Workplace Documentation - Who, Why, and What Are We Documenting

Overview:

This webinar will cover best practices in documentation and worst practices. How to help your managers understand the importance of documentation enough so that it will become a priority for them. We'll cover how to and how not to write, store, present and use documentation. We'll look at bad examples, good examples and disastrous examples.

Why should you attend:

In HR and as managers we are always advised to document, document, document… But deciding what should be documented, how situations should be stated, what words to use, what to include or not and how NOT to can be tricky if someone has never been trained. Who sees the documentation and how it is used becomes trickiest of all. For many a company documentation has been used to their detriment, whether deservedly or not.

Even more problematic is that managers often keep a hodgepodge file on employees that they consider their own personal, personnel file. That file usually contains blunt, unvarnished and highly personalized opinions and reflections on the personnel they manage. Using that unsound documentation to generate documentation or sometimes even to cover up unsound management practices can turn a bad situation into a costly one in terms of both people and the business.

Areas Covered in the Session:

• What to think about before you write it all down and how to review before signatures are in place
• 12 criteria for good documentation
• What you don't write down can be as important as what you do - considering timing and purpose
• Emails = e for evidence
• Documentation on the fly or remotely - what to jot and what to not
• Signatures - When and how to get them and just as importantly - how to not
• How to make documentation "real" for managers
• "Building a File" - Rarely a good idea, yet often the only documentation skill at which bad managers excel
• Keeping it private - Determining Need To Know vs Want to Know
• Checking documentation for accuracy before making a negative employment decision
• Using even less than positive documentation effectively in difficult conversations

Who Will Benefit:

• Managers
• Branch Managers
• Store Managers
• HR Generalists
• HR Managers
• Plant Managers
• Management
• Business Owners