PLEASE—document employee discussions

For years we have regularly encouraged you to carefully document your discussions with employees. While there are a variety of practical reasons to document employee discussions, the bottom line is that good documentation is an integral part of good management whether you are dealing with processes, policies or people.

When documenting employee-related issues remember the following:

• Document your discussion in a timely manner. That means you should sign and date the document. (DO NOT back date a document after the fact.)
• Stick to the facts—the who, what, where and when of the issue.
• Focus on how the employee’s behavior relates to company policy. If the employee violated policy, state the policy that was violated and how the violation occurred.
• Avoid including your opinions or impressions.
• Avoid legal language or conclusions.
• Avoid inflammatory language or moral judgments.
• Avoid medical language or diagnosis.
• If performance changes are required, clearly identify the changes needed and the timeframe provided to achieve acceptable performance.
• If the discussion is disciplinary in nature, have the employee sign the document. Although this is not required, it establishes clearly that the employee was notified of performance deficiencies.
• Give the employee a copy of the document to ensure he or she clearly understands the issues discussed and the performance requirements.

Customer service is the name of the game
To be successful in today’s dynamic business environment, every member of an organization must understand who the customer is and how to address the customer’s needs. Keeping Contented Customers is a BAI seminar that provides a useful framework to help all employees identify and support their internal and external customers.

To learn more about this and other BAI services and workshops, call us today at 801.444.9919.