Probation review: how to run the meeting and record the decision

A probation review is the meeting where a manager and a new employee assess how the first months have gone and decide the outcome: confirm the appointment, extend the probationary period, or end the employment. It is the one point in the employment relationship where both sides still have an easy exit, and that makes it valuable — provided the review happens on time and rests on evidence gathered along the way rather than an impression formed in the final week.

Review during probation, not only at the end

A probationary period of three or six months should contain several short check-ins, not a single verdict. A common pattern is week two, month one, then monthly, with a formal probation review meeting shortly before the end date. The early meetings exist so that nothing in the final one is a surprise: if performance or conduct is off track, the employee learns it while there is still time to act, and the manager builds a record of what was raised and when.

What to bring to the probation review meeting

• The job description and the objectives set at the start.
• Notes from earlier check-ins, with dates and what was agreed.
• Concrete examples of work delivered — good and poor — rather than adjectives.
• Attendance and timekeeping facts, if relevant.
• Training and induction completed, and anything still outstanding.
• Feedback from colleagues or clients the employee has worked with.
• The contract terms on probation: length, extension rights and notice during probation.

Tell the employee in advance what the meeting is and that it may affect their continued employment, and let them know if they may be accompanied. A decision sprung on someone in a meeting they thought was routine is the most common cause of a probation dispute.

Running the meeting and reaching an outcome

1. Set out the purpose and the possible outcomes at the start.
2. Go through performance against the objectives, with the employee responding to each point.
3. Ask what support has been missing — induction gaps and unclear expectations are often the real cause.
4. State the outcome: pass, extension with specific objectives and a date, or termination.
5. For an extension, write down exactly what must change, how it will be measured and when it is reviewed.
6. Confirm the outcome in writing within a few days, and keep the notes with the record.

Ettex Forms works well for the record itself: one form per review with the objectives, ratings, evidence, the employee's comments, the outcome and both signatures. Because each review is a dated submission, the sequence of check-ins is visible later — which is exactly what an employment tribunal or a new manager wants to see. Objectives agreed at an extension can be tracked the same way as any performance improvement plan.

Mistakes that cause probation disputes

• Letting the probation end date pass unnoticed, so the employee is confirmed by default.
• Raising concerns for the first time in the final review.
• Extending probation without written objectives, so the same conversation repeats.
• No notes, leaving the decision to rest on memory.
• Treating probation as a period without rights: statutory protections such as discrimination law apply from day one.