Submitted by Oakleys on
in
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Hello Everyone, I am officaly a new manager, and have been assigned 3 directs who have been with the company for several years, is it customary, or normal for me to ask HR for the employee history files, so I can review? I plan on starting one-on-ones next week, and I would like to get as much information as I can before then.
Yes, in my experience
The records exist as organizational memory. As their manager, you'll be expected to add to those files! You'll also get to see at least some clues to past relationships, which you might leverage to speed up your own settling-in to your new role.
You might also get heads-up to possible negative reactions, such as if one of them had been close to being fired, or positive interactions, such as awards and past projects completed.
Depending on company practice, you'd find previous annual reviews, which you can springboard from where relevant.
Suggested podcast: Inheriting a poor performer.
There's a podcast for that!
Mark and Mike go into extensive detail about obtaining the HR file of a direct moving into your team, including suggested approach with HR, what to do when you get pushback and how to appropriately escalate.
https://www.manager-tools.com/2012/10/inheriting-a-poor-performer-part-1
I'm not suggesting that you have a poor performer, it's just that your question is covered in this podcast.