[Published in Manila Bulletin, January 2012]
All bosses will eventually have to correct their staff whether they like it or not. It simply comes with the territory. As a leader or a manager of people, your role is to guide your people towards the right direction. This often means supervising and monitoring your staff closely. If they make mistakes, as their boss, you need to correct them. If they exhibit negative attitude or behavior, you need to deal with it. If they are stagnating, you need to find ways to motivate and help them grow.
To a certain degree, being a leader is a bit like being a parent. When your child makes mistakes in the process of growing up, you are responsible in correcting them so that they will learn. If they are acquiring inappropriate behavior, you need to set them straight or else they won't grow up to be well-adjusted and productive individuals. If you go with the easy route and just leave them be, you'll have more problems in the long run and you are giving your child a disservice.
There is no doubt that some form of discipline should be instilled upon people, whether young or old, at home or in the workplace. The question, however, is not why discipline is important, but rather, how do you instil discipline.
How do you properly correct the mistakes of others without hurting their feelings? How do you admonish an employee who has been slacking off on the job and still show respect for his dignity? How do you keep your own emotions in check when you are angry yourself? How do you maintain a positive vibe when you need to discuss negative things? And more importantly, how do you ensure that the person improves after you've disciplined him or her, instead of just ending up with a deflated and disgruntled employee? --- These are just some of the issues many bosses have to deal with on a regular basis. See, it's not easy telling people that what they are doing wrong.
It's not easy being the boss. But once you develop the skills to lead and manage people, your work life becomes easier. Once you have mastered how to discipline your employees the proper way, you will reap the rewards of having competent and happy people.
Here are a few things I've learned in the art of Employee Discipline...
1. Do not admonish at the heat of the moment
Bosses often get upset with stupid mistakes of others. It's normal to feel angry since you need to spend valuable time and effort managing the damage. But at the heat of the moment, do not talk to your staff or write a memo. Pause for awhile. Things will get clearer the day after and you'll be glad that you didn't embarrass yourself, your staff or issued a demoralizing memo that’s not easy to take back.
2. Listen to all sides
If there is conflict between your people or a mistake is committed by an employee, don't lash out immediately and tell them what they should have done. Instead, ask questions first and listen to find out why the employee did what he or she did. When you open your mind and listen, your staff may surprise you with good reasons for doing his or her thing. Who knows, he or she may have come up with better solutions. So listen first, before correcting.
3. Look at the big picture
Mistakes are not all equal. There are petty and minor ones; there are also major business-threatening ones. Although equally irritating, mistakes should be measured. Try to look at the overall picture. If it's petty, don't make a big deal about it. Don't sweat it. If you perceive that all mistakes are major catastrophes, the more stressed and angry you will become. So spend time correcting major mistakes, but be more forgiving towards petty ones. Don’t sweat the small stuff.
4. Correct and Count
One of the board members of a company I used to work for has a simple but practical guideline in disciplining employees. He advised, "If you tell a person to do something the first time and he makes a mistake, talk to him. Perhaps you failed to communicate it properly. If the same person commits the same mistake the second or third time, correct him. This time, he already knows what is expected of him and needs to be corrected. If he does the mistake the sixth time, fire him. This means that he already knows the mistake but cannot or would not follow you.
5. Monitor Improvements
So you need to monitor your staff closely. After spending time and effort in disciplining a person, what results can you see? Has the person improved? If so, then you are doing things effectively. If the person's attitude or performance deteriorates, re-examine your methods. Perhaps the discipline method you chose is not suitable for that particular staff. If you've tried everything and there is still no improvement, perhaps the problem is not how you communicate but instead the person you are communicating with. If the person is the problem, you have to decide whether he or she is worth keeping.
6. Motivate or Terminate
There are employees that only need a nudge to get back on track. These are the people that will benefit most from progressive employee discipline. So seek ways to motivate and encourage them to improve. Meanwhile, there are those that no matter what you do, it seems like a hopeless case. When you find yourself spending too much time and effort fixing things and correcting problematic employees instead of focusing on your main job or business, you seriously need to think about letting the person go.
7. Know the Labor Law
Should you decide to let the person go, be sure to know and abide by the Labour Code of the Philippines. There are important keys steps that you need to take to legally terminate an employee, be sure to follow them to avoid future problems and DOLE complaints. Every business owner, boss, manager and supervisor should know the basics of Human Resource Management. There are important guidelines that will help you manage your people better.
Correcting the mistakes of people is not the easiest task in the world, but somebody has got to do it. Disciplining your people will feel awkward and painful most of the time, but it is something that needs to be done if you want a harmonious and effective workplace. So it is important to take the time to learn explore effective methods of disciplining employees. To learn more about best practices in progressive employee discipline, I encourage you to join HR Club Philippines's upcoming HR Leadership Conference on February 9 and 10 at the Philippine Stock Exchange Auditorium in Ortigas Center, Pasig City. Do visit www.hrleadershipconference.com for more information.
Showing posts with label employee discipline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label employee discipline. Show all posts
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE & CONDUCT
[Published in Manila Bulletin last October 2011]
Just like in school, an Employee’s “behavior and conduct” is monitored, measured and graded. Whether formally or informally, most employers, bosses or managers need to master the art of Employee Discipline to ensure that business operations would run smoothly, the team performs well and workforce productivity is as its best.
Newly promoted supervisors and managers often find that this is one of the most difficult areas of people management. How do you make sure that your subordinates are all doing their jobs to the best of their abilities? How do you correct preventable mistakes and errors? And what do you do with unprofessional attitude and behavior?
Defining Your Leadership Style
Like a parent or teacher that deals with children, a manager often has to make a conscious choice in how to deal with employees. For instance, if you were a boss, what type of boss would you like to be? Are you going to be strict or lenient? Authoritative or approachable?
Most employees will immediately say that they would like a lenient and approachable boss. And newly promoted supervisors and managers, more often than not, want to be a likeable boss. This is fine in the beginning until sooner or later you realize that you have to make unpopular but sound decisions. You have to rectify errors and correct bad behavior. Then you have to adjust your style and define boundaries.
Setting Boundaries
Employee discipline is quite similar to parenting and teaching. As a parent or teacher, you want your child to learn and grow up to be a responsible person. Along the way, you have to teach your child what’s right and what’s wrong, what’s acceptable and what’s not, so that the child can adapt well to society.
In the same way, effective employers have clearly defined company policies that they expect employees to follow. This is immediately discussed upon hiring of an employee so that the new employee can adjust well to the workplace.
If an employee knows what is expected of him or her, then it is much easier to meet those expectations as opposed to having no idea at all of what the company wants.
Rewards and Punishment
Once a new employee is inducted, the employer starts to monitor the attitude, behavior and performance of the individual. Like parents and teachers, good performance is often rewarded with recognition, incentives, awards and bonuses. Needless to say, people like this and these types of positive reinforcement results in high morale and better productivity.
However, more often than not, employees make mistakes or have bad days. If a small error is made, a simple talk to correct the person is often enough. However, if the mistake becomes a habit or if the deed is grave, then disciplinary action is often done.
Disciplinary Action
Now being disciplined is not something normal people enjoy. I mean, who wants to be corrected, right? No one wants to go through the humiliation of being at the receiving end of that dreaded verbal or written warning. Not a lot of people want to be suspended particularly because workplace suspensions usually mean no pay. Worst of all, it just sucks to be fired.
That is why Disciplinary Actions are often viewed and received in a negative light. Meanwhile, HR professionals, the people who process these things, have the difficult job of being the messenger of such news. This is one of the least favorite tasks of HR professionals. It is a difficult job, but someone has to do it.
Consistent Disciplinary Process
Although this is not a popular area of people management, it is necessary for companies to have standard and consistent disciplinary policies and processes. Like most grown up children, employees will eventually realize that there’s security in rules and regulations since it sets clear boundaries on how all people in the workplace should act… that these guidelines actually give peace and order. It helps to know what to expect.
Just like parents who have clear rules and consistent discipline strategies, employers who have formal disciplinary processes will eventually be able to provide an environment where workers can easily adjust to. In the same way, parents and employers who do not have clear guidelines for rewards and punishments, will only confuse people more.
Positive Employee Discipline
But the real challenge for Employers, HR professional, Managers and Supervisors is this: How do you discipline an employee in a positive way?
The answer lies in the right mix of policies, communication, performance measurements, disciplinary processes, rewards and punishment practices. In our Human Resource Management Seminars on Employee Discipline and Conduct, we explore both the legal and practical aspects of Employee Discipline as well as best practices in this field.
There are concrete steps that can be taken to ensure that employees are corrected in a positive and effective way wherein their dignity remains intact. This results to a well-motivated and self-monitoring workforce that’s exciting to manage.
I believe each employer, boss, manager or supervisor must master the art of Employee Discipline. It is not a task that’s meant to control an employee, rather it is a pursuit in developing and letting people grow. After all, the job of the leader is not to make followers but to build future leaders.
Just like in school, an Employee’s “behavior and conduct” is monitored, measured and graded. Whether formally or informally, most employers, bosses or managers need to master the art of Employee Discipline to ensure that business operations would run smoothly, the team performs well and workforce productivity is as its best.
Newly promoted supervisors and managers often find that this is one of the most difficult areas of people management. How do you make sure that your subordinates are all doing their jobs to the best of their abilities? How do you correct preventable mistakes and errors? And what do you do with unprofessional attitude and behavior?
Defining Your Leadership Style
Like a parent or teacher that deals with children, a manager often has to make a conscious choice in how to deal with employees. For instance, if you were a boss, what type of boss would you like to be? Are you going to be strict or lenient? Authoritative or approachable?
Most employees will immediately say that they would like a lenient and approachable boss. And newly promoted supervisors and managers, more often than not, want to be a likeable boss. This is fine in the beginning until sooner or later you realize that you have to make unpopular but sound decisions. You have to rectify errors and correct bad behavior. Then you have to adjust your style and define boundaries.
Setting Boundaries
Employee discipline is quite similar to parenting and teaching. As a parent or teacher, you want your child to learn and grow up to be a responsible person. Along the way, you have to teach your child what’s right and what’s wrong, what’s acceptable and what’s not, so that the child can adapt well to society.
In the same way, effective employers have clearly defined company policies that they expect employees to follow. This is immediately discussed upon hiring of an employee so that the new employee can adjust well to the workplace.
If an employee knows what is expected of him or her, then it is much easier to meet those expectations as opposed to having no idea at all of what the company wants.
Rewards and Punishment
Once a new employee is inducted, the employer starts to monitor the attitude, behavior and performance of the individual. Like parents and teachers, good performance is often rewarded with recognition, incentives, awards and bonuses. Needless to say, people like this and these types of positive reinforcement results in high morale and better productivity.
However, more often than not, employees make mistakes or have bad days. If a small error is made, a simple talk to correct the person is often enough. However, if the mistake becomes a habit or if the deed is grave, then disciplinary action is often done.
Disciplinary Action
Now being disciplined is not something normal people enjoy. I mean, who wants to be corrected, right? No one wants to go through the humiliation of being at the receiving end of that dreaded verbal or written warning. Not a lot of people want to be suspended particularly because workplace suspensions usually mean no pay. Worst of all, it just sucks to be fired.
That is why Disciplinary Actions are often viewed and received in a negative light. Meanwhile, HR professionals, the people who process these things, have the difficult job of being the messenger of such news. This is one of the least favorite tasks of HR professionals. It is a difficult job, but someone has to do it.
Consistent Disciplinary Process
Although this is not a popular area of people management, it is necessary for companies to have standard and consistent disciplinary policies and processes. Like most grown up children, employees will eventually realize that there’s security in rules and regulations since it sets clear boundaries on how all people in the workplace should act… that these guidelines actually give peace and order. It helps to know what to expect.
Just like parents who have clear rules and consistent discipline strategies, employers who have formal disciplinary processes will eventually be able to provide an environment where workers can easily adjust to. In the same way, parents and employers who do not have clear guidelines for rewards and punishments, will only confuse people more.
Positive Employee Discipline
But the real challenge for Employers, HR professional, Managers and Supervisors is this: How do you discipline an employee in a positive way?
The answer lies in the right mix of policies, communication, performance measurements, disciplinary processes, rewards and punishment practices. In our Human Resource Management Seminars on Employee Discipline and Conduct, we explore both the legal and practical aspects of Employee Discipline as well as best practices in this field.
There are concrete steps that can be taken to ensure that employees are corrected in a positive and effective way wherein their dignity remains intact. This results to a well-motivated and self-monitoring workforce that’s exciting to manage.
I believe each employer, boss, manager or supervisor must master the art of Employee Discipline. It is not a task that’s meant to control an employee, rather it is a pursuit in developing and letting people grow. After all, the job of the leader is not to make followers but to build future leaders.
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