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Five Sins of Employee Discipline at Your ALLIANCE Center The duties of being a good manager don't end after hiring and training your carefully selected employees. Many managers believe the word "discipline" has to do with punishment. Actually, it doesn't. Discipline pertains to improving employee performance through a process of assisting the employee (at least at first) to learn so he or she can perform more effectively. Here are the five most common sins managers make regarding disciplining employees, and what ALLIANCE recommends about them. |
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We suggest that you consider discipline as requiring you and the staff member to work together to solve a problem. The fundamental task, when possible, is to create a situation which encourages the staff member to work with you to identify causes of problematic behavior, and to take action to correct those problems. Discipline needs to be a "we" process.
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It is very important that inappropriate behavior or actions in the workplace be, at minimum, noted, and the fact communicated with the staff member, right at the first occurrence. This need not be a lengthy, difficult discussion, particularly if the event is relatively minor. The really lengthy, unpleasant discussion tends to occur as a result of not addressing problems early on.
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Managers who delay disciplinary action tend to wait until action must be taken, when the situation has become so severe that it must be addressed immediately. Often the manager feels the need to apply harsh sanctions because, perhaps, the inappropriate behavior has become more extreme. |
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Without knowing the root causes underlying a performance problem it will be difficult to work with an employee to improve that performance. |
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It may sound like we are advocating a kid gloves approach to problem employees – we are not. What we are saying is that it makes little sense to do things that are likely to fail, and a punishment approach is likely to fail more often than not. If you have questions about how you can avoid these five sins and what you can do to improve employee discipline at your center, The ALLIANCE Academy is here to help! Please visit The ALLIANCE Academy site to find out more information about courses, upcoming Webinars, and customized training. |
Perhaps one of the most prevalent errors is based on the idea that discipline is punishment. The manager who perceives discipline as a punishment process tends to apply negative sanctions, expecting that those negative sanctions will have some sort of positive effect. For example, to eliminate the unwanted behavior simply through the "threat" of additional sanctions.
A second error is that some managers see discipline as something done to an employee, not something done with an employee. 
It's probably safe to say that managers do not go hunting for disciplinary problems. Heaven knows, you have enough other things to do to look for trouble. Sometimes, though managers are TOO slow to respond to an emerging issue or problem. 
Related to the previous point (Error #3) is the issue of progressiveness, or lack of it. Progressive discipline starts with the least possible use of power and disciplinary action, and over time, will involve stronger actions, if the situation continues.
It is understandable when beleaguered and frustrated managers/supervisors "lay down the law" to a problem employee. In some cases, a problem employee may require this kind of approach particularly if they have the skills to do what is desired, but have not been applying the skills for one reason or another, related to motivation. But in many situations, exhortation, threats, or an offer of positive rewards may have little effect on behavior, simply because they do not address the root causes of the problem, and leave the employee "on their own" to figure out a solution.