Informal warnings - the danger of undocumented conversations
The heart of any small business is usually its staff. They can often be quite close-knit, so line managers don’t want to create unnecessary tension when an issue arises. They’d rather have a quiet word here and there and avoid formal HR processes.
Examples of these types of quick chats, include:
Mentioning that timekeeping needs to improve
Asking an employee to change their attitude with customers
Highlighting repeated mistakes in their work
Reminding someone about company policies.
While it might be useful for the line manager and less confrontational for the employee to have these quick conversations, not documenting them can carry significant risk to the business.
From an HR perspective, these informal ‘warnings’ don’t really exist. If problems continue and need to be addressed again later down the line, each party could recall the conversation very differently from one another and struggle to remember what exactly was said.
It also makes it difficult to prove that the employee was initially warned/made aware of the issue and given a chance to improve.
Without any record, different managers may handle situations differently, which can create feelings of unfairness among colleagues.
If a situation were to progress to disciplinary action or even dismissal, a lack of documentation can weaken your case. Employment tribunals often look for evidence that the employee was informed about concerns and given a chance to improve.
You don’t have to go into much detail when it comes to getting things down on paper, simply log:
The date of the conversation
The issue discussed
The expectations moving forward
Any support offered.
This can be kept in the employee’s file or logged in a basic HR system.
Even a brief follow-up email such as, “Just confirming our chat today about improving punctuality. Let’s review progress in a couple of weeks,” can provide useful clarity.
Keeping a quick note of these conversations doesn’t make things formal, it just makes them clearer for you and your employee.
In a small business, taking a couple of minutes to write this down now can save you a lot of time and stress later.
We provide HR support for small businesses. If you need any advice or guidance when it comes to informal or formal warnings for employees, get in touch as we’d be happy to help.