Employee Documentation

I am sure that this sounds familiar to you .......

• He said ....... She said



• I said ..... You said



• We said ..... They said



• It's my word against your word



• .....and on and on and on.

When employee behavior is not documented, it becomes difficult to remember exactly what happened and even more difficult for the business owner or manager to have any credibility. I can hear your objections now. "Document? Don't you know how time-consuming that is? Are you aware of how much effort it takes? I'm too busy to stop what I'm doing to document that my employee came in late for the third time in five days. I have many important things to do. After all, I have a business to run."

I have heard all of that before. Well, I have news for you. Employee documentation is an important part of running that business. If you have been reading this blog, you know we talked about the importance of hiring the best employees because employees represent you and your company. We said it was very difficult predicting who would turn out to be a good employee. Well, when you have chosen the wrong employee (and we all do that from time to time), or when a good employee goes bad for any one of several reasons, you have to be able to take the proper action.


The opposite is also true. When an employee has performed exceptionally well and you want to give an employee a raise or promotion, you want to be able to justify your action. You want to give raises and promotions for the right reason - because of job performance. And you certainly don't want to be accused of showing favoritism. Thus, whether you want to terminate, discipline, give a salary increase, or promote an employee, documentation will be a major ally in accomplishing the task.

Here is what has worked well for many business owners and managers. The day before the employee starts work, you have their employee file prepared. It contains the standard employee documents such as their application, resume, W-4 form, I-9 form, etc. It also contains an "employee documentation form." That form will be used to record those action which will justify your future decisions - salary increase, no salary increase, promotion, demotion, discipline, termination, or whatever course of action you are considering.

The form should contain the date that the behavior or situation occurred and the date you are making the entry. It should contain ample space for you to describe what occurred, i.e. employee arriving late, calling in to report off, receiving a high compliment from a customer, helping a fellow employee achieve a sale, etc. Finally, it should have place for the employee to initial and date to acknowledge that you reviewed the situation with him and he is aware that it has been recorded in his file.

Document quickly after a situation has occurred. The more time that elapses, the harder it is for you to recall exact details - and the more likely you are to let the actions "slide."

With this kind of documentation, there is no future "I said .... you said." It is all recorded in black and white with both parties having signed in agreement to what occurred. All too often an owner or manager says, "That is the fourth time you were late this month," and the employee says, "No, I was only late one other time." He asks the owner to name the dates and the owner is sure he was late but can't remember when. All credibility is gone.

Yes, it is time-consuming to document. It takes time away from other things that you would probably enjoy doing. Some business owners have difficulty talking about the unpleasant subjects to their employees. If you do, then you need to either learn how, or get out of management. Disciplining employees is as important to a business owner as disciplining children is to parents.

Just remember, the documentation form is your ally. It helps protect you, your business and your employees, and it will be an important tool for performance reviews.

In future postings we will discuss the performance review, employee motivation, and management by objectives. Reader comments are always welcomed. Readers are also encouraged to suggest any topics that they would like to see discussed in the future.