Tweet

Small Business Employee Policies Series: Probationary Period

Guest post by: Dianne Shaddock

Article Overview: The probationary period, also called an orientation and review period is essentially a trial period for both you and your new employee to determine whether the job match is a good one. It is essential that you have an employee policy in place that will support the need to terminate your employee if job related issues do occur during the early stages of your new staff members’ employment.

Small Business Employee Policies Series: Probationary Period

Once you've gone through the process of finding and hiring the right candidate, the last thing that you'd expect is the need to fire your new employee. Despite thoroughly interviewing and checking references, it is not out of the realm of possibility that your new employee will not be a good fit. Problems during the first several months can range from a personality mismatch, to performance issues. Whatever the reason, it is essential that you have an employee policy in place that will support the need to terminate your employee if job related issues do occur during the early stages of your new staff members' employment.

The probationary period, also called an orientation and review period is essentially a trial period for both you and your new employee to determine whether the job match is a good one.

The average orientation and review period is 90 days, as this is often considered a reasonable amount of time to determine how well the new employee is performing in most jobs.

Although there should be a standard probationary period for all employees, depending on the role, a 90 day probationary period may not be enough time to determine whether the job is a good fit based on the natural learning curve required for the job.

In cases where it may take longer to become acclimated to a particular role, or in cases where the employee may not have all of the tools needed to perform their job effectively, up to a 6 month probationary period may make sense.

What is absolutely essential regardless of the length of time allotted is that you have an official policy in place before applying the probationary period standard to your new employees.

There may be roles within your organization that warrant a probationary period longer than the established standard. This type of exception should be made part of your official policy. A simple sentence that references that there may be a few positions that warrant a longer probationary period at management discretion should suffice, but if you are unsure, consult an employment lawyer.

Transparency is key. Best management practice dictates that you determine prior to even posting your job and interviewing candidates what the length of your probationary period will be and if there are some jobs that will require a longer probationary period.

Once you've established your criteria, put your probationary period policy in writing and share the policy with all of your potential hires during the interview process and at the time of your job offer to your final candidate.

Be sure to update your employee policy and procedures manual on your website or in any employee handbooks. Send an email to your current employees to make them aware of the policy.

Lastly, add a few sentences that reference the probationary period policy in your offer and confirmation letter to your new employee.

Upcoming policies in the small business policy series includes Confidentiality, Time Away From Work, Use/Access To Company Property, Internet and Social Media in the Workplace, Telecommuting Policy, Workplace Behavior, Disciplinary Policy, Termination Policy.

Related Articles
  Perfecting Policy
  7 Reasons for Failed Employee Probations
  The Commission clarifies when a qualifying period ends
  Personnel Policies and Procedures for Nonprofit Organizations
  Six Steps To Creating More Productive Staff Performance Evaluations
  What To Include In Personnel Files For New Staff Members
  Good Employees for your Franchise Company
  Plain English Guide to Employee Handbooks
  Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is - Making An Employment Offer
  Why Human Resourses Protect
  Accountability - The Secret Ingredients for Execution
  Top 5 Employment Practice Liability Myths. EPLI
  Human Resources Policies you must follow
  Managing Employees Is A Little Like Herding Cats
  Top 5 Reasons To Develop An Employee Handbook
  Overview VII: Economic Report on Africa 2007
  Updating Your Employee Handbook? Four Reasons to Hire an HR Consultant
  Avoid These Mistakes When Buying Insurance For Self Employed
  Precautions to Take When a Key Employee Leaves
  Tips for Preventing Issues with Employees Using Social Media at Work

Article Tags: best management practices, employee handbook, employment policies, policies and procedures for business



Related Forum Posts
These maybe the coldest franchises out there: - Here are the worst 15 performing franchises in regards to having the highest Small Business Administration (SBA) loan failure rates. The list is dotted with sub sandwich shops, fitness centers and car shops. WORST FRANCHISE LOAN FAILURES Failure % 1 OBEE'S SOUP SALAD SUBS 55.56% 2 LADY OF AMERICA 41.94% 3 COUNTRY CLUTTER (BED & BREAKFAST) 41.18% 4 COPY CLUB 36.36% 5 ALL TUNE AND LUBE 35.71% 6 PICKERMAN'S 35.71% 7 PHILLY CONNECTION 35.59% 8 ROLY POLY ROLLED SANDWICHES 34.78% 9 COTTMAN TRANSMISSION 34.48% 10 HAIR COLOR EXPRESS 33.33% 11 LEE MYLES AUTOMOTIVE TRANSMISSIONS 33.33% 12 GODFATHER'S PIZZA 33.33% 13 SMOOTHIE FACTORY 33.33% 14 BLIMPIE 31.39% 15 GOLF U.S.A. (RETAIL GOLF EQUIP.) 30.77% Source: Small Business Administration, SBA Loan Performance Within Franchise Code for the Period of FY 2001 - 2005
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Exclusive: Interview with Results - Hi Forum Members, I'm helping start up a Business Coaching and Consulting company here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (a Subsidiary of RSC Business in Los Angeles). As a Research and Development Intern I am required to practice my listening and interview skills by surveying Small and Medium Businesses on thier Business. This Survey is designed by RSC Business to also assist the Business being interviewed more insight into their own business. I am looking to interview about 30 businesses across North America over the span of 3 months. At the end of these interviews I will be publishing a report of the results and they will be made available for free to the Interviewees. The Report data will include responses from a minimum of 100 interviews. I would like to extend this opportunity to members of the Forum. If you would like to have this short 20-30 minute interview conducted on your Business and you reside in North America please send me an email or PM. Please contact me at andy[at]jvprosperity[dot]com to arrange our interview and to get free access to the results when they are published.
Re: Biz Plan Competition - i just wanted to say that posting Small Business Events on CanadaOne is a great resource. Thanks Julie!
New Small Business Topic - Hello everyone, I'm on the lookout for new topics to add to my site. We just launched a Franchising section and are planning Human Resources section. Do you have any thoughts for a new section? Here's a list of what we currently have: Angel Investors Branding Bank Loans Business Coaching Business Plan Franchises (New) Insurance Legal Marketing Public Relations Sales Small Biz Loans Venture Capital


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

How to develop the best lateral thinking skills

E Mail Marketing Campaigns

Too Many Sales Reps Are Wimps

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.