4 ways to automate probation reviews

#1 - The basic check-in

Who it's for: Small businesses running the occasional trial review, where one manager hires a new starter now and then and just needs to record the decision somewhere other than their own memory.

Available on: Basic.

What it is: A probation review is a short, structured check at the end of a trial period that decides whether a new starter stays on. This version is four steps on a phone: type the new starter's name, type their role, write an honest summary of how they are doing against what the role needs, then pick the decision. Each completion is one dated record of who was reviewed and what was decided.

In practice: Take a four-van plumbing firm. The owner takes on an apprentice on a three-month trial. At the end of it, she opens the canvas, types the apprentice's name, types "trainee plumber", and writes a few lines: turns up early, good with customers, still slow on first-fix and needs to own that. Then she picks "Keep on". One dated record, filed the moment the decision was made, instead of a verdict that lived only in her head until payroll asked.

Why it works: The record is the discipline. Forcing the manager to type a summary against what the role needs, and then commit to one of three decisions, turns a vague feeling into something written down and dated. If the decision is ever questioned later, by the new starter, by an adviser, or at a tribunal, there is a contemporaneous note of what was said and when, not a reconstruction made months after the fact.

Steps included:

• 2 text inputs (who is being reviewed, role)
• 1 text input (how they are doing against expectations)
• 1 single-choice step (3 options: Keep on, Extend the trial, Not working out)

When to upgrade:

1. Add written guidance (#2) once more than one manager runs reviews, so everyone runs them the same fair way rather than improvising.
2. Add photo evidence (#3) once you keep a signed paper form and want it attached to the digital record.
3. Add signatures (#4) once you need both sides to confirm on the record that the conversation actually happened.

#2 - With written guidance

Who it's for: Businesses wanting a consistent review every time, where several managers run trials and each one currently does it their own way.

Available on: Standard.

What it is: The basic review plus two guidance panels woven through the canvas. A panel at the top coaches the manager on how to run a fair, two-way conversation. A panel at the end spells out what to do for each of the three decisions: keeping on, extending, or not working out. A first-time manager running their first review gets the same approach as a department head who has run fifty.

In practice: Take a 30-room hotel with separate heads for housekeeping, front desk, and kitchen. Three managers, three habits. Before, one gave warm chats with no clear outcome and another delivered a one-line verdict at the door. Now all three open the same canvas. The opening panel reminds them to bring specific examples and to let the new starter talk. The closing panel, once the head of kitchen picks "Extend the trial" for a commis chef, prompts him to be specific about what has to change and by when. The reviews stop depending on which manager you happened to get.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A "how to run a fair review" panel at the start that prompts the manager to use examples, not gut feel, and to make it a two-way conversation.
2. A "what to do for each decision" panel after the decision step that gives a clear next action for keep on, extend, and not working out.
3. A consistent approach across managers without anyone having to be briefed in person before each review.

Why it works: Written guidance sits inline at the moment the manager is about to act. The "run it fairly" panel is on screen as the conversation is being framed, and the "what to do next" panel appears the instant the decision is picked, when the manager is deciding how to deliver it. It is not a policy document filed in a drive that nobody opens. It is on the screen at the moment of the task.

Steps included:

• 1 guidance panel (how to run a fair review)
• 2 text inputs (who is being reviewed, role)
• 1 text input (how they are doing against expectations)
• 1 single-choice step (decision)
• 1 guidance panel (what to do for each decision)

When to upgrade: Move to Probation Review #3 once you keep a signed paper form alongside the digital record. Once an adviser, an auditor, or a future dispute could ask to see the form the new starter actually signed, a typed summary on its own starts to look thin.

#3 - With photo evidence

Who it's for: Businesses wanting a photo of the signed review form attached to the digital record, usually where a paper form is still part of the process.

Available on: Standard.

What it is: The guided review plus a photo step at the end. The manager takes a quick shot of the completed review form, or any paperwork that goes with it, and the image lands in the same record as the typed summary and the decision. The paper and the digital record stop being two separate filing systems that drift apart.

In practice: Take a three-site garden centre that still runs reviews on a printed form the new starter signs in the room. Before, the forms lived in a folder at each site and went missing. Now the area manager runs the review on the canvas, and at the end photographs the signed form on the desk. The image attaches to the digital record automatically. When head office pulls the reviews for all three sites at year end, every record has the original signed form attached, and nobody is hunting through filing cabinets across the county.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A photo step at the end of the review.
2. The signed paper form attached to the same digital record as the typed summary and the decision.
3. A single place to find both the structured record and the original paperwork, instead of two systems that drift apart.

Why it works: A typed summary is the structured version. A photo of the signed form is the original. The two together survive challenge in a way that either alone does not. The summary is searchable and consistent; the photo proves what the new starter actually saw and signed in the room. Captured at the same moment, in the same record, the paper can no longer go missing on its own.

Steps included:

• 1 guidance panel (how to run a fair review)
• 2 text inputs (who is being reviewed, role)
• 1 text input (how they are doing against expectations)
• 1 single-choice step (decision)
• 1 guidance panel (what to do for each decision)
• 1 photo step (signed review form)

When to upgrade: Move to Probation Review #4 once you need both sides to confirm on the record that the review took place, not just a photo of a form that could have been signed anywhere.

#4 - With photo and signature

Who it's for: Businesses needing a signed record from both sides, where a review going wrong could end up in front of an adviser or a tribunal.

Available on: Standard.

What it is: The photo-evidenced review plus two on-screen signatures captured at the end of every review: the reviewing manager signs, and then the team member signs. The team member is not signing that they agree with everything, only that the conversation took place. Four parts on a single record: the typed summary, the decision, a photo of the form, and two signatures, all captured in the room.

In practice: Take a regional cleaning contractor with eight teams across two counties. End-of-trial reviews are run by supervisors who rarely meet head office. Before, a "not working out" decision sometimes came back as "nobody ever told me", with no proof the conversation had happened. Now every review ends with the supervisor signing on the touchscreen, then handing the phone to the team member to sign. When one ex-starter later disputes their exit, head office pulls the record: a dated summary, the decision, the signed form, and two signatures from the day. The dispute closes on the record instead of one word against another.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A manager signature step at the end of the review.
2. A team member signature step confirming the conversation took place, captured on the same touchscreen straight after.
3. A record signed by both sides, so a "this never happened" challenge meets a dated, two-way signed proof.

Why it works: The two signatures are what close the loop. The summary, the decision, and the photo say a review happened and what was decided. The manager signature adds: I ran this and stand behind it. The team member signature adds: and I was in the room for it. Captured on the same device, at the same moment, in the same record, the two together are what an adviser or a tribunal expects to see when a trial ends in a hard call.

Steps included:

• 1 guidance panel (how to run a fair review)
• 2 text inputs (who is being reviewed, role)
• 1 text input (how they are doing against expectations)
• 1 single-choice step (decision)
• 1 guidance panel (what to do for each decision)
• 1 photo step (signed review form)
• 1 signature step (manager)
• 1 signature step (team member)

When to upgrade: The next variations layer Poppi on top. A Poppi briefing that pulls the new starter's open issues and goals from the trial period before the review. A Poppi gate that flags when a "not working out" decision needs a follow-up step before it is final. A Poppi action that posts the outcome straight to the payroll or onboarding channel. Coming in the next post update.

How to pick the right version

You do not need to know how the canvas builder works to pick the right version. You only need to answer three questions about how your team runs.

Is it just you running this, or do other people run it too?

If it is just you, the basic review (#1) is enough. You know how to run a fair conversation and you do not need the canvas to coach you through it.

If anyone else runs reviews (other managers, site supervisors, a growing team of leads), go to #2 onwards. The guidance panels are what stop the reviews depending on which manager you happened to get. You write the guidance once; every manager reads it inline as they run the review.

Do you need a photo as proof, or is the typed record enough?

If your review lives entirely in the canvas and there is no paper, the typed-and-decided record is enough. Go to #1 or #2.

If you still keep a signed paper form, the typed summary on its own leaves the original sitting in a folder. Go to #3. The photo of the signed form at the end of the review attaches the paper to the same record, so the two never drift apart.

Do you need someone to sign off at the end?

If the review is straightforward and no dispute is likely, a record is enough. Stick at #3.

If a decision could later be challenged, the signatures are the lock. Go to #4. The two signatures close the loop with a contemporaneous confirmation from both the manager and the team member, on the same record as the summary, the decision, and the photo.

Related reading

• Exit interviews
• Anonymous feedback
• Customer complaint log
• Job completion sign-off

Frequently asked questions

When should a probation review happen?

Hold it at the end of the trial period, with a shorter check-in around the halfway point. The halfway check gives the person time to act on feedback before the final decision, so nothing at the end comes as a surprise.

What if the person is not working out?

Be honest and kind, and give specific examples rather than a vague feeling. Record the decision and the reasons. The "not working out" path still needs the right process followed, so loop in whoever handles that before the conversation.

Does the team member have to agree with the review?

No. The signature confirms the conversation happened, not that they agree with every word. If they see it differently, capture their view in the notes so both sides are on the record.

Can one template work across very different roles?

Yes. The questions are about how the review runs, not the job itself. A warehouse picker and an office administrator get reviewed against different expectations, but the same structure (how they did, the decision, the sign-off) holds for both.

Who keeps the completed review?

The reviewing manager and whoever holds personnel records. The dated, signed record sits on the account, so if a decision is ever questioned later, the proof is one search away rather than in someone's memory.

Conclusion

A probation review is a short, structured check at the end of a trial that records who was reviewed, how they did against the role, and the decision to keep them, extend, or let them go. The version a multi-site business runs ends every review with a photo of the signed form and two signatures, so a disputed decision is met with dated, two-way proof instead of one word against another.

Pick the version that matches how your team runs today, not the most sophisticated one you can imagine running someday. Open each template in the playground above and try it on your next end-of-trial review.