What are the ABC's of documentation?

Managers and supervisors need the ability to create a well-written, clear and convincing document that will withstand review and challenge. Every organization has its own documentation format and procedures. Find out what they are in your organization and follow them.

In general, here are the ABC's of documentation:

• Document communication with all employees. Similar job-related communications should be documented for all employees, including both positive and negative comments and occurrences. The documentation process should not be used to build a case against one employee if other employees in similar situations did not have their actions documented. Inconsistent documentation could be used as proof that a person was chosen for discharge for unlawful reasons.
• Documentation should give details. Avoid making broad, general statements or unsupported conclusions. Instead, deal with the facts, be specific and tell a story. Don't use labels. Date every document. When defending a disciplinary decision, it is useful to show when the employee was given written warnings. If the warnings were given a short time before the termination, they are persuasive. If, on the other hand, the warnings were given two years earlier, and the employee had no further violations until the time of the termination, the warning may not be relevant.
• Documentation should be timely. To ensure accuracy, documentation should be done as soon as possible. Make quick notes of the time and place of the event, whether the observed behavior was appropriate and whether the action taken was effective. This helps to remember the event. These notes then can be used to write either a short, hand-written summary or a more extensive report on the situation, including witness statements and supporting evidence. Forms reflecting your organization's procedures may be available to you.
• Involve the employee. Where possible, involve the employee in the actual process. Encourage the employee to write summaries of manager-supervisor conferences and include these summaries as part of the official record. Employee input makes the process fairer. Some disciplinary forms require employee signatures and provide the employee with a copy in order to show that the employee is on notice of what is wrong and what must be changed.
• Final review. Before documentation is filed in an employee's personnel file, ask another manager or a human resources representative to read and sign off on it. This final review ensures that no improper comments are contained in the file. It also ensures consistency with organization policy and procedure and that there is an accurate record that can be relied upon to explain the action.
• Document retention. Organizations usually have policies on the length of time documentation is retained, and provide for removal and destruction after a certain period of time if there are no further disciplinary events. Documentation may be retained indefinitely as a permanent part of the employee's file.