Probation Tracker Tool

The following Google Apps Script tool was developed to allow you to easily be reminded of when upcoming probation review meetings are due. Enter the details into the Google Sheet, including upcoming review dates, and the tool will automatically email the Line Manager both 14 days before and on the day of the review date.

Manage probation review dates in a spreadsheet and be sent reminder emails

Key Functionality

• The daily check is performed between 7am - 8am every day and for any emails that are sent a Note will be attached to the cell with its timestamp for record purposes and it will be coloured in light-green.
• You can continue to append further rows for new staff starters after the initial Sheet setup or you may wish to delete/move rows for those that have completed their probation period.
• You can adjust dates, emails addresses, etc at any point in time.
• If you enter something into the ‘Probation Passed’ column then that given row will be skipped in future checks, to help save time if you continue to add to this Sheet.
• You do not have to enter a review date for every single column, thus allowing flexibility between differing roles, just leave it blank.
• There is a Log sheet to help capture any errors and it will attempt to email the account that creates the daily check (trigger) to alert them.
• Email content:
• Subject: Probation Review due
• Message:
• Hi <Line Manager’s Name>
• A probation review for <Full Name> is due <Time period> for a <Number of months> month review.
• Thank you

Instructions

1. Start to complete the relevant columns in the Google Sheet. You do not need to add everybody at this point but you should ensure you complete the required information for any rows that you do start:
• Full Name - required.
• Job Title - optional.
• Job Type/Area - optional.
• Start Date - optional.
• Line Manager’s Name - required.
• Line Manager’s Email - required.
• Probation Length - optional.
• 3 Month Review Date - optional - double click in the cell to activate the date picker.
• 6 Month Review Date - optional - double click in the cell to activate the date picker.
• 9 Month Review Date - optional - double click in the cell to activate the date picker.
• 12 Month Review Date - optional - double click in the cell to activate the date picker.
• Probation Passed - optional - adding any details in here will skip the row in future e.g. the person has completed their probation but you want to continue appending new staff to this Sheet without it re-checking previous ones.
• Notes - optional.
  
  
2. Create the daily check - you must ensure you are not logged into more than one Google Account before you perform this step. It only needs to be performed once (unless you later remove the tool):
1. Click the ‘Admin’ option in the menu bar at the top of the Google Sheet, then click ‘Create Trigger’.
2. After selecting this option you will be asked to give permission to ensure you are happy for it to access various parts of your Google account.
3. Please click through the next few screens to allow it to connect to your Account.
4. After clicking the final ‘Allow’ option you will be returned to the Google Sheet. Now despite successfully authorising the tool you will need to select the previous menu item once more, as Google prevents it from automatically running the first time as a security measure.
5. Upon selecting the menu item this time, after a few seconds, you will see a success message which you can now close.
   
   
3. All done! You have now set up the daily check that will automatically look for any dates that match the review criteria, between 7am - 8am each morning, and send off any relevant emails. This runs automatically in the background each day so you do not need to keep the Sheet open. You can continue to append further staff probations as required without repeating this step.

Download

 

Probation Tracker Tool download (please use 'File' > 'Make a copy' for your own version).