Signing example
Sign a performance improvement plan online
A performance improvement plan is only fair if the employee can put their own words on it and the dates cannot move afterwards. This three page envelope gives the employee initials on the goals and the review timetable, a comment box that is theirs alone, and a stamped signature date, then routes the plan to the manager and the HR partner in that order.
Who signs what
- Dominic Achebe, the employee, signs first
- Initials on pages 1 and 2 · Employee comments, typed on page 3 · Signature and stamped date on page 3 · Verified by emailed one-time code
- Ines Delacroix, the manager, signs second
- Signature block: Name, Title, Date · Email link
- Aroha Ngata, the People partner, signs last
- Signature block: Name, Title, Date · Email link
The signing journey
Step 1
Seven fields across three people
The employee gets an initials spot at the foot of pages 1 and 2, a comment box, a signature and a date on page 3. The manager and the People partner get a block each.
Step 2
The employee opens it with a code
Set to the emailed one-time code, the link shows a verification card rather than the plan. The code lasts ten minutes, is redeemable once, and five wrong attempts lock the recipient.
Step 3
One drawing fills both initials and the signature
Dominic drew once. The portal filled the page 1 and page 2 initials spots and the page 3 signature from that single drawing, scrolling him spot to spot, and he typed his own comment into the box before submitting.
Step 4
The manager, then the People partner
Each invitation was generated only when the previous signature landed, so both countersignatures sit on a plan the employee has already seen, initialled and commented on. Each block printed a role heading in capitals over a name, a typed title and a stamped date.
Step 5
One certified plan, three entries
The listener stamped each set of fields in turn, certified the finished file and emailed it to all three signers and the sender. The certificate shows the employee as Email link + emailed one-time code and the other two as Email link, over the full event log.
Every field, and who fills it
Seven fields. The employee owns five: two initials spots, a comment box, a signature and a date. The manager and the HR partner own one signature block each, both with Name, Title and Date switched on. Only four of those lines are typed by a person, because Name comes from the recipient record and all three dates stamp themselves from the moment each person submits. The sender cannot pre-type the comment either, since the editor offers a field label and a Required switch and nothing else.
How to adapt this envelope
First, where a support person attends the meetings, add a fourth recipient with their own signature so the plan records who was present. Second, where the plan is extended at week eight, send a fresh one page extension envelope rather than editing this one, because a sent envelope is locked. Third, where the employee should acknowledge each goal separately, replace the two initials spots with three, one beside each measure.
Why a signed plan matters if it later goes further
An improvement plan is the document a later process is judged against: were the goals measurable, was support offered, were the dates real. A certified PDF carrying initials on the goals page, a comment in the employee's words, three signatures with IP addresses and consent timestamps, and a hash chained event log answers all of that from one file.
What makes this signing flow work
The employee's words are on the plan
The comment box is stamped onto page 3 in the employee's own typing and travels with the plan wherever it goes. It is the difference between a signature that looks like agreement with the assessment and one that records receipt plus a recorded disagreement.
Initials put the goals and the dates beyond argument
The page carrying the three measures and the page carrying the review timetable each hold the employee's initials, hashed to the same signature image as the signature itself. Nobody can later say the measures or the week eight date were added afterwards.
Three signatures in the order the process runs
The employee receives, the manager owns the plan, the People partner oversees it. Sign in order makes the file match that sequence, and the certificate's timestamps show it happening in that order rather than everyone signing a blank copy at once.
Questions people ask
Does signing mean the employee agrees with the assessment?
No. The plan says signing records that it was received and discussed, and the comment box is where any disagreement goes. What the envelope stores is a signature, a time, an address and whatever the employee chose to type, nothing broader.
Is a typed signature valid on an improvement plan?
The portal offers a drawn pad and a typed name and treats them the same way. A typed name is rendered to an image, hashed, stored and stamped exactly as a drawing is, with the same code verification and consent record. Whether a signature binds is a question for your jurisdiction.
Can the manager sign before the employee?
Not on this envelope. Sign in order is on with the employee first, so the manager's invitation is generated only when the employee's signature lands, and the HR partner's only after the manager's. Every countersignature sits on a plan already received.
What if the employee declines to sign?
The envelope moves to declined, nothing further is stamped, and the sender gets a Declined email carrying the reason the employee typed. Neither countersigner is invited. The plan itself still stands; what is lost is the signed record that it was handed over.
How long is the signing link live?
Thirty days from when the envelope was created, for all three signers, and nothing in the app changes that. After that the link answers that the signing request has expired. Resend rotates a link and clears any lockout from failed code attempts.
Does the employee initial every page separately?
No. One drawing fills both initials spots and the page 3 signature at once, and the header counts them as Signature 1 of 3 through to 3 of 3 while scrolling to each. Below 560 pixels the plan goes read only and the comment box moves into a panel above it.
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Want the steps in the builder? Read Add several signers to one envelope, then Send a PDF for e-signature. For everything this generator can do, see the signing flow maker.
Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .