Employee events
Managers forget. Six months later, a conversation about somebody's year runs on whatever happened in the last fortnight. An event log fixes that by writing things down when they occur.
A manager records a moment. What happened, which category it belongs to, and the date. Ownership and collaboration are typical categories. The note is written by a person, in their own words.
Events are positive or negative, and the counts sit at the top: total, positive, negative. A record that is only ever negative tells you something about the manager as much as the employee.
Content is hidden behind a reveal action rather than shown on open. Nobody scrolls past somebody else's difficult month by accident.
Access is admin-only. Employees do not browse the log, and that constraint is deliberate. A running note written for a future conversation is a different object from feedback shared openly.
Categories carry the weight. Ownership, collaboration, whatever your company actually talks about. A year of entries filed by theme can be read as a pattern, while a year of uncategorised notes is a pile.
Timing beats detail. A two-line note written the same week is worth more than a paragraph reconstructed in December, because the second one is already an interpretation rather than a record.
The positive and negative counts sit together at the top for a reason. A manager whose log runs one way only has told you something, and the number says it before anyone has to.
One caution worth stating. A note written here may well be read aloud in a difficult conversation later. Write each one as if it will be, and the log stays useful. Write it as a private vent and it becomes something else entirely.
Positive entries take the most discipline, because a good week rarely feels like it needs recording. Logging them anyway is what turns the module from a paper trail into a record of somebody's year.
Staff cannot browse the log, so nothing in it counts as having been said to anyone. A note is a reminder for the manager, and the conversation is still their job to have.
Tell people the log exists and what goes in it. A record kept quietly and produced later reads as a trap, and the same notes shared openly read as someone paying attention.
What it does
- Positive and negative entries
- Both kinds in one place, with running counts for each.
- Categorised notes
- Each entry carries a category, so a year of notes can be read by theme.
- Author and date
- Who wrote it and when, kept on the record.
- Hidden until revealed
- Content stays masked on open, with an explicit action to show it.
What it needs before it works
- Categories agreed up front, or notes become unsearchable within a month.
- Managers who will actually write them, close to when things happen.
- A clear internal position on what gets logged, told to people rather than left implicit.
Questions people ask
Can employees see their own events?
No. The log is admin-only, and staff do not browse it. Anything that should be said to somebody has to be said by their manager.
What goes into an event?
A date, a category such as ownership or collaboration, whether it was positive or negative, and a short note in the manager's own words.
What stops it becoming a complaints file?
The counts. Positive and negative sit side by side at the top, so a one-sided log is obvious at a glance, and the habit it prompts is a management one.
How is this different from feedback?
Feedback flows upward from staff and has a review lifecycle. Events are written by managers about their people, and stay admin-only. Different direction, different audience.
When should a note be written?
The same week, ideally. Two lines written close to the event beat a paragraph reconstructed months later, which is memory rather than record.