Hi M,

Thank you for your question. It depends on the culture of your organization and the culture you want to create within your team. If you are going to be judged on keeping HR in tune with everything, then that makes sense to do so. But if not, building trust between you and your employee is the best way to remedy a situation.

I recommend setting ground rules for the team…what is expected in terms of performance, reputation and teamwork. Once that is documented and shared. You can develop a feedback form that rates each element. Whenever an employee does something exceptional, you can use the feedback form to put positive feedback in their file. If there is something to be worked on, it can be used for that feedback as well. The key is clarity and communication. Once there are repeat problems that have been documented…along with an action plan to fix the situation, that should be shared with HR so they can support the follow-up.

Hope that helps & congratulations on your new role!

Lisa