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.

The CRAFT of Impressing Your Boss

The executive assistant of a high-profile and respected showbiz personality, who I met during my first job, shared with me the CRAFT of impressing your boss. I have used this as a guiding light in my work-life and have received firsthand the benefits of such wisdom.

Today, I’m here to pass on this guiding light to you in the hopes that you too will reap great rewards and a harmonious relationship with your boss.

WHY WE NEED TO IMPRESS OUR BOSS

Before I share the CRAFT with you, let us first discuss why we need to please and impress our boss in the first place! Well, aside from the fact that your boss is the one who fills in your performance evaluation and has a say on promotions and pay increases, it pays to please your boss because if you don’t, you will have an unhappy superior, or worse, an angry one. And who wants a boss who gets annoyed at seeing the sight of you? Who wants a boss who screams and puts people down for breakfast?

The truth is, if your boss likes you and the way you do your job, he or she will be much kinder and supportive of your projects and ideas. Your boss will see you for the bright person that you are and may even take you under his or her wings and mentor you. This will help you achieve greater heights in your career. You will gain your boss’ and co-workers’ respect. And frankly, it feels really good to be recognized and respected for the work that you do. Don’t you agree?

THE CRAFT

So now that we know why it pays to impress your boss, let us discuss what the wisdom of CRAFT brings. CRAFT is an acronym for:

C – Communicate
R – Remind
A – Anticipate
F – Follow Through
T – Timing

Let us discuss these five habits that you need to master to work well with your boss.

COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR BOSS

Your boss is not a mind-reader, unless of course you work for a gifted mental telepath. When there is work-related information that he needs to know, tell him. If you don’t understand an instruction that he gives, ask questions. If there is an important development in your work or even your life that affects your work, initiate a discussion with your boss.

There are cases, however, wherein it’s hard to talk to your boss. For instance, what do you do when your boss is always busy and away on meetings? Well, communication is not just about talking. You can use many means such as email, text, chat, post-it notes or letters. Do what you have to do to communicate important information to your boss. Don’t just stop at a roadblock and say “I didn’t have load”.

REMIND YOUR BOSS

With the many responsibilities of your boss, he or she may not have the time to keep track of all of his schedules and correspondences. It is your job as his subordinate to remind him of important things. Our administrative supervisor Cynthia, does this flawlessly by keeping a daily planner for the bosses. Very early in the week, she emails our schedule to remind us of appointments. On top of that, we also use practical tools like a Monthly Calendar whiteboard to remind everyone of special events and schedules.

ANTICIPATE NEEDS

Anticipation is the skill of foreseeing needs, problems or events in the near future and preparing solutions for them. As an employee, you want to get three steps ahead of your boss. In my previous job, whenever I detected a problem, I would approach my boss and inform him about it. But I just don’t stop there. I knew that my likability factor will go down if I am always the bearer of bad news. So, I would analyze the situation and think before going to my boss. I would tell him the problem and give three suggestions to solve the problem. This way, I don’t become part of the problem. Instead, I’m part of the solution---and bosses love that.

FOLLOW THROUGH

As a boss, I always encourage my subordinates to write a things-to-do list to help them plan their day. One of my earlier staff followed this habit religiously, except there was a slight flaw. She would strike a task as soon as she does a task. For example, her first task is to call a client. So she calls the client, but he is out. After putting the phone down, she strikes the task as done. INCORRECT. When a boss gives you a task, he or she expects you to complete that task. Follow-through means doing the task well and completely, the first time.

And once you have accomplished the task, it is critical that you get back to your boss and update him of your progress. Do not wait for your boss to be the one to ask and follow up. Take the initiative to update him. This will show that you are on top of things and have follow-through.

TIMING

Now you don’t just go talk to your boss whenever you feel like it. Chances are your boss is busy and pressured with his own responsibilities at work. When you catch him at a toxic time, do not ask him if he prefers the team to wear colour blue or green uniforms in the sports festival two months from now. When you boss is busy, frowning and tense, approach with caution. If he has a secretary outside his office, ask her if it is a good time. If you need to talk to him about something important but not urgent, schedule an appointment. Use proper timing when dealing with your boss.

THE CRAFT OF IMPRESSING YOUR BOSS is really about saying and doing your job properly with good sense and sensibility. It is a guiding principle that will help you work in harmony with your boss. Now the CRAFT is yours, use it wisely.


Jhoanna O. Gan-So is the managing director of HR Club Philippines and president of Businessmaker Academy---a training company that offers corporate group seminars on Professional Work Skills and Attitude. They also hold short course seminars on business and entrepreneurship, sales and marketing, human resource management and corporate skills training, as well as develop interactive webinars for corporations and institutions. To know more about these organizations and the seminars they offer, you may visit www.businessmaker-academy.com and www.hrclubphilippines.com or call (632)6874645. You may email your comments and questions to: mbworklife@gmail.com