Lemonade From Lemons: Using Discipline To Create A Better Work Environment

Every employer will, at some point, have the obligation to discipline an employee. A properly implemented disciplinary action can have the desired effect of bettering an employee’s performance. Likewise, poorly implemented discipline can foster resentment and create far-reaching morale issues amongst the workforce.There are at least three components to implementation of a proper disciplinary plan.

They are:

1. Clear understanding of expectations;

2. The use of objective measures of job performance;

3. Fair and consistent application.

The need for employee discipline oftentimes arises when there is a disconnect between the employer’s expectations and the employee’s understanding. It is important from the beginning of the employment relationship, then, that employer expectations are clearly explained and, if need be, demonstrated or exemplified. For management level employees and below, use of a job description is a good way to set forth in concise language the job duties for which the employee will be responsible. This will be an organic document, expanding or contracting as the time passes. For executive personnel, an employment contract may be used to document expectations of the Board of Directors or President. The employer’s disciplinary process should be applicable from owners to staff and communicated to all personnel, in writing if possible, at the beginning of the employment relationship. For most infractions, the employer’s disciplinary process will be progressive, i.e. starting with a verbal warning and getting progressively more serious through termination. An employee who commits a violation should have no question about the nature of the process to which he or she will be subject.

If it becomes necessary to implement the employer’s disciplinary process, certain steps should be followed. First, properly disciplining an employee should include identifying the violation or performance issue, with specific reference to written company policy if applicable. Second, and no matter what stage the employer is at when the discipline is imposed, the employee should then be given objective measures by his or her job performance will be judged so as to lessen the possibility of misunderstanding. Examples could be “[y]our sales numbers must be $50,000.00” or “[w]e expect reports to be turned in the first day of the quarter” or “start and stop times for all meal and rest periods must be written on your time sheet every day.” Third, the company’s objective expectations should be followed by a time certain within which the employee is expected to correct the performance issue, i.e. “immediately” or “within ninety days.”

The use of a written performance evaluation or performance improvement plan should be considered. Preparing the evaluation or plan will force the employer to distill the critical issues and think ahead of time about simple and clear ways to improve performance. The employee will then have the benefit of the writing to refer to when responding to the disciplinary action. When the employer circles back to gauge whether expectations were met, job performance can be easily measure against the objective criteria.

Comments

[George Kittredge]

Shannon,
Excellent article. The idea that turning a adverse employee issue into a positive situation through proper disciplinary procedures and policies is an excellent approach and one that is often overlooked by many employers.