Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links, and High Road Management Training LLC may earn a commission if you purchase through these links. Please note that we at High Road Management Training LLC only provide links to products, programs, suppliers etc. because we have vetted and recommend them in certain situations. There is no additional cost to you.
If you’ve ever had to fire someone or discipline an employee, then you know how important good documentation that supports your decision is. As a manager, your job is to provide clear direction and guidance for employees, but also manage to keep them on track by providing feedback. If things don’t go well and disciplinary action is needed, then your documentation will be used as evidence when it comes time to make decisions about future employment opportunities.
If an employee is in breach of company policy and their performance is not improving after warnings have been issued, it may be necessary to move to formal disciplinary action. As the person responsible for managing your organization’s employees, you have a responsibility to ensure that everyone is aware of company policies and procedures. If an employee is in breach of company policy and their performance is not improving after warnings have been issued, it may be necessary to move to formal disciplinary action.
Documentation supports you when making decisions around disciplinary action because it provides evidence that you’ve dealt with any problems in a fair and consistent manner. The documentation can also show that both parties have tried their best to resolve issues before taking further action (which is likely to be more effective than if they don’t).
Documentation is important when supporting the disciplinary process
Documentation is an important part of the disciplinary process for a variety of reasons. Without it, you can’t support your decisions with evidence or provide consistency across cases. In order to show that you are simple “not after” someone, you need to be sure that you can support your actions with evidence of past actions that you have taken to remediate the situation.
Documentation helps protect yourself against legal challenges by showing that:
- You followed a fair process using objective criteria
- The employee was given enough time to improve their performance before being disciplined
- You took into account any extenuating circumstances when deciding whether to take disciplinary action
Documentation also helps protect your organization against legal challenges. In addition, it helps you make decisions by providing objective evidence of performance problems, which can be hard to identify when working directly with employees. You may find that you need to document your attempts at helping an employee change his or her behavior. Documentation can be used as a way of showing the employee that you are trying to help improve their performance and make them understand what is expected of them.
Documentation Shows Your Actions
Consistency and fairness shows up in properly documented cases. It also shows that you have followed the correct procedure when dealing with an employee’s performance issues. Documentation also shows that you tried to help the employee improve their work by giving them feedback, guidance and support. In addition, documentation shows that you tried to help the employee understand the consequences of their actions (including disciplinary action) so they can avoid making similar mistakes again in the future.
Creating a paper trail of documentation
You may find that you need to document your attempts at helping an employee change his or her behavior.
Documentation also helps if you need to take more severe action against an employee, such as terminating them or even filing charges against them with law enforcement. Having copies of past documentation will show that you have taken every step possible to try and solve a problem before moving on to harsher disciplinary measures. In short: If you want your documentation for disciplinary issues to be effective and thorough, it’s critical that you create a paper trail showing all of the steps you’ve taken towards remediation (or resolution)
Documentation can support an employee’s efforts too
If a disciplinary action is warranted, it’s important to document your efforts and those of the employee to meet agreed-upon goals, mitigate complaints and stay the course. If you have not been able to help an employee improve or meet expectations in the past, consider documenting why you believe this was so in their file. This will help protect against future suits by showing that you were working with them and doing everything possible before resorting to discipline.
Documentation Provides Managers with Options
If you follow the correct procedure and your employee fails to make improvements after being disciplined, dismissal becomes an option. One of the biggest benefits of documentation is that it can provide you with legal protection if your employee sues you for wrongful termination. Documentation is also important in a disciplinary process because it shows the effort and time put into trying to get the employee up to par, and it provides evidence that you have dealt with disciplinary issues in a fair and consistent manner.
If an employee fails to make improvements after being disciplined, dismissal becomes an option. In this case, having evidence of poor performance may help prove your case when explaining why you’re terminating their employment.
Documentation is important for legal protection from wrongful termination
One of the most important reasons to document disciplinary actions is for legal protection. Documentation will show that you gave the employee a chance to improve and that you were fair, consistent and thorough in your efforts to help him or her do so.
If an employee files a wrongful termination claim against you, having documentation showing that he or she was disciplined for poor performance can be very valuable in defending against such claims.
Conclusion
Documentation is an important part of any business, but it’s especially critical when dealing with performance issues. Whether you’re trying to improve or change behavior, or just need proof that you’ve tried to do so, documentation is the best way to keep your employer-employee relationship good and fair—no matter what the situation may be.
