The process record checklist: what a defensible file actually contains

When a people decision gets questioned months later, the argument is rarely about whether you were right. It is about whether you can show how you got there, and that comes down to what is sitting in the file.

This is the checklist we work through with clients. It covers the three situations where the file matters most, and for each one it sets out what the file should contain and what a good version of it looks like.

It is deliberately generic, so you can use it either as a self audit on something you have already done, or as a running list while something is still in progress.

A performance conversation

What the file needs.

1. 1The standard. What good performance in this role looks like, written down before the conversation happened. Usually this lives in the position description, and if you are starting from nothing there, our guide on how to write a position description covers what belongs in one.
2. 2What actually happened. Specific examples with dates, rather than a general impression that has built up over time.
3. 3A record of the conversation. When it happened, who was in the room, what was said and what was agreed.
4. 4What support was offered. Training, supervision, a change to the workload, and whether it was actually provided.
5. 5A reasonable period to improve, with a review date that was genuinely met rather than quietly allowed to pass.
6. 6Written confirmation to the employee after each conversation, so there is no argument later about what was agreed.

Good looks like a record written on the day, in plain language, specific enough that someone who was not in the room could follow what happened and why.

A restructure or redundancy

What the file needs.

1. 1The business reason, written down before anyone was told.
2. 2The structure before and after, showing which roles changed and what happened to the work.
3. 3The consultation record. Who was consulted, when, what they raised and what you did with it.
4. 4Redeployment. What else was genuinely available, what was offered and what was declined.
5. 5The selection method, where more than one person held a similar role, and evidence of how it was applied.
6. 6The calculations. Notice, redundancy pay and accrued entitlements, with the award or agreement they come from. Our guide on redundancy pay for small business covers when it is payable.

An exit

What the file needs.

1. 1Everything that led up to it, in date order.
2. 2The reason for the exit, stated the same way in every document. Inconsistency here undoes an otherwise sound process.
3. 3Any steps required by the award, the contract, or the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code, with evidence each one was followed.
4. 4The final letter, where every reason given already appears earlier in the file.
5. 5The final pay calculation and what it is based on.
6. 6Property, system access and handover.

Good looks like a final letter that contains nothing a reader of the file would find surprising.

Three tests to run on any file

Whatever the situation, three questions will tell you quickly whether the record holds up.

1. 1Could someone outside your business work out why you acted, from the file alone?
2. 2Is every date the date the thing happened, rather than the date you wrote it up?
3. 3Does any reason appear for the first time in the final letter?

If the answer to the first is no, or the answer to the third is yes, there is a gap worth closing now while the detail is still fresh.

If you would rather not do this alone

Running a performance process, a restructure or an exit properly is mostly about doing ordinary things in the right order and writing them down as you go. If you want someone alongside you while you do it, that is exactly the sort of work we take on. Have a look at how our HR advisory works, or get in touch at hello@happyhumans.com.au.