In the field of human resources and employment, documentation regarding a worker’s performance can make or break your strategies to terminate, discipline, or reward, promote, and recognize your workers fairly. Performance documentation is essential for human resource staff and managers, and so, you must make serious efforts to ensure there’s no employee improperly classified as an independent contractor, and all events (both positive and negative) are perfectly documented.

Here is why employee performance documentation is essential to your business growth.

Guide Improvement:

Documenting an employee’s performance makes it easier for a manager to review a worker’s performance profile and take note of trends, repeated issues, and changes in performance. This data can be used in the process of defining challenges and setting goals.

Avoid or Prepare for Lawsuits:

Though there’s no amount of documentation that can keep your business from being sued, having the right details about an employee’s performance can help prepare for such issues. In some cases, it’s easier to resolve the problems with your employees if you have accurate documentation.

Helps in Planning:

Proper documentation of employees’ performance can help plan effectively. It helps managers see the specific path a worker is on (is worker improving performance or going southwards). Based on these details, the management team can plan effectively.

Moreover, proper documentation of employees’ performance can also aid in customizing employee health plans. This allows the management team to identify any potential issues or areas for improvement in an employee’s performance and tailor their health plan accordingly, leading to a more effective and personalized approach to employee wellness.

What Should be Documented?

The human resource staff or managers should document worker’s performance, and this includes both positive and negative contributions (performance failure). The details of what the worker did or said, and the specific response from the manager must be indicated.

Besides, the agreements made during various conversations, expected improvements, goals set, and the timeline for those objectives must be documented clearly. Remember, the documentation must contain the specific commitments that a manager makes to help a particular worker.

Tips for Documenting Worker Performance

Tip #1: Follow a specific format consistently:

This makes it easy to make comparisons with the previous period’s worker performance.

Tip #2: Record the essential details correctly:

Right from basics such as the worker’s name, date, a specific department, performance period, to finer details like employment status, and the manager’s name, make sure the relevant information is recorded accurately.

Tip #3: Follow an accurate goals rating system:

Establish a reliable rating system that you will use to assign each of your worker’s performance goals. This will make it easier to assess one’s performance and compare it with the performance of his or her peers.

Tip #4: Don’t ignore the worker’s personal attributes and job skills:

These may include sections such as attention to detail, accountability, teamwork, and initiative. There should be a space for the manager or worker’s supervisor to comment on the worker’s competencies.

You shouldn’t try to interpret the worker’s behavior and minimize the use of descriptive words. Just state the worker’s specific action and behavior and not your interpretation or opinion about it. When done correctly, employee performance documentation makes it easier to evaluate, make comparisons, and set goals for individual workers.