Congrats on getting a good review!

I’ve never had HR present at any reviews and evaluations in my life (and not just in my regular field of work, I worked in other fields). In my experience it’s not a typical practice. So I’d not worry about that.

Was this a formal review? I’d email and ask for a written copy of it. They supposed to write or type what they said. Was he just talking for 20 minutes with nothing to look at? I don’t think they’ll fire you based on the initial review as you clearly improved but you do need a copy.

Follow up with the email requesting a copy of eval. We always get second copy placed in the personnel file too. Let them explain why there’s no paper trail (they did not considered it a formal review or more like a casual reflection?)