Do’s and Don’ts of Documenting Employee Performance and Behavior

Why Should You Attend:

Most HR professionals recognize the importance of documenting employees’ performance problems.

The challenge, however, is to teach managers how to document those issues in an appropriate manner and get them to actually do the documentation.

The purpose of documenting performance problems properly isn’t just to protect the employer in case a worker files a lawsuit. It’s also to show the steps we’ve taken to help someone be successful. This is particularly important if the performance or behavior does not improve and leads to discipline and/or termination.

Good documentation creates credibility for the employer by showing that employees are treated in a fair and consistent manner. Some common mistakes include:

• Making vague, unclear statements about what the employee needs to do to improve.
• Adding personal attacks or subjective comments.
• Providing little or no evidence to support decisions to discipline or terminate an employee.

This webinar will examine the steps of documentation and provide a guide to better and more effective documentation. The steps include:

• Describe company expectations. Clearly state what the job description or the company policies require.
• Describe the behavior or performance that must change (or that you want to continue). Describe the conduct, not the individual.
• Having a two-way conversation shows the manager’s attempt to be fair and learn how to help the individual.
• Prepare a detailed action plan that the employee should use to improve performance.
• Set deadlines for correcting the behavior or performance.
• Describe the consequences if the behavior or poor performance continues, which may include discipline and/or termination.
• Avoid vague phrases that could provide grounds for discrimination lawsuits.

Areas Covered in the Webinar:

• How and what to document.
• When documentation should be used.
• The “rules” of documentation.
• The documentation conversation.
• The consequences of poor documentation.
• The Performance conversation

Who Will Benefit:

• Human Resource Professionals
• Human Resource Manager
• VP Human Resources
• Director of Human Resources
• Anyone with management responsibilities

Greg Chartier
Principal, HRinfo4u

Dr. Chartier is the Principal of HRinfo4u, a human resource consulting firm and a well-known educator and speaker. As a consultant, he works with organizations to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their human resource function. He has worked extensively in designing, developing and implementing human resource program, procedures and systems for smaller and mid-size firms up and down the Hudson Valley.

Greg is a thought-provoking professional speaker and his wisdom and insights into management and leadership make him an electrifying speaker and seminar leader. His seminars are customized to reinforce company mission, vision, values and culture and the content is practical for team leaders, managers, supervisors and executives alike.

Dr. Chartier has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, an MBA in Finance and a PhD in Human Resources. He is a National Member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and is certified by the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and a Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR) as well as a Senior Certified Professional (SCP) by SHRM.

He served on the Board of the local SHRM Chapter, the Westchester Human Resources Management Association (WHRMA), as the Treasurer for nine years. In addition, Greg served on the Board of the Business Council of Westchester in a variety of capacities including Chair of the Human Resources Council.

He worked with the Continuing and Professional Education Program at Pace University and was a member of the faculty of the New York Medical College, in the Masters’ in Public Health Program.

He is the author of What Law Did You Break Today? A guide to the federal laws and regulations that employers must comply with.

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