Probation periods – they’re the real job interview

Probation periods give companies and new employees a chance to size each other up. If either the job or the candidate doesn’t quite fit, then both sides have a get-out clause. 

The new UK government has introduced an employment rights bill, which makes many proposed changes. Staff will be given the right to claim unfair dismissal against their employers from day one and a new statutory probation period for companies’ new hires will be brought in – the government’s preferred duration for this is nine months, though this is still under consultation. 

Whatever changes the legislation eventually brings in, how should managers and employees handle probation periods so that both sides benefit? 

You get out what you put in

CMI chief executive Ann Francke OBE says probation periods are necessary for employers and managers to discover whether an individual is likely to make a positive contribution. “That puts the onus on the probation period to be very well designed,” she says.

• How should younger managers communicate with older employees?

Too often it isn’t, she says. People are thrown in at the deep end and told to “get on with it and meet this deadline.” That’s not a recipe for success.