The probation period: making it mean something rather than just pass
Echipa HR 365 · reviewed 2026-09-04 · 5 min read
A useful probation has three checkpoints, not one, and criteria the person saw on day one. If the assessment appears only at the end, it does not measure fit — it measures how well the person guessed what was expected of them.
The criteria are announced on day one
Three or four criteria, phrased as observable things rather than general expectations. “Integrates well” is not a criterion; “handles work of type X alone, without an intermediate check, by the end of month two” is.
The phrasing test: if at the end of probation you cannot say, with an example, whether a criterion was met, the criterion is badly written. Rewrite it now, not on assessment day.
The three checkpoints
| Moment | The question | What can be decided there |
|---|---|---|
| End of week 2 | Do they have everything they need in order to work? | Access, context and the mentor get fixed — nothing about the person |
| End of month 1 | Are they working with supervision, at the expected pace? | Tasks get adjusted, or a gap is flagged, in writing |
| At 2/3 of the period | What is missing for the final decision to be “yes”? | The last intervention that can still change the outcome |
| End of the period | Are the criteria met? | The decision, which should surprise nobody |
Who assesses, and why not the manager alone
The direct manager decides, but is not the only source. The mentor sees something else — how they ask, how they react to correction, whether they come back with the same problem. A colleague they work with daily sees the real collaboration. HR sees what is happening with the formalities and the integration.
The three perspectives are collected in writing, separately, before the final discussion — not in a meeting. The reason is the same as for any assessment: the first opinion voiced moves the others, and three views become one.
The decision and how it is communicated
The order, in both cases
- Manager — collects the three perspectives in writing and compares them with the criteria announced on day one
- Manager and HR — formulate the decision and the reason, in two sentences, with concrete examples
- Manager — communicates it personally, not through HR and not by email, whatever the outcome
- HR — closes the formalities the same day; a decision communicated and not formalised produces a week of uncertainty
When the decision is negative, one thing is worth saying explicitly: what exactly in the criteria was not met and what would work better for the person elsewhere. It is not politeness — somebody who leaves understanding why talks about the company differently from somebody who leaves puzzled.
What you do not do
- Do not use probation as a period of passive observation. If nobody intervenes for two months, the outcome is a lottery.
- Do not change the criteria along the way without saying so. Criteria adjusted silently turn assessment into justification.
- Do not postpone the decision “to see a bit more”. Postponement with no new criteria and no deadline is a negative decision taken slowly.
- Do not confuse probation with training. Somebody who still cannot do the work after full training is a different case from somebody who was never trained.
The two hard cases
Most probation periods end clearly, one way or the other. Two situations do not end clearly and are worth thinking through in advance, because otherwise they get decided under deadline pressure.
| The case | What usually happens | What is better |
|---|---|---|
| Technically good, difficult in the team | They are confirmed and the problem stays, then grows | Name it explicitly now, with a behavioural criterion at 3 months |
| Trying hard, but not getting there | It gets extended out of empathy, with no plan | Say what exactly is missing and whether it is realistically recoverable, with a deadline |
Both have the same solution: turning the impression into an observable criterion, with a deadline. “Needs to communicate better” is not verifiable; “flags in advance when a piece of work will be late, over the next six weeks” is — and it gives the person a real chance, which vague dissatisfaction does not.
What stays written down
Four things survive the whole period: the criteria announced on day one, the notes from the three checkpoints, the perspectives collected at the end, and the decision with its reason. Not as a formality — they are the only things that make the decision explainable six months later, when nobody remembers the context.
Where to start
If you have somebody on probation right now and have not told them the criteria, tell them today, even if a month has passed. It is late, but not as late as the final week.
For the next hire, write the criteria before making the offer. If you cannot phrase them in three or four observable sentences, the role is not clear enough — and that affects recruitment too, not only probation.
Put the three checks in the calendar, with dates, on the day the person signs. Unwritten, only the first one happens.
Checkpoints scheduled automatically across the probation period
The criteria are written once and stay visible to everyone, and the three checks appear as tasks with deadlines — so the final decision surprises nobody.
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