Why Is Employee Performance Documentation Important - Workology

Why Is Employee Performance Documentation Important Employee Performance Documentation Documenting the progression of our employees training, performance and development is critical for managers because documentation provides independent and objective evidence of what happened or what didnt happen. Employee Performance Documentation Somewhere along the way, however,  documentation has become the way managers built a case against employees to prove cause to demote or terminate for poor performance.  As a result, employees have become suspicious and uncooperative with the performance documentation process. They either refuse to participate or refuse to sign off on anything they perceive as negative because they dont want bad things going in their permanent record. They dont care that they have a right to add their comments to the forms. They dont believe their signature is an acknowledgement and not agreement to the contents. They simply do not trust that management isnt planning to use the information against them at any more to justify an employment decision that will adversely impact them in some way. They are usually right. As managers,  we are generally conditioned to handle documentation this way. Im guilty of it as the HR person. Ive had countless conversations with managers about the importance of documenting negative performance trends and Ive had just as many conversations with managers about how their failure to praise their employees is causing low morale, dissatisfaction, turnover, etc  We chastise managers for failing to give consistent praise and positive feedback but we dont hold them accountable to document it the way we do for the negative stuff. If our goal is to correct inappropriate or non-productive behavior so employees truly improve instead of turning over, weve go to change this.  If our goal is to redirect off track employees onto the right path, weve got to change this. If we want our feedback and review processes to have real meaning and value, weve got to change this. How? Simple. Document the good. Not simple emails or pats on the backs but true documentation. Take time at least 3 times each year to outline the positive behaviors and results of the consistent and outstanding performers among your employees. That way, when/if negative feedback comes 1) it will not be a surprise, 2) it will not completely cripple or discourage the employee and 3) the employee will be much more receptive and responsive feedback. The only time employees have documents to sign shouldnt be when theyre hired, fired or when something is wrong. By adding in documentation on positive performance trends alongside whatever corrective documentation is needed, youll create trust with you employees, set the atmosphere for truly productive feedback and assemble a historical records that  illustrates  the totality of performance. Thats the case worth building.