'I thought probation was six months'
A client manager rings your advice line. A new starter has not been working out, and the manager wants to end their employment at the end of probation. Your consultant checks the contract. Probation was three months, it ended five weeks ago, and nobody held a review. The situation is now different from the one the manager thought they were in, and the conversation gets harder.
Across your client base, this happens more often than anyone would like. It is almost never because a manager did not care. They simply did not know the date.
Why dates slip past
- Probation length is in the contract, which the line manager rarely reads.
- Client HR systems may hold the date, but managers do not log in to check.
- Extensions are agreed in a meeting and not recorded anywhere a reminder could use.
- Managers change teams, and new starters get inherited without the dates.
- Your consultancy only hears about probation when something has already gone wrong.
What the missed reviews cost
For clients, a missed review means problems are raised late and new starters get no structured feedback, which affects good starters too. For your consultancy, it means advice calls that begin from a worse position, and a service that looks reactive. Clients who pay a retainer reasonably expect their HR partner to help them stay ahead of routine milestones like these.
| Milestone | Who needs to act | Prompt sent |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-probation check-in | Line manager | Reminder with a short check-in form |
| Final review due | Line manager | Reminder ahead of the date, with review form |
| Review overdue | Manager and your consultant | Escalation to both |
| Concern flagged | Your consultant | Alert with the manager's notes |
| Extension agreed | Client HR contact | New date recorded, letter drafted from template |
How we build the probation tracker
- Start dates, probation lengths and managers are read from each client's HR system, such as BreatheHR, CharlieHR or BambooHR, through its API where the client allows it, or from the contracts your consultancy generated.
- Clients without an HR system get a simple new starter form that captures the same details.
- Reminders go to the line manager by email or Teams ahead of each milestone, at the intervals your consultants choose for that client.
- The reminder links to a short review form in your format, which asks the manager to record progress, any concerns and a recommendation.
- Where a manager records a concern, your consultant is alerted with the notes, so advice can be given before the review meeting, not after.
- Extensions and outcomes are recorded, and confirmation letters are drafted from your approved templates for the consultant or client to check.
- A client dashboard shows upcoming, completed and overdue reviews across the business.
The rules on probation are set by each client's contracts and policies, and your advisers guide any decision. The tracker makes sure the dates are seen in time.
What clients and consultants see
We keep the manager's side deliberately light. A line manager at a busy client will not log in to a portal to find a form, so the reminder itself carries a link that opens the form on their phone, already filled with the new starter's name, role and dates. Completing it takes a few minutes, which is the difference between a review that happens and one that does not.
Managers are reminded in time and have a simple form to complete, so reviews actually happen. Concerns reach your consultants early, when there are more options. Clients see their HR consultancy helping them stay on top of routine milestones, which is a tangible benefit of the retainer. And the same tracker can be extended to other dated events, such as fixed-term contract end dates.
Do your clients do this?
- Managers regularly miss probation end dates.
- Probation problems reach your advice line after the period ended.
- Extensions are agreed but not written down.
- Clients' HR systems hold dates that no manager checks.
- You would like to offer clients something proactive, not just reactive.