SHRM26 Debrief · Legal & Compliant HR · #2844

Seven Steps for Perfecting Your Documentation

with Allison West

▶ Watch on the SHRM portal ~74 min, distilled

employee documentationperformance managementcoaching

"12 pissed-off employees... because if they can't get back at their company, they'll get back at yours."

What it was about

Poor or absent workplace documentation is one of the biggest liabilities employers face in litigation, because if it isn't documented, it's treated as though it didn't happen. Good documentation must be contemporaneous, specific, two-way, and free of opinions, exaggerations, and legal conclusions.

By the numbers

$5 million jury verdict

Federal trial in Spokane, WA, involving a failure-to-accommodate/disability claim with no documentation of the interactive process.

$3 million jury verdict

2011 case (Kaiser Permanente-related) involving a director-level nurse whose performance review used vague, undefined language like 'lack of engagement.'

19 protected characteristics

Number of protected characteristics recognized under California law, cited regarding risk of vague 'bad attitude' feedback.

Key notes

Create contemporaneous documentation at or around the time an event happens, and always write the actual date the conversation occurred rather than the date you got around to writing it up.
Follow a structure that includes the expectation, the behavior to change or continue, the employee's explanation, an action plan, a time frame, a follow-up plan, and (sparingly) a consequence.
Always get the employee's explanation for why they are not meeting expectations before writing anyone up, since it demonstrates two-way procedural fairness and can surface issues like disability, FMLA, or personal circumstances managers didn't know about.

The contrarian takeThe speaker says she personally dislikes formal annual performance reviews and believes continuous, real-time coaching and documentation matter far more. She also argues managers overcompensate with empathy in ways that erode basic expectations like showing up on time.

Take this back Monday

Do this for your team

Before writing any coaching note, ask the employee for their explanation first, then log it with the actual conversation date.

Say this in your next leadership meeting

If it's not documented, it's as though it didn't happen — so we're training managers to write specific, dated, two-way notes, not vague opinions.

Watch out for

Writing documentation that expresses personal opinions, sarcasm, or judgment (e.g., 'I would have expected more from someone with your background').
Using generalities and exaggerations like 'always,' 'never,' or 'I've told you a million times,' which destroy the writer's credibility once an employee can produce a single counterexample.
Making legal conclusions such as labeling behavior 'harassment' or 'hostile work environment' instead of describing the specific behavior observed.

Fun fact · Allison West

Allison West has discussed workplace harassment on PBS, CBS This Morning, and in O Magazine.

If this landed, see these

↳ Go deeperFrom Panic to Pattern: Make Feedback Routine, Not ReactiveTurns the seven steps into a weekly habit instead of a one-off write-up scramble.⇄ The counterpointAn Employment Lawyer’s Top 10 Reasons Why Employers Get Sued by Employees (And How To Prevent Them All)!Zooms out: sloppy documentation is just one of ten recurring ways employers get sued.✦ The unexpected oneGrappling with Gremlins: Three Steps to Managing Imposter SyndromeThe inner critic behind imposter syndrome is often what stalls honest documentation, too.