The topics of discipline and termination are uncomfortable. After all, you want to deal with your employees as responsible adults who want to work. Unfortunately, not every employee will turn out to be as responsible as you wish. Sometimes, too, you will be faced with an otherwise excellent employee who has difficulty adhering to one or more rules that must be enforced.
Rule infractions happen. Here are some examples of rule violations that you may have to deal with.
- John is one of your most productive employees, but he has become sloppy about safety measures. One day, as you walk through the plant, you notice that John is working in a hazardous zone without his protective glasses and gloves.
- Ethel, a supervisor, has been coming in late every other morning. Her team’s work continues to be satisfactory, and she is meeting all her project deadlines, but you know she is setting a poor example for her employees.
- Anna, your administrative assistant, skipped out of the office for a two- hour lunch break, leaving behind some critical work.
Although each individual has broken a department or corporate rule, each instance must be examined individually before taking corrective discipline.
Most organizations have two counseling tracks: one for performance problems, another for rule violations. The existence of two tracks reflects the fact that rule violations are a more serious issue than a shortcoming in job performance. Besides, poor job performance is not necessarily a deliberate act of the employee and can often be redressed with either training or positive reinforcement.