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One-to-ones, feedback and improvement plans

Regular one-to-ones with a shared agenda, private notes and action items that carry over. Praise and suggestions with the reader chosen. Improvement plans with goals, reviews, approval and a recorded outcome.

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The problem it solves

Managers meet their people when there is a problem, and nothing said in the meeting is written down.
Actions agreed in a one-to-one are forgotten by the next one.
Good work is praised in the corridor and forgotten by appraisal time.
When someone falls short, there is no written plan and no review dates. Nobody can show the support given, so a later decision is hard to defend.

How it works

A manager sets up a regular one-to-one with a team member: every one, two or four weeks. Set the day, time, length, place or link and an agenda template. The next meeting is planned a week ahead by itself.
Both people add agenda points. In the meeting they tick what was talked about, write shared or private notes and add action items with an owner and a date. Mark as Held carries open items to the next meeting.
Anyone gives praise or a suggestion to a colleague and chooses who reads it. The choices: the person and their manager, only the person, or only the manager. Anyone can also ask a colleague for feedback.
When someone falls short, the manager or HR prepares an improvement plan: why, the support given, goals and review dates. HR approves it and the employee reads and acknowledges it.
The manager writes a review on each review date. At the end, a final review and an outcome: expectations met, extended, disciplinary action, separation or other.

Everything it does

One-to-ones

Either person plans a one-to-one; the other is told
Agenda points from both people, ticked when talked about
Action items: what, who and by when; the owner is told when one is due
Shared notes both read; a note marked Only Me is read by its author alone
Planned, Held or Cancelled; Mark as Held moves open action items and points not talked about to the next meeting of the series
Length: half an hour by default

Regular one-to-ones

How often: every week, two weeks (the default) or four weeks
The day (Monday by default), the time (10:00 by default), the length, the place or meeting link
An agenda template with talking points; a Regular one-to-one template comes with the product
The next meeting is planned 7 days ahead by itself; Plan the Next Meeting plans it now
Both people are reminded the day before

Who sees a one-to-one

The two people see the agenda, action items and shared notes
Others in the team see nothing
HR (the one-to-ones administrator) sees that a meeting happened and when, read only, never its content
A private note: its author only

Feedback

Praise or Suggestion, what it is about and the text
Who Reads It: the person and their manager (the default), only the person, or only their manager as a private note
Feedback once given is not changed; nobody gives feedback to themselves
HR does not read feedback unless it is about them or they gave it
Feedback requests: whom you ask, the question, by when and who reads the answer; a manager can ask about someone in their team
The person asked answers with Give Feedback or declines with a reason; the one who asked is told

Improvement plans

The employee (the manager comes from the record), Starts, Ends and Review Every (days): 14 by default
Why a Plan, Support Given and Goals, each goal with how it is measured and by when
States: Draft, Waiting Approval, Running, Final Review, Closed, Cancelled
The employee sees the plan once it runs and presses I Have Read the Plan, with a comment if they wish
Reviews: the date, the progress (good, some, none) and what was seen. Also the status of each goal (not yet, on track, at risk, met, not met). The employee may add their view
The next review date moves on by itself

Outcomes of a plan

Expectations met: close with the outcome
Extended: give Extended To; the plan runs on with a new end date
Disciplinary action: close, then Start the Disciplinary Case opens a case prefilled
Separation: close, then Start the Separation opens it prefilled
Other: close with a note
A draft can be cancelled; a plan that was sent is closed with an outcome, never cancelled

Who uses it

Team memberAdds agenda points, keeps notes and action items, gives and asks for feedback, reads and acknowledges an improvement plan.

ManagerRuns regular one-to-ones, prepares improvement plans and writes the reviews.

One-to-Ones AdministratorKeeps agenda templates and sees that meetings happen, never what was said.

Improvement Plans AdministratorApproves and closes improvement plans. The HR Manager has this role.

Where you use it

Web: HRMS > Performance and Pay Review > Conversations (One-to-Ones, Regular One-to-Ones), Feedback (Feedback, Feedback Requests) and Improvement Plans; Configuration > One-to-One Templates
The SmartMy HRMS app: Menu > One-to-ones, Feedback (give, ask, answer) and Improvement plan; managers get Team improvement plans with Write a review. The app is built and in testing, not in the app stores yet
Not in the app: agenda templates; keep them on the web

What you control

Settings

Regular one-to-one: every two weeks, Monday at 10:00, half an hour, to start with
Agenda templates: one comes ready; add your own
Feedback reader: the person and their manager, to start with
Improvement plan Review Every (days): 14

Approvals

Improvement Plan: one chain per entity; an improvement plans administrator to start with, with levels you add. The employee the plan is about never decides it.
One-to-ones and feedback need no approval

Notifications

One-to-One Planned: to the other person; One-to-One Tomorrow: to both people the day before; One-to-One Action Due: to the action's owner
Feedback Received: to the person and / or their manager, as the giver chose. Feedback Asked For: to the colleague asked. Feedback Request Answered: to the one who asked
Improvement Plan Started: to the employee; Improvement Plan Review Due: to the manager and the HR contact; Improvement Plan Closed: with its outcome
Each is sent in the app, by email and as a phone notice, at once. Each person can switch off a channel, such as email, but in-app notices always arrive. Phone notices are ready for the app, which is not in the stores yet

Questions

Can HR read what was said in a one-to-one?

No. HR sees that a meeting happened and when. The agenda, actions and shared notes are for the two people, and a private note is for its author alone.

Can a manager get feedback about a team member without the person seeing it?

Yes. The giver chooses Only their manager, which is a private note. The person does not see it.

Does an improvement plan start a disciplinary case by itself?

No. When the outcome is disciplinary action or separation, the plan is closed and a button opens the case or the separation prefilled. Someone still decides to start it.

Does the employee have to accept the plan?

They read it and press I Have Read the Plan, with a comment if they disagree. The plan runs from approval; the acknowledgement is recorded.

Can a plan be extended?

Yes. Choose Extended as the outcome, give the new end date and press Extend. Reviews continue.

Related features

ENGAGEMENT, GOALS AND HR TOOLSGoals and OKRsObjectives with measurable key results for each period, set for the entity, departments, teams and people and aligned to each other. Owners check in with progress and confidence, managers approve, and the goals flow into the appraisal.PERFORMANCE, CONDUCT, LEARNINGAppraisals and 360 degree reviewsRun each appraisal as a cycle: weighted goals, reviews by the employee, manager, peers and direct reports, HR calibration and a final rating. That final rating is the one your increment cycle and bonus plans read.PERFORMANCE, CONDUCT, LEARNINGDiscipline: memos, hearings and appealsRun a disciplinary case from the memo or show-cause notice to the employee's reply, a committee hearing, the decision and an appeal. Fines are deducted in payroll, unpaid suspension days are cut from the payslip, and every letter is issued from your templates.EXITResignation, exit interviews and clearanceAn employee resigns, or HR records a termination, retirement or other separation. The notice comes from your policy, the manager and HR approve, every department clears the leaver, and the exit interview is on record.JOINING AND PROBATIONProbation, confirmation and new joiner check-insA probation review opens for the manager 30 days before probation ends, with attendance during probation already filled in. HR approves confirmation, an extension up to your policy limit or no confirmation, and the letter goes out. Short check-ins at 30, 60 and 90 days show who is unhappy before they leave.ACROSS SMARTMY HRMSApproval chains and one approvals inboxEvery HR request, from a day's leave to the full and final, goes through its approval chain and waits in one Approvals inbox. Levels, approvers, reminders, escalation and stand-ins are settings you control, per Entity and kind of request.

See your own month run in it.

Tell us how many people you have, how you take attendance and how your salary is structured. We will show you SmartMy HRMS set up that way.

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