The management bible phần 9 docx

240 T HE M ANAGEMENT B IBLE THE FIVE STEPS OF DISCIPLINE There are five steps that should always form the basis of your disci- pline script. Follow these steps and you can be sure that your employ- ees will clearly understand what the problem is and what they need to do to correct it. Step 1: Describe the Unacceptable Behavior Exactly what is your employee doing that is unacceptable? Be specific in your description, and don’t use vague statements such as, “You’ve got a bad attitude,” “You’re not performing as well as your coworkers,” or “Your work habits need improvement.” When you discipline employees, their unacceptable behaviors must be related directly to specific performance standards that have not been met or to specific policies that have been broken. Specify exactly what the employee did wrong and when the behavior occurred, and be sure to focus your attention on the behavior and not on the individual. Here are some examples: •“You produced only 25 service reports last month instead of the re- quired standard of 40 per month.” •“You failed the drug test that you took on Friday.” •“You have been late to work every day this week.” Step 2: Express the Impact to the Work Unit An employee’s poor performance or misconduct doesn’t just negatively impact him or her, it also has a negative impact on the work unit and the organization as a whole. When an employee underperforms, for ex- ample, another employee may have to be assigned to pick up the work that isn’t getting done. This takes the other employee away from the TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine ! MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES 241 work that he or she should be doing, ultimately having a negative im- pact on the organization’s bottom line. Continuing with the examples that we started in the preceding sec- tion, here are the next steps in your discipline script: •“Because of your below-standard performance, the work unit didn’t meet its overall targets for the month.” •“This violation specifically breaks our drug-free workplace policy.” •“Because of your tardiness, I had to pull Jim out of the mailroom to cover your job.” Step 3: Specify the Required Changes The next step is to explain to your employee exactly what he or she needs to do to correct the behavior. At this time, you will also tell the employee that his or her behavior must be in accordance with an estab- lished performance standard or company policy. Here are some examples of the third part of your discipline script: •“You must bring your performance up to the standard of 40 reports per month or better immediately.” •“You will be required to set an appointment with the company’s employee assistance program for drug counseling.” • “I expect you to be in your seat, ready to work, at 9:00 A . M .every morning.” Step 4: Outline the Consequences No discipline is complete without a discussion of the consequences if the unacceptable behavior continues. Make sure that your message is clear and that your employee understands it. TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine ! 242 T HE M ANAGEMENT B IBLE THE REAL WORLD Although it’s seldom the most desirable aspect of managing, disci- pline is a serious responsibility that no effective manager should shirk. Rarely does a bad situation automatically correct itself, and often things will get worse if left unchecked. By correcting employees quickly, objectively, and constructively, you have the opportunity to keep a small problem from becoming a major problem and can even make the experience a positive one from which the employee can learn, appreciate, and grow. To disarm your criticism, it is easy to use a disclaimer such as, “I may be wrong about this, but it seems as though your motivation has dropped of late. Is there something you’d like to discuss?” If the employee dismisses your concern, focus more specifically on your evidence that a problem exists: “I’ve been getting complaints about you from some of our customers.” If noth- ing else, because the situation is a concern for you, it needs to be a concern for the employee. Like any skill, the more you practice disci- pline and giving corrective feedback, the better you become at it. Here are some examples for the fourth part of your script: •“Ifyou can’t meet the standard, you’ll be reassigned to the training unit until your skills improve.” •“If you refuse to undergo drug counseling, you’ll be suspended from work without pay for three days.” •“If you’re late again, I will request that my boss give you a formal reprimand.” Step 5: Provide Emotional Support During the course of a discipline, your employee would benefit from an emotional boost. Support your employee’s efforts to improve in a sincere and heartfelt way. TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine ! MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES 243 Here are some examples of how to wrap up your discipline script: •“But I’msure you’ll be ableto avoid that—I know youcan do better!” •“We need you and our customers need you—let’s find you the help you need.” •“But I’m sure we can avoid that situation—I’m counting on you to turn this around!” Put It All Together After you develop the five parts of your discipline script, put them to- gether into a unified statement. This statement is what you’ll deliver to your employees in a discipline meeting. While you should discuss the surrounding issues in some detail, make your script be the heart of the discipline session. •“You produced only 25 service reports last month instead of the re- quired standard of 40 per month. Because of your below-standard performance, the work unit didn’t meet its overall targets for the month. You must bring your performance up to the standard of 40 reports per month or better immediately. If you can’t meet the standard, you’ll be reassigned to the training unit until your skills improve. But I’m sure you’ll be able to avoid that—I know you can do better!” •“You failed the drug test that you took on Friday. This violation specifically breaks our drug-free workplace policy. You’ll be re- quired to set an appointment with the company’s employee assis- tance program for drug counseling. If you refuse to undergo drug counseling, you’ll be suspended from work without pay for three days. We need you and our customers need you—let’s find you the help you need.” •“You have been late to work every day this week. Because of your tardiness, I had to pull Jim out of the mailroom to cover your job. I expect you to be in your seat, ready to work, at 9:00 A . M .every TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine ! 244 T HE M ANAGEMENT B IBLE morning. If you’re late again, I will request that the general man- ager issue a formal reprimand in your case. But I’m sure we can avoid that situation—I’m counting on you to turn this around!” CREATING EMPLOYEE IMPROVEMENT PLANS Performance improvement plans are a crucial part of the discipline process because they set definite steps for employees to undertake to improve performance within a fixed period of time. If employee performance transgressions are minor then creating a performance plan is generally not necessary. Also, because most in- stances of misconduct must by nature be corrected immediately or else, performance improvement plans are generally not appropriate for correcting employee misconduct. However, if your employee’s poor performance is habitual and you’ve selected counseling or more severe discipline, a performance plan is clearly appropriate. A performance improvement plan has three parts: 1. Goal statement: The goal statement tells your employees exactly what it will take to make satisfactory improvement. The statement is tied directly to your employee’s performance standards, for exam- ple, “Completes all his assignments on or before agreed deadlines,” or “Is at her station ready to work at exactly 9:00 A . M .everyday.” 2. To be effective, plans need definite completion dates with fixed milestones along the way. 3. Required resources/training: If the employee will need additional resources or training to improve performance, they will be summa- rized here. Here’s a sample performance improvement plan for a worker who makes repeated errors in typed correspondence: TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine ! MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES 245 George Tyerbyte’s Performance Improvement Plan Goal Statement •Complete all drafts of typed correspondence with one or fewer mistakes per document. Schedule for Attainment •George must meet the above goal within one month after the date of this plan. Required Resources/Training •Georgewill be immediately enrolled in the company refresher course in typing and reviewing correspondence. This training must be successfully completed no later than two weeks after the date of this plan. Rather than assuming the plan will be acted on by your employee, follow up to ensure that they are making progress toward the goals that you both agreed to. Help your employees implement their improvement plans by sched- uling regular progress reporting meetings with them, on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. More extensive improvement plans necessitate more frequent follow-up. Progress meetings such as these serve two important functions: 1. They provide you with the information that you need to assess your employees’ progress toward meeting their plans. 2. They demonstrate to your employees that their progress is impor- tant to you, and thus should be prioritized. Create performance improvement plans and put them to work with your employees. Reward your employees for achieving their plans, but beware of employees who improve under your watchful eye, but who TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine ! return to their old ways when they think you’re not looking any longer. If an employee can’t maintain his or her required performance stan- dards, you may want to consider whether he or she is really suited to work for your organization. POP QUIZ! There is more to disciplining employees than simply punishing them for every conceivable transgression on the job. Reflect for a few mo- ments on what you have learned in this chapter; then ask yourself the following questions: 1. What is your philosophy of employee discipline? 2. Are you fairandobjectivewhen you discipline employees? If not, why not? 3. Do you play favorites with certain employees? Who and why? 4. In what ways do you differentiate the treatment of performance problems from misconduct? 5. Howareemployeeimprovementplansstructuredin yourorganization? 246 T HE M ANAGEMENT B IBLE TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine ! 247 CHAPTER 15 V Terminating Employees IT’S A NEW WORLD OUT THERE . . . Firing and . . . How to conduct terminations the right way. Termination: The final disciplinary step. Reasons for termination. Dealing with layoffs and downsizings. Ensuring fairness of terminations. How to fire employees. TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine ! MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES 249 WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS . . . Unless you’re Donald Trump, one of the most difficult jobs for any manager is to fire an employee. And no matter how many times you do it, firing employees is never something a manager looks forward to doing. But terminating employees is a part of every manager’s job, and it’s a skill that you can learn and improve. Sometimes, no matter how much you try to help someone succeed in your organization, there’s nothing you can do to save him or her. Ter- minations aren’t limited only to your discretion, sometimes employees “fire” themselves. If you’re lucky, they will give you two weeks’ notice. In this chapter, we’ll consider that most permanent form of employee discipline—termination—what they are, and how to do them the right way. We’ll explore the difference between a layoff and a firing and take a close look at the importance of documentation to support your actions. DIFFERENT FLAVORS OF TERMINATIONS There is more than one kind of termination—they vary depending on the situation. To begin, there are two major categories of employee ter- mination: voluntary and involuntary. A voluntary termination is a termi- nation that an employee performs of his or her own free will. An involuntary termination is a termination carried out against the will of the employee. In the sections that follow, we’ll consider each of these categories in detail. Voluntary Terminations As you read this, you might wonder to yourself, “Why would someone go through a voluntary termination?” Actually, employees have a variety of TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine ! [...]... At-will remains on the books in some states, and a number of companies require prospective TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine ! 252 THE MANAGEMENT BIBLE employees to sign a statement confirming termination-at-will when they are hired The Civil Rights Act of 196 4, the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 199 1, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 196 7, and others prohibit terminating... gathering personal effects from the employee’s workspace Run through the TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine ! 262 THE MANAGEMENT BIBLE termination paperwork with the employee and explain the handling of final wages due Expect the unexpected While one employee might break out in tears at the news, another might start yelling and screaming and throwing things You can often defuse these... live up to them, and encourage others to adopt them Creating a Code of Ethics Many organizations have found that it’s best not to leave ethics to chance Rather than let their employees feel their way around in the TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine ! MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES 2 69 dark or be left uncertain whether a particular practice is ethical, these organizations have adopted their own...250 THE MANAGEMENT BIBLE different reasons to want to terminate their own employment Employees often quit their jobs when they find better promotional or pay opportunities with another firm, or when they get tired of being stuck in dead-end work situations or enmeshed in personality conf licts with their manager or other employees Employees also terminate voluntarily... career On the positive side, office politics helps ensure that employees work in the best interests of the organization On the negative side, office politics can degenerate into a competition, where employees concentrate their efforts on trying to increase their personal power at the expense of their coworkers and—ultimately—their organizations ETHICS: NOT JUST FOR BREAKFAST ANYMORE Reading the headlines... over the past couple of years might lead you to believe that the vast majority of business leaders must all belong to a big club of liars and cheats The good news is that the vast majority of business leaders actually do know the difference TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine ! 268 THE MANAGEMENT BIBLE between right and wrong and, now more than ever, businesses and the leaders who run them... MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES 261 all—mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers Treat terminated employees the same way you would hope to be treated The actual firing should take place in your office or other private location Figure on setting aside approximately 5 to 10 minutes for the meeting It’s a smart idea to have a witness with you when you terminate an employee—preferably someone of the same sex as the. .. and the World Bank Group’s “Living Our Values.” Leadership letter: A cover letter brief ly outlines the content of the code of ethics and clearly demonstrates commitment from the very top of the organization to ethical principles of behavior Table of contents: The main parts of the code are listed by page number Introduction-prologue: This part explains why the code is important, the scope of the code,... behavior and to ensure that their employees follow in their footsteps, and it’s the wise manager who quickly gets with this particular program The other powerful force in organizations, office politics, represents the relationships that you develop with your coworkers—both up and down the chain of command—that allow you to get tasks done, to be informed about the latest goings-on in the business, and to form... simply in the right place at the wrong time The following steps will guide you through the layoff process: Step 1: Determine the extent of the problem and figure out what departments will be affected How much money are we talking? How long are the poor business conditions that led to this problem projected to last? Are there alternatives that will allow the company to take other cost-saving approaches . termination-at-will when they are hired. The Civil Rights Act of 196 4, the Equal Employment Opportunity Actof 199 1, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 196 7, and others prohibit terminating. win-win the employer smoothly eases the employee out of the organization while the employee gets to appear that the termination was all his idea. • Retirement: Retirement—when employees reach the. acquisitions, and the pressures of a more competitive global marketplace. These are employees who have done no wrong; these are employees who were simply in the right place at the wrong time. The following