Ask an employee to review and sign an acknowledgment of your documentation. While some workers may refuse to comply, your offer shows good faith. You signal that you want to keep transparent records that accurately reflect what everyone agrees has occurred. Document any instances when employees reject your offer to read or sign your notes.
- WARNING: Be an equal-opportunity note-taker. Don't just document the failings of poor employees. Build a file on every worker, noting performance issues-good and bad-for everyone on your team. Documenting positive performance makes you appear as a supervisor who is fair and without an ax to grind. If you limit your documentation to troublemakers, you can wind up on shaky legal ground if opposing counsel claims you were "out to get" a certain individual from the start while you ignored or protected others.
- THE EAP CAN HELP: Consult with the EAP regarding the language used in documentation. The EAP can't write your documentation, of course, but it can provide you with do's and dont's that make documentation effective and useful to the organization so it can be relied upon to support a disciplinary or other administrative action.
It's True! Employees-and their attorneys-routinely dispute what you may deem an irrefutable fact. That's why it's important to beef up a file with evidence to support your documentation. Consider including detailed eyewitness reports, photos, copies of dated emails or other exhibits that underscore the unambiguous nature of the facts.
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Tip Block 10 minutes a day to document your substantive discussions with employees. The best time to reserve for documentation is the last 10 minutes before you leave the office; that way, the day's events are fresh in your mind. After you document your employees' files, create a ritual of locking your file cabinet as your final act of the workday.
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