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Executive Management Techniques: Disciplinary Measures
Whether you are a new or seasoned Executive Leader, understanding that discipline is meant to improve and “rehabilitate”
bad behavior is important. Discipline is not meant to punish an employee (although the employee may view the action as
such), but to send a clear message regarding acceptable versus unacceptable behaviors in the work place. Approaching
discipline as a way to rehabilitate behavior is a positive way to approach the employee (except when the behaviors are so
egregious immediate dismissal is required). Discipline is meted out for bad behaviors such as theft, insubordination,
hostile work environment, being drunk on the job, etc. It is crucial to note that incompetence in performing the employee's
assigned duties and responsibilities is NOT normally addressed through the disciplinary arena.
Executives may learn new methods or build upon their experiences, but rarely do they relish the task of disciplining
a staff member—nor should they! Often, Executive Leaders will find themselves being too harsh or too lenient; others
may struggle with which disciplinary actions to take and the best way to inform the party being reprimanded. In our article,
“Disciplinary Measures,” we will discuss two high-level examples of disciplinary options open to Executive Leaders and
what they communicate to the staff member being disciplined. Although you may rarely have to resort to the below, both
actions serve to illustrate each company’s perception of the severity of the transgression and what their disciplinary
measures communicate.
Situation: a staff member makes a racial slur in the workplace.
- Reaction 1: Company 1’s Executive team, after consultation with their Human Resources Department, decides to issue
a written reprimand and requires that the employee donate a full month’s pay to the company.
- Reaction 2: Company 2’s Executive team, after consultation with their Human Resources Department, decides to issue
a 30-day suspension without pay.
What each disciplinary measure communicates to the employee. Although these two actions may seem similar, they communicate
two very different things:
- The Executive Leaders at Company 1 chose to set the bar low for all future incidents because the disciplinary action
would be the written reprimand (lenient compared to suspension) rather than the donation of pay. The reprimand, rather
than the donation, would go in the employee’s official file and follow her throughout her career.
- The Executive Leaders at Company 2 chose to demonstrate that they were both prepared to offer strict consequences
and that they took the employee’s transgression seriously because the disciplinary action was to issue a 30-day suspension
without pay. This suspension would then go in the employee’s official file and follow her throughout her career.
These are by no means the only two disciplinary options available, and in fact an Executive Leader might choose to move
straight to termination. Regardless of which action you choose to take, based on the situation and the severity of the
transgression it is imperative that you be mindful of the precedent you will be setting for all future employee violations
and precisely what your actions will communicate to not only the employee being disciplined, but the rest of your staff
as well.
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