Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1051049
USICERINKS.COM JULY.AUGUST.2018 / 23 Adults is Just Wrong PUNISHMENT EXPECTS EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE TO IMPROVE BY TREATING THE EMPLOYEE PROGRESSIVELY WORSE. t's a great irony that the discipline policy preferred by most companies is called "progressive since the word progressive means "making favorable progress or change." Nothing could be further from the truth. The progressive discipline policy is about punishment—not improvement. This senseless and dehumanizing pro- cess was created to protect companies from adverse legal rulings, and mostly at the advice of legal counsel. The irony is that a claim or charge can be adjudicated in favor of the employee—not because of what the terminated employee has or hasn't done—but because the company failed to follow the myriad details out- lined in its own policies. Most managers denounce their com- pany's progressive discipline policy as lengthy, over-engineered and ineffective. For the bad apple who shouldn't have been hired in the first place, this process takes far too long. And the small minority of abusers use the policy like a playbook, keeping ahead of the game by changing the performance issue that is violated. They also know the time required for the last warning to be removed—so they can do it again. Here's how it works… Progressive Discipline Policies Typically, progressive discipline poli- cies are comprised of steps, with each step involving an employee and his/her manager, and eventually witnesses. In each step, the communication is routinely one-way and parent-child, ending with the threat: "Failure to improve will result in further disciplinary action up to and including termination." • Step One is a verbal warning. That's an interesting term—verbal warning— because it's often documented. And the word "warning" is correct because the discussion ends with a threat. The angry employee then leaves (often after being asked to sign the written verbal warning). • Step Two is just like step one but is now called a written warning. Again it ends with a threat (in a more serious tone) and the angry, dispirited or apa- thetic employee again leaves after being asked to sign the warning. • Step Three varies among companies. It may be a second written warning or an unpaid suspension from work. The employee is sent home (which seems much like sending a child to his room), and the employee and his family are being punished because the company is withholding pay. • Some companies even have a Step Four—a third and final written warn- ing. This is usually a tense and negative interaction between the manager and employee. It exists to create a paper trail that will hold up in an unemploy- ment claim or court of law once the employee is terminated (at this stage the decision has already been made to fire the employee). Punishment is not instructive. It cannot teach a new behavior or solve a problem. The improvement or desired behavior will never be permanently learned unless an employee and his supervisor work together to solve the problem. In most traditional companies, equipment is treated better than employees. Using a progressive disciplinary approach is like banging on a machine to make it run better. I USICERINKS.COM NOVEMBER.DECEMBER.2018 / 23 How to approach disciplining employees in a productive manner