{"id":5966,"date":"2018-09-04T10:36:35","date_gmt":"2018-09-04T14:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/?p=5966"},"modified":"2024-08-30T11:11:57","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T15:11:57","slug":"documenting-employee-performance-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/documenting-employee-performance-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of Documenting Employee Performance Problems"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"documentingThe importance of documenting employee performance problems as they occur cannot be overstated. Although this requires meeting with the employee and discussing the issue, which will almost certainly be uncomfortable, it\u2019s your best defense to a wrongful termination claim should the employee feel litigious after termination.<\/p>\n

Too many employers rely on the concept of employment-at-will<\/a> to protect them when the reach of this concept is actually quite limited. The problem is that if an employer has little to no documentation and relies on at-will employment \u2014 and the theory that legally no reason is required \u2014 the terminated employee, their attorney, and possibly a jury of their peers will fill the blank with an illegal reason. Although you may be within your rights to terminate \u201cfor no reason,\u201d it\u2019s a dangerous position to take.<\/p>\n

But if the threat of litigation isn\u2019t compelling enough, there are other reasons to deal with performance and behavioral issues promptly and with documentation. Addressing performance and behavioral issues as they arise will improve performance and behavior! <\/em>There are a few basic principles working in your favor when you commit to the mantra of \u201cdon\u2019t delay, manage today.\u201d Here are just a few:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. If they don\u2019t know they\u2019re doing something wrong, they can\u2019t fix it.<\/em> A huge number of employees don\u2019t realize their performance or behavior is a problem\u2014or that it\u2019s as bad as it is\u2014until they are being handed their pink slip. Talking to them about it will likely lead to you having a better employee and reduce hefty turnover costs.<\/li>\n
  2. No one likes being in trouble. <\/em>If you talk to an employee about an issue and they understand that failure to improve will result in another talking to, they are likely to shape up. If they are impervious to discipline, then addressing issues early and often will help you shepherd them out the door more quickly, so you can replace them with someone better.<\/li>\n
  3. Documentation makes it real for the employee. <\/em>It\u2019s easy to brush off a quick, oral scolding time and again, but when employees know something is \u201cgoing in the file,\u201d they are likely to take it much more seriously.<\/li>\n
  4. Other employees will catch on. <\/em>If you are consistent in addressing performance and behavioral issues, your employees will know it. But consistency is key. If you only haul employees in sporadically for failing to meet expectations, you won\u2019t reap the benefits of a culture of accountability.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Ultimately, talking to employees and making a paper trail will serve you both during employment, by encouraging better performance and reducing turnover costs<\/a>, and after, should they threaten to sue.<\/p>\n

    Get access to useful HR tips and information with GTM’s HR services<\/a>. Contact us<\/a> today for a quote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Documenting employee performance problems as they occur is beneficial to employers in many ways.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[266],"tags":[49,18,19],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-5966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-consulting-services","tag-culture","tag-employer-policies","tag-human-resources"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5966"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5966\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5972,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5966\/revisions\/5972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5966"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=5966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}