Probation, confirmation and new joiner check-ins
A 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.
PLANSScale only
The problem it solves
- Probation ends, nobody notices, and people are confirmed by default or left on probation for a year.
- Managers extend probation again and again because no rule says how often.
- Confirmation letters are typed one by one in Word, months late.
- New joiners leave in the third month, and nobody asked them how it was going.
How it works
- Set the probation rule under Onboarding > Configuration > Probation & Notice: 6 months, at most 1 extension of 3 months, to start with.
- 30 days before probation ends, a review opens for the reporting manager. It shows the extensions so far and the attendance during probation.
- The manager rates work, conduct, punctuality and teamwork from Poor to Excellent, recommends confirm, extend or do not confirm, gives the reason and submits.
- HR, and any further levels of your Probation review chain, approves or sends back. The check-ins at 30, 60 and 90 days show on the review for context.
- On approval the employee is confirmed from the effective date, or probation moves out by the extension. The letter is issued and the employee is told.
Everything it does
The probation rule
- Probation (months): 6; Max Probation Extensions: 1; Extension (months): 3; Notice During Probation: 15 days; Notice After Confirmation: 30 days
- Rules apply by Entity, location, department, staff category, employment type, designation or grade
- Stage Probation from the joining date; Confirmed from the approved date; rules for confirmed staff apply from that day
The review
- Opens by itself the days before probation ends that you set on the Entity (30 to start with). HR gets it when the manager has no login
- Attendance during probation in words: days present, absent, on leave, half days and times late
- Four ratings from Poor to Excellent: Work / Performance, Conduct, Punctuality and Attendance, and working with the team
- Recommendation: Confirm, Extend probation (Extend By, at least 1 month), Do not confirm; a reason is needed for the last two
- An extension past the policy limit is refused: confirm or do not confirm
- Statuses: Manager to Review, Waiting Approval, Decided, Cancelled; filters Pending and Overdue
Outcomes and letters
- Confirmed: the stage changes from the effective date (the day after probation ends, to start with)
- Extended: Probation Ends moves, the count of extensions goes up, a new review opens before the new date
- Not confirmed: the approver gets a to-do to start the separation; nothing ends by itself
- Confirmation and extension letters from your letter templates per Entity, signed, verifiable and kept on the employee's Letters
Check-ins at 30, 60 and 90 days
- Six ready question sets: for the new joiner and for the manager at 30, 60 and 90 days
- Questions on 1 to 5, Yes / No or free text. Each has a topic such as Role clarity, Manager support, Tools or On track for confirmation
- Opened on the day for people with a login; reminded every 3 days; Not Answered after 10 days
- HR reads everything; the manager reads the joiner's answers only if the joiner ticks so
- An average of 2.5 or less, or any answer of 1, is a Low score: HR gets a to-do and a message
Early attrition and reports
- Early Attrition Risk: new joiners of the last five months at Medium (one sign) or High (two or more)
- Signs: no buddy confirmed, or less than half the first week done after nine days. Also mandatory onboarding tasks a week late, a low or missing check-in, and the manager's concerns
- New-hire Satisfaction: average scores by department and question, grouped by manager, source of hire or check-in, with the filter Left Within 6 Months
- What Early Leavers Said: each answer of people who have since left
Who uses it
Reporting managerRates the new employee, recommends, and answers the manager's check-ins.
HR officerApproves or sends back reviews, reads check-ins and follows low scores and early attrition.
New joinerAnswers the 30, 60 and 90 day check-ins and decides whether the manager may read them.
HR administratorSets the probation rules, the review days, the letter templates, the questions and the approval chain.
Where you use it
- Web: HRMS > Onboarding > Probation Reviews, New Joiners (Check-ins, Early Attrition Risk, New-hire Satisfaction, What Early Leavers Said)
- Web: HRMS > Employees > My Check-ins for joiners and managers
- The SmartMy HRMS app: probation reviews for managers, my check-ins for joiners, new joiner check-ins for HR. (Built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- Not in the app: set-up, the satisfaction reports and the early attrition list
What you control
Settings
- Probation, extensions and notice per probation rule: 6 months, 1 extension of 3 months, 15 and 30 days notice
- Open Confirmation Reviews (days before): 30, on the Entity
- Check-in questions per set: kind, topic and required
Approvals
- Probation review: HR of the Entity by default; a recommended chain adds the manager's manager and a confirming authority; the employee reviewed never decides
Notifications
- Probation Review to Fill: to the manager when it opens and once 7 days before probation ends
- Probation Review to Approve: to the approvers; Probation Decision: to the employee, with the letter
- Check-in: Please Answer and Reminder: to the joiner or manager; For HR to Look At: to HR
- All in the app, by email and as a phone notice. They go out at once, and a person can switch off a channel, never the notice
Questions
Can a manager keep extending probation?
No. The probation rule sets the most extensions, 1 to start with. Past that the review asks the manager to confirm or not confirm.Does not confirmed end the employment?
No. The approver gets a to-do to start the separation, and HR records it under Exit. Nothing ends by itself.Can the manager see what the new joiner said in a check-in?
Only if the joiner ticks the box that allows it. HR always reads the answers. Answers cannot be changed after sending.We are on Starter. Can we confirm people?
Yes. The probation stage and Confirm Now on the employee are in every plan. The review, approval, letters and check-ins are in Scale.Can management approve confirmations as well as HR?
Yes. Add levels to the Probation review approval chain, such as the manager's manager and a confirming authority.Related features
JOINING AND PROBATIONPre-joining, onboarding tasks and the joining kitFrom the accepted offer to the end of the first week. Each joiner gets a joining page without a login, a daily risk score and the joining kit to sign online. Medical checks run where a role needs one, every department gets its onboarding tasks, and each joiner gets a buddy and a first-week plan.EMPLOYEES AND ORGANISATIONEmployee records with statutory detailsOne record holds each employee's position, PAN, Aadhaar, UAN, PF and ESIC numbers, family and nominees, education, past jobs, background checks and bank accounts. The stage (probation, confirmed, notice, separated) moves by itself, and every change is kept with its date.LETTERS, CARDS, DOCUMENTS, ASSETSEmployee documents, letters and ID cardsKeep each employee's documents with scans and a reminder 30 days before one expires, and track the original certificates you hold and lend back. Issue letters from templates with a QR code anyone can check, and print ID cards with a re-issue charge taken through payroll.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.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.ENGAGEMENT, GOALS AND HR TOOLSPulse and engagement surveysShort surveys of three to ten questions that open by themselves every week, month or quarter. Answers are stored with no name, results show only for groups of five or more, and eNPS is worked out for you.
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.