Summary
Probation is the one period when a manager is expected to form a view quickly and act on it, and it is also the period when a new hire's activity data is least representative of how they will work in a year. Those two facts pull in opposite directions, and most of the unfairness in probation decisions comes from ignoring the second. A person in week three is still learning the tools, still being interrupted by onboarding sessions, still asking where things are. Their focus time is low because the job has not become routine yet, not because they are unfocused. This guide sets out what is fair to look at during probation, what is not, how to set a baseline that accounts for the ramp, and how to run the end-of-probation conversation so the decision rests on evidence the new hire has seen.
E-Monitor shows a new hire's own trend from day one, so a probation review compares them to their own ramp rather than to a team that has been doing the job for years. Sign up →
Why Probation Data Is Different
Across new-hire cohorts, activity data in the first month looks roughly the same regardless of how the person turns out. Application switching is high because they are learning where everything lives. Focus blocks are short because onboarding calls and shadowing sessions break the day up. Time in the core work application is low because the core work has not started in earnest. By week six the curve starts to separate: people who are settling in show focus blocks lengthening and switch rates falling, and people who are struggling show the same pattern they had in week two. The onboarding framework covers the ramp in detail.
The practical consequence is that a probation review built on absolute numbers compares a learner against veterans and will fail almost anyone. A review built on the person's own trajectory, from their week-two baseline to their week-ten reality, is the only version that answers the question probation is actually asking: is this person becoming effective here?
What Is Fair to Look At
Four things from monitoring data are legitimate inputs to a probation decision, provided the new hire knew they were being recorded and could see them too.
| Signal | What it shows | How to read it fairly |
|---|---|---|
| Trend in focus time | Whether the job is becoming routine | Week 2 vs week 10 for this person, not vs the team |
| Attendance and hours | Reliability | Against the agreed schedule, with flexible arrangements honoured |
| Application mix | Whether they are in the tools the role needs | Should shift toward core tools over the period; a flat line is the signal |
| Output tied to the data | Tickets, deliverables, commits | Volume rising alongside focus, quality judged by a human |
Each of these is a trend, and each should be shown to the new hire during probation rather than produced at the end of it. Someone who can see that their focus time has not moved since week two has a chance to ask why, and often the answer is a blocker the manager can remove. The baseline guide explains how to set the starting point.
What Is Not Fair to Use
The same data is misused in predictable ways during probation, and each misuse produces a decision that will not survive a challenge.
- Ranking against established staff. A week-eight hire at 60 percent of a five-year veteran's focus time is on track, not failing
- Single bad days. Probation reviews reach for the worst day; use the weekly trend or nothing
- Activity percentage as effort. Reading and thinking register as idle; a new hire does more of both than anyone
- Data the hire has not seen. Producing dashboards at the final meeting is an ambush, and in many jurisdictions a procedural failure
- Anything collected before the policy was explained. If monitoring was not disclosed in onboarding, the data is not usable, and in the EU and UK it may not be lawful
The last point is the one that catches most organisations. Probation is often the period when the monitoring policy has been signed but not understood, and the transparency guide explains why a signature on day one is not the same as informed awareness.
Setting Up Probation Monitoring Properly
Five steps, all in the first week, make the rest of the period straightforward.
- Explain the data on day one, show the dashboard, say what will and will not be used in the review
- Give the hire self-access so they see what the manager sees; the employee's guide is the walkthrough
- Fix the application classification for the role before week two, or the baseline is wrong
- Take the baseline at the end of week two, not day one, once the setup noise has passed
- Book the mid-point check-in at week six with the trend on screen, so there are no surprises at the end
Teams that run probation this way report two things: fewer failed probations, because problems surface at week six rather than week twelve, and fewer disputes, because the person has seen every number that will be discussed.
The End-of-Probation Conversation
The review itself should be short on data and long on judgement. The data answers whether the person is becoming effective; the manager answers whether that effectiveness is what the role needs. Open with the trend, in the person's own figures: "Your focus time went from about an hour a day in week two to just under three by week ten, and your ticket count tracked it. That is what we hoped to see." Or, if it did not: "Your focus time has stayed around an hour a day since week two, and we talked about that at week six. I want to understand what is behind it before we decide anything."
Where the trend is flat and the explanation is a fixable obstacle, extending probation is usually the right call and the data makes the extension specific rather than vague. Where the trend is flat and there is no explanation, the decision is a performance one, and the PIP guide covers the documentation. Either way, the record should show that the person saw the data throughout, which is what makes the decision defensible.
A Worked Example
A support team hired two agents in the same week. Both looked similar at week two: short focus blocks, high switching, about forty minutes a day in the ticketing system. By week six the first agent was at two and a half hours in the system with falling switch rates, and tickets closed had tripled. The second was still at fifty minutes, and when the team lead showed her the trend at the week-six check-in, she said the knowledge base search had never worked on her machine and she had been asking colleagues on chat instead. IT fixed it in a day. By week ten she was ahead of the first agent.
Without the mid-point check-in and the self-access, the second agent would have reached the probation review with a flat line and no explanation anyone had asked for. That is the difference the setup makes, and it costs a conversation at week six.
Related reading: Fake Sick Days, The First-Time Manager's Guide to Employee Monitoring.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can employers use monitoring data in a probation review?
Yes, provided monitoring was disclosed before the data was collected, the new hire could see the same data during the period, and the review uses the person's own trend rather than a comparison against established staff. Data the person has not seen, or that was collected before the policy was explained, should not be used.
2. How much productivity should a new hire show during probation?
Less than the team, and rising. The useful measure is the change between the week-two baseline and the week-ten position, not the absolute level. Focus time typically doubles or triples over a 90-day probation in knowledge roles as the work becomes routine.
3. Should new employees know they are being monitored during probation?
Yes, and in most jurisdictions they must. Explain the data on day one, show the dashboard, give self-access and say what will be used in the review. A signed policy that was never explained does not amount to informed awareness.
4. What monitoring data should not be used in probation decisions?
Rankings against established staff, single bad days, activity percentage read as effort, dashboards the person has not seen before the final meeting, and anything collected before monitoring was disclosed.
5. When should the probation baseline be taken?
At the end of week two, once accounts, tools and onboarding sessions have settled. A day-one baseline captures setup noise and makes every later week look like improvement regardless of what happened.
6. What if a new hire's trend is flat at the end of probation?
Ask why before deciding. A flat trend with a fixable cause, such as a tool that never worked, justifies an extension with a specific target. A flat trend with no explanation is a performance decision, and the record should show the person saw the data at the mid-point.
Probation decisions the new hire has already seen coming E-Monitor gives every new hire self-access from day one and shows their own trend beside the team's, so a probation review is a conversation about a chart both people have been watching. Sign up →