Do's and Don'ts of Documenting Employee Behavior, Performance, and Discipline

The absence of solid documentation is the single most common mistake employers make when handling employee performance, behavior and discipline issues.

Not properly documenting, or not documenting at all, can hurt employers and employees in several ways. Documentation can make or break a manager’s ability to discipline, terminate, fairly promote, reward and recognize employees. Additionally, solid documentation will become an employer’s best friend when an employee brings discrimination or other employment-related claims against the organization.

Possessing a solid understanding of the do’s and don’ts of documenting employee performance, discipline, and behavior is an essential tool for managers and supervisors because they need to make a serious effort to effectively record all events in the employment history of their employees - both positive and negative.

Why you should Attend: Participants in this presentation will learn the importance of and how to create effective, bullet-proof documentation, recognize the pitfalls to avoid when documenting, the importance of the performance appraisal process, and understand documentation’s role in investigations and lawsuits.

Areas Covered in the Session:

• Importance of solid documentation
• Role documentation plays in investigations & lawsuits
• If it isn’t documented, it didn’t happen!
• What, When, & How to document
• Documenting as a routine task - don’t put it off!
• Errors & pitfalls when documenting performance & behavior
• Best practices & guidelines when documenting performance & behavior
• Analyzing performance & behavioral problems
• What is Progressive Discipline?
• Utilizing Progress Discipline in your workplace
• Handling employee disagreements with disciplinary and/or performance write-ups
• What to do when an employee refuses to sign/acknowledge performance write-ups
• Documentation examples: The good, bad & the ugly!
• Use of Subjective vs. Objective terminology & examples
• Assessing the risks of taking action versus not taking action
• Stakeholder responsibilities in the Performance Appraisal process
• Factors that distort performance appraisals
• Common issues when providing feedback & how to overcome them
• Tactics for providing effective feedback
• Pitfalls to avoid when assessing performance
• Goals & key elements of conducting effective investigations of performance & behavior
• Taking corrective action
• Documentation retention

• Business Owners
• Human Resources professionals
• Managers & Supervisors
• Project Managers
• Team Leaders
• Compliance professionals
• Operations professionals
• Talent Development professionals