Understanding employee discipline is crucial for organizations as it fosters teamwork, enhances productivity, and maintains industrial harmony. This comprehensive guide explores the meaning, importance, factors leading to discipline, and various disciplinary measures essential for organizational success.
Employee discipline is vital for healthy industrial relations and the smooth functioning of an organization, directly impacting employee morale and industrial peace. It helps employees become more effective and addresses the ripple effect of individual actions within a group. This document explores the concept of discipline, its various aspects, how to achieve positive discipline, the disciplinary process, and how to address indiscipline.
We all have differing views on discipline. As children, we were often punished for misbehavior, sometimes knowingly, sometimes unknowingly, with disciplinary action teaching us not to repeat those acts. Similarly, within an organization, “Discipline” refers to an employee’s self-control and work effectiveness, fostering genuine teamwork and order. It signifies a proper understanding of the superior-subordinate relationship and a willing cooperation in observing organizational rules.
We consider discipline in its positive sense: “Training of mind that develops self-control, character, orderliness, and efficiency.” While it can also imply punishment, the general perception is that obedience to rules and penalties for their breach form the core of organizational discipline. Rules and laws are essential for society and are generally observed when their benefits are understood and accepted.
The true force behind laws and rules is the consent of those to whom they apply; attempts to enforce behavior without this consent are unlikely to succeed. Much of employee behavior and subordinate interactions are governed by informal, unwritten rules and norms, which are based on the organization’s conventions and culture.
Since discipline is a behavior or way of life, the focus should be on training and educating employees to develop self-control and obedience. Satisfactory results are unlikely if discipline is solely viewed as control and punishment. Let’s now differentiate the main aspects of discipline.
Discipline is the orderly conduct of an employee in an expected manner. It is the force, or the fear of such a force, that prevents individuals or groups from actions detrimental to achieving group objectives. In essence, discipline is the orderly conduct of organizational members who adhere to rules and regulations, desiring to cooperate harmoniously toward shared goals.
Good discipline means employees are willing to follow company rules and executive orders, behaving as desired. It signifies the absence of chaos, irregularity, and confusion in a worker’s behavior.
According to Calhoon,
“Discipline is a force that prompts individuals or groups to observe rules, regulations, and procedures which are deemed to be necessary for the effective functioning of an organization.”
Violating rules, regulations, procedures, and norms is considered misconduct. This includes any act inconsistent with the expressed or implied conditions of service, directly linked to the employer-employee relationship, impacting employee contentment or comfort, or materially affecting the organization’s smooth and efficient operation.
Every organization expects employee behavior to conform to its prescribed system for achieving organizational goals. Therefore, discipline is, in short, the orderly conduct of an employee in an expected manner. Its purpose is to encourage employees to behave responsibly at work by adhering to rules. Disciplinary action is warranted when an employee breaks a rule.
Richard D. Calhoon states,
“Discipline is the force that prompts individuals or groups to observe rules, regulations, standards, and procedures deemed necessary for an organization.”
Discipline means systematically conducting business with organizational members strictly adhering to essential rules and regulations. These employees/organizational members work as a team to achieve the organizational mission and vision, understanding that individual and group goals must align for organizational success.
A disciplined employee is organized, and an organized employee is always disciplined. Employee behavior is the foundation of discipline in an organization. Discipline implies conforming to the code of conduct established by the organization. It ensures productivity and efficiency, encourages harmony and cooperation among employees, and boosts morale. Without discipline, an organization will face chaos, confusion, corruption, and disobedience.
In summary, discipline implies obedience, orderliness, and maintaining proper subordination among employees. Factors like work recognition, fair and equitable treatment, appropriate salary structures, effective grievance handling, and job security all contribute to organizational discipline.
Therefore, discipline means securing consistent behavior in line with accepted norms. Simply put, discipline means orderliness, implying the absence of chaos, irregularity, and confusion in workers’ behavior. Richard D Calhoun defines discipline as “a force that prompts individuals or groups to observe the rules, regulations, and procedures which are deemed to be necessary for the effective functioning of an organization.”
There are two main concepts of discipline: positive and negative.
Involves a sense of duty to observe rules and regulations. It’s achieved when management applies principles of positive motivation and appropriate leadership. Also known as cooperative or determinative discipline, it creates an atmosphere where employees willingly conform to established rules. According to Spriegel, “positive discipline does not replace reason but applies reason to the achievement of a common objective. Positive discipline does not restrict the individual, but enables him to have a greater freedom in that he enjoys a greater degree of self-expression in striving to achieve the group objective, which he identifies as his own.”
Here, Peter Senge’s ideas of personal mastery, systems thinking, and mental models are relevant. Systems thinking shifts the mind from parts to the whole, from seeing people as helpless reactors to active participants shaping their reality, and from reacting to the present to creating the future. Personal mastery involves developing the self with a commitment to truth. Mental models are our perceptions of the world. The positive concept of discipline assumes a certain degree of self-discipline, linking to the idea of “self-actualization” at work, representing higher-order employee need satisfaction.
Also known as punitive or corrective discipline, uses penalties or punishments to force workers to obey rules. Its objective is to ensure employees do not violate rules. Negative disciplinary actions include fines, reprimands, demotions, layoffs, and transfers. This approach requires regular monitoring, wasting valuable time. In the negative concept, disciplinary action implies punishment, which can cause resentment and hostility.
However, satisfactory results are unlikely if discipline is solely perceived as control and punishment. When implementing negative discipline, management should follow a sequential manner: oral reprimand, written reprimand, a warning, temporary suspension, and dismissal or discharge.
Discipline should be imposed without causing resentment. McGregor’s “red hot stove rule” outlines characteristics of a sound and effective disciplinary system:
The five important objectives of employee discipline are:
Discipline is crucial for the smooth operation of an organization and for maintaining industrial peace, which is the cornerstone of industrial democracy. Without discipline, no enterprise can prosper. The success of any disciplinary rules relies on high cooperation between employers and employees, mutual trust, fulfillment of mutual obligations, management’s enlightened attitude towards employees, and its overall efficiency for workers’ trade unions.
Disciplinary measures have serious consequences for employees, thus they should be based on certain principles to ensure fairness, justice, and acceptance by employees or their unions:
The importance of discipline in organizations cannot be overstated. Orderly behavior is essential for achieving organizational objectives; without discipline, no enterprise would prosper. If discipline is necessary even in a nuclear family, an industrial organization with diverse people cannot function smoothly without it.
When an employee is at fault, management must take disciplinary action. Discipline is considered good when employees willingly follow supervisors’ instructions and company rules. It is considered bad when employees follow rules unwillingly or actively disobey them. Poor discipline indicates a need for correction. The fundamental reason for disciplinary action is to rectify situations unfavorable to the company. Essentially, discipline is a form of training. When disciplinary problems arise, it may be as much management’s fault as the workers’, often stemming from management’s failure to communicate expectations clearly.
The term ‘discipline’ carries unpleasant associations with punishment, but with the addition of the “just cause” concept, which limits an employer’s right to discipline and discharge, the word has expanded to encompass a system of training and education for both employees and supervisors, designed to achieve orderly conduct.
The significance of discipline can be explained as follows:
When employees consistently follow company rules, indiscipline is not an issue. However, some employees may fail to meet the norms of responsible behavior, necessitating disciplinary action. To ensure fairness and equity, the following factors need to be analyzed:
There are five major types of employee discipline:
Positive discipline in a business creates an atmosphere of mutual trust and common purpose where all employees understand company rules and objectives, and actively support them. Any disciplinary program is based on employees having a clear understanding of what is expected.
This necessitates a fair, clear, realistic, and well-communicated set of rules and standards. Discipline takes the form of positive support and reinforcement for approved actions, aiming to help individuals shape their behavior constructively. Once standards and rules are known by all, discipline can be enforced equitably and fairly.
Guidelines for establishing positive discipline:
Negative discipline is generally understood as a check or restraint on an individual’s freedom. It refers to imposing penalties for wrong behavior. If employees fail to follow rules, they are punished, with the fear of punishment guiding them back on track. “Discipline is the force that prompts an individual or a group to observe the rules, regulations, and procedures which are deemed to be necessary to the attainment of an objective.”
Behavioral scientists view discipline as self-control aimed at meeting organizational objectives. Megginson clarified this: “By self-discipline we mean the training that corrects, molds, and strengthens. It refers to one’s efforts at self-control for the purpose of adjusting oneself to certain needs and demands.
This form of discipline is raised on two psychological principles. First, punishment seldom produces the desired results. Often, it produces undesirable results. Second, a self-respecting person tends to be a better worker than one who is not.”
The concept of progressive discipline dictates that penalties must be appropriate to the violation. For minor, first-time inappropriate behavior, an oral warning may suffice. If a written warning is required, it must follow a specific procedure. If the employee’s conduct still doesn’t improve after written warnings, more serious punitive steps can be initiated.
In cases of major violations, such as assaulting a supervisor, immediate termination may be justified. To help managers determine the appropriate level of disciplinary action, some firms have formalized the procedure.
No manager can succeed without the continuous support of subordinates. However, disciplinary action against a delinquent employee is painful and can generate resentment. So, how can discipline be imposed without generating resentment? Douglas McGregor’s “Red Hot Stove Rule” provides an analogy between touching a hot stove and undergoing discipline.
According to the Red Hot Stove rule, disciplinary action should have the following characteristics:
The primary causes of indiscipline are categorized under three heads:
Individual differences (education, experience, values, attitudes, beliefs, intelligence, personality, etc.). Cause varied behavior in an organization, leading some to conform to rules more broadly than others.
Individual characteristics contributing to indisciplined behavior:
Since an organization is part of society, societal discipline influences organizations. Indiscipline in families, educational institutions, political systems, religious institutions, and the breakdown of social control mechanisms all negatively impact the organizational climate.
The purpose of discipline is to help employees improve their performance, attendance, or behavior. This requires providing employees with clear information about their current status versus desired performance. When disciplining or terminating an employee, managers can mitigate legal risks by demonstrating that the employee was previously warned and/or counseled without improvement, clearly outlining what they were doing wrong and what was required to meet company expectations.
This is sound employment practice, and the legal system generally gives significant weight to such evidence when an employee claims improper discharge.
There are four general types of disciplinary actions available when employees fail to meet expected levels of performance or conduct:
This is typically the first step. An employee might receive several verbal warnings before moving to the next stage. However, for serious problems, managers may skip this step. Verbal warnings should always be calm, objective, and private.
It is advisable to have a second manager or also officer present as a witness. Verbal counseling sessions should be documented with a formal memo or informal note in the employee’s personnel file.
This step usually follows a verbal warning. The manager or supervisor should meet with the employee and their representative (if applicable), similar to a verbal counseling session, but the employee should be given and allowed to review a formal written warning. A second manager can also be present as a witness.
The written warning should include a space for the employee to sign, acknowledging receipt, regardless of agreement with the contents. If the employee refuses to sign, another manager or supervisor should witness that the warning was presented and refused, and that witness should sign.
An adequate written warning should include, at minimum:
A formal disciplinary action plan may include additional elements, such as:
Suspensions can range from one day to two weeks or more, depending on circumstances, and are almost always unpaid. In unusual cases, some employers use a one-day paid “decision-making” leave to encourage employees to reflect on their employment future. However, paid suspensions can be perceived as a “reward” for poor behavior and also may have adverse effects.
Therefore, most employers prefer unpaid suspensions. Some employers progress directly from a first suspension to termination for the next offense, while others use multiple suspensions of increasing length (e.g., 1-day, 3-day, 5-day, 10-day) to correct behavior, with termination as the final result. Generally, each suspension should be longer than the last.
Before terminating an employee, a manager should review the personnel file and all relevant documents to determine if the termination is appropriate and legally defensible, considering the facts and circumstances. Managers must also ensure that similarly situated employees have been treated consistently in the past. Some behaviors warrant immediate dismissal, including:
Beyond these steps, other disciplinary forms worth exploring include demotion, transfer, and also reduced raises or bonuses. Many employees can be effectively managed through economic incentives, such as bonuses and raises.
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