hire's first three months, split into a learning phase, a contributing phase and an owning phase, each with a few checkable outcomes.
The manager drafts it, ideally before the person joins, and agrees it with the new hire in the first week. HR makes sure one exists and that reviews happen.
Three to five outcomes per phase is usually enough. More than that turns the plan into a task list nobody remembers.
No. Probation is a contractual period. The plan is a working document whose reviews provide evidence for the probation decision.

Every question, in one place

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Work through this against your own setup

The checklist above is generic by necessity. Bring your own structures, states and rota and we will tell you which lines are already true and which are not.

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