In the second part of his article, Pitchcare Trainer and Conference Speaker FRANK NEWBERRY, concludes his exploration of the evergreen problem of maintaining good discipline in the workplace. Frank points out that getting it just right has always been a challenge for individuals and organisations in both the public and private sectors.
Top Tips for great DISCIPLINE AT WORK
Before we look at the ten tips we need to identify the three main issues that you will need to consider when prevention has not succeeded as well as you might have expected. These are the legal, procedural and performance issues.
LEGAL ISSUES
You will need to be very careful in everything you do because any mishandling of disciplinary action could land you in court. It is possible that legal action could be taken against you personally by your employer as well as an aggrieved employee. If you are in any doubt you should seek professional advice as soon as a situation in the workplace shows any disciplinary potential. You can get help from the person responsible for ‘people matters’ at work, or your organisation’s HR Department, or their solicitor.
Just because you are the supervisor or manager who has to take corrective action does not mean that you are not entitled to personal advice yourself. You could seek advice and guidance as a member of your professional association i.e. BIGGA has a Legal Helpline as does the IOG for its members.
PROCEDURAL
You will need to be up-to- date with your organisation’s disciplinary processes and procedures. In part one of this article (in the last issue) I suggested that you visit ACAS via their website:
www.acas.org.uk . It is worth emphasising that this website
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is one of the best of its kind in terms of giving both bosses and staff the advice they need.
PERFORMANCE RELATED
You will not need reminding that probably the most important of these three main issues is the negative impact the poor behaviour of someone has on: 1) the other members of the work team and 2) the perceptions of your organisation’s customers. To this we can add a third
more insidious outcome. Whether it is poor
performance (not working to a good standard) or bad work habits (tardiness, unsafe working practices etc.) people will notice the way you respond to it, and judgments will be made about you as the supervisor or line manager. You will have heard the
expression ‘it’s a management problem’ many times, but, if you do not handle disciplinary situations correctly, you will be seen as the problem and not the people offending. With the stakes as high as
they are for you personally here are some tips to encourage and support you.
1. Show recognition
Understanding and respect to the individuals concerned Many people who have been on the receiving end of poorly handled disciplinary action have complained (perhaps quite rightly) that their bosses treated them differently from the onset of the problem. A tension set in and many of the following interactions with boss and
fellow team members seemed to be unnatural. It was as if judgments had already been made and only the sentence remained to be passed. You will need to separate the people from the problem and impartially help the ‘accused’ to deal with their situation.
2. Make reference to the organisation disciplinary code
You may find people have lost, mislaid, or claim to have never received, a copy of the discipline code. If this is the case then get everyone a copy and discuss it with them so that your interpretation of the code, your understanding of acceptable standards of performance and behaviour are clear to all. Whilst in legal circles ‘ignorance of the law is no defence’ you should make sure that no one can say again that ‘they did not know’ their actions were unacceptable.
3. Get ‘management support’
You must do this as soon as the situation shows discipline ‘potential’ Your organisation’s discipline code will specify who is authorised to take which steps. For example, it is common practice that only senior managers may suspend or sack employees. This being the case you will need to alert senior managers to the prospect of such action being necessary so that they can prepare to take whatever action is required. You may need help and advice with this because I once met a supervisor who could not get
management support to sack one of his team members because the relevant senior manager was the parent of the problem employee.
4. Keep a written and confidential record
Keep a record of all the steps you take and everything you say to the people involved It is vital that you keep a
record and that you tell everyone concerned that you are keeping that record. A number of very big
companies have lost cases at industrial tribunals, and had to pay out a lot of money in compensation, because people did not keep a record of what was said and done. In court it became just one person’s word against another’s and the accused was able to establish ‘reasonable doubt’ in the absence of records being kept.
5. Have a witness present
When you take action, and afterwards, get the witnesses and those involved in the disciplinary action to sign a record that summarises everything that what was said and done
See 4 above. It will be time consuming and may feel awkward but it will show a patient and professional approach to any senior manager or industrial tribunal.
6. Remain calm and do not contend
See also 1 above. Tension in a relationship can lead to argument and contention. This will not demonstrate a
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