How to create a 30-60-90 day plan

Starting a new job feels a lot like drinking from a firehose. While both the new employee and their manager are eager to reach the point of self-sufficiency and full productivity, there’s a steep learning curve to get there.

New hires need to learn who does what (and everybody’s name). They need to be briefed on the company’s mission, vision, values, and policies. They need to learn the systems and software. And that’s all before they touch any of their actual job responsibilities.

It’s a lot – and a 30-60-90 day plan helps managers and new hires align expectations and tackle those crucial early days with a clear sense of direction.

In this article, learn:

• What is a 30-60-90 day plan
• What's in a 30-60-90 plan
• What a 30-60-90 plan looks like
• An example of a 30-60-90 plan
• Best practices for designing a 30-60-90 plan

What is a 30-60-90 day plan?

A 30-60-90 day plan is a written document that outlines the objectives and milestones for an employee's first three months with the company. It details what the employee is expected to focus on as well as what they are expected to achieve by day 30, 60, and 90 of their employment.

This plan can be created by the employee’s manager, the employee themselves, or the human resources department.

However, it’s most effective when it’s a collaborative effort between the employee and their new manager. This gives them an opportunity to establish trust, forge a solid bond, learn about each other, and ensure they’re on the same page about what the next few months will look like.

After the employee and manager complete the plan, they should store it in a place that’s accessible to both of them and also share it with human resources so that there’s a record of what was agreed upon.

What does a 30-60-90 day plan include?

Much like any other career development plan, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all mold for a 30-60-90 day plan. Exactly what’s included can run the gamut depending on the specific role, company, or industry. A new sales hire might have specific sales targets to reach, while a new engineer might be focused on understanding the development environment or other learning objectives.

At a basic level, a solid 30-60-90 day plan will cover:

• Monthly vision or theme: Starting a new job involves an avalanche of information. Setting an overall theme or focus for the month helps to provide some structure and clarity.
• Goals or objectives: This is the meat of the plan. What are the expectations for each month? What should the employee work on?
• Success indicators: How will you and the employee know when they’ve been successful? What metrics do they need to meet, or what boxes do they need to check?

Your plan can be relatively simple. New hires are already buried under piles of paperwork, policies, and handbooks. So think of the 30-60-90 day plan as a high-level overview of what they need to work through – rather than an in-depth resource where everything is spelled out in detail.

What does a 30-60-90 day plan look like?

The 30-60-90 day plan is a living document accessible by the employee, the manager, and the human resources department. You might need to update it as the employee gets up to speed or as plans change.

If you’re looking for a starting point, here’s a helpful 30-60-90 day plan template and an example of what it can look like when you fill in the details.

30-60-90 day plan template

[Employee Name]’s 30-60-90 day plan

Employee: [Employee Name]

Manager: [Manager Name]

Position: [Job Title]

Start date: [Date]

Month #1: First 30 days

You’ll focus on: [Overarching theme or vision for the month]

You’ll work on:

• [Objective or task]
• [Objective or task]
• [Objective or task]

You’ll achieve:

• [Metric or milestone]
• [Metric or milestone]
• [Metric or milestone]

Month #2: First 60 days

You’ll focus on: [Overarching theme or vision for the month]

You’ll work on:

• [Objective or task]
• [Objective or task]
• [Objective or task]

You’ll achieve:

• [Metric or milestone]
• [Metric or milestone]
• [Metric or milestone]

Month #3: First 90 days

You’ll focus on: [Overarching theme or vision for the month]

You’ll work on:

• [Objective or task]
• [Objective or task]
• [Objective or task]

You’ll achieve:

• [Metric or milestone]
• [Metric or milestone]
• [Metric or milestone]

30-60-90 day plan example

Andy Bernard’s 30-60-90 day plan

Employee: Andy Bernard

Manager: Michael Scott

Position: Sales Development Representative

Start date: March 13, 2023

Month #1: First 30 days

You’ll focus on: Groundwork

You’ll work on:

• Reviewing the employee handbook and company policies
• Learning about each department’s role and members
• Completing new hire enrollment and paperwork
• Navigating Salesforce system and processes

You’ll achieve:

• Detailed understanding of who does what on the team
• Completed enrollment in benefits and other HR systems
• Surface level understanding of Salesforce

Month #2: First 60 days

You’ll focus on: Relationships

You’ll work on:

• Forging relationships with key sales accounts
• Building rapport with the rest of the sales team
• Understanding our various vendors and suppliers

You’ll achieve:

• Personal meetings and introductions to each of your key sales accounts
• One-on-one meetings with each of the sales staff
• Presentation from each of our major vendors

Month #3: First 90 days

You’ll focus on: Productivity

You’ll work on:

• Updating your own accounts in Salesforce
• Prospecting for new business
• Establishing your own process for nurturing existing business

You’ll achieve:

• Passing grade on the Salesforce proficiency test
• Closed reorders with at least three existing customers
• At least three new prospects in the pipeline

Making the most of a 30-60-90 day plan

A 30-60-90 day plan doesn’t need to be exhaustive and detailed in order to be helpful – it simply needs to give a new employee a clear understanding of what to do as they get started with your organization.

The template and example will set you on the right course, but here are a few more important things to remember as you hash out these plans with new team members.

1. Consider employee career goals

The new hire was brought on to support broader team and company objectives. But onboarding is also a fragile time in the employee experience – an estimated 30% of new hires quit within the first 90 days of getting hired.

The 30-60-90 day plan can’t be focused exclusively on squeezing every last drop of value and productivity out of a brand-new employee. Create a mutually beneficial plan that highlights that they made the right move by choosing to work for your organization.

To do this, include some early objectives that support any career goals the new hire has already shared with you. For example, if they mentioned excitement about being a champion and advocate of the company, provide the opportunity to attend a few industry events in their first few months.

2. Maintain realistic expectations

You and the entire team are excited to have that person onboard – and they’re excited to be there. But enthusiasm doesn’t change the fact that starting a new job is a daunting experience.

Figures vary, but it can take anywhere from eight weeks all the way up to nine months for a new hire to achieve full productivity. Expecting an employee to make a meaningful impact on your organization within a couple of weeks only sets you and your new hire up for disappointment and failure.

Working collaboratively on the plan will help keep expectations in check. It’s also worth reviewing past plans for similar roles and soliciting feedback from people in similar positions to understand what’s reasonable within the first three months.

3. Get specific

There’s an overarching expectation about onboarding: that the new hire learns to do their job. However, “learn to do your job” isn’t helpful direction for new employees when they’re just getting their feet wet

As the above 30-60-90 day plan example and template show, it’s important to be as clear as possible about exactly what the employee is expected to do during that time frame – and how they’ll know if they’re successfully meeting those expectations.

While you don’t want to micromanage, remember that new employees don’t always have the necessary visibility and context. You might need to be a little more explicit and directive in those first weeks and months than you would like to be moving forward.

Your 30-60-90 day plan is just the start

The 30-60-90 day plan is a crucial piece of your onboarding process – but it’s not the whole process.

This plan exists to give new employees a framework to follow as they get up to speed on their role and your organization, but you’ll want to supplement it with other important parts of your onboarding process like:

• Mentoring or shadowing programs
• On-the-job training
• Team bonding and social activities
• Regular opportunities for employees to provide feedback

When only 12% of employees strongly agree that their organization does a solid job with onboarding, those early weeks are your chance to set yourself apart and prove to your new employees that you’re invested in their success – not just for the first 90 days, but for the long haul.

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