There are few subjects in the workplace more sensitive than disciplinary action. The thought of getting a memo causes a specific kind of reaction from employees, ranging from fear and regret to grim acceptance, and even anger. It has become a culture to treat sanctions as negative things that can irreversibly damage an employee’s position within the company. And this is largely due to implementation.
What are the aspects of disciplinary action that have been forgotten? We’re here to illustrate exactly those things, the first of which is a fundamental part of what disciplinary action is.
DISCIPLINARY ACTION IS CARRIED OUT FOR A REASON.
Disciplinary action was always originally intended to help organizations recover from the effects of various policy violations. That was, and should still be, it’s one true purpose.
However, some establishments understand that sanctions are considered threatening because they represent consequences. They are often in the form of undesirable conditions like suspensions or fines. Soon, unscrupulous leaders began emphasizing these disadvantageous characteristics instead of the corrective ones until this distorted perception developed. Today, most employees follow regulations for the sake of avoiding sanctions, instead of ensuring a professional, collaborative and quality-oriented work environment as part of everyone’s duties.
Psychologists would classify sanctions as either positive or negative punishments. Positive punishments involve punishing incorrect behavior with an undesirable consequence. For a workplace example, employees being habitually reckless on site and breaking valuable fixed assets like equipment or furniture can be punished through making them pay for the damages. The undesirable consequence here is the additional expense.
In contrast, negative punishments involve taking away a desirable condition. Employees who may be abusing parking privileges, and causing inconvenience to colleagues using company vehicles for official business, may have those privileges temporarily suspended as punishment. The desirable condition here is the parking privilege.
Both positive and negative punishments aim to reduce the probability of incorrect behavior. The problem is that professionals now focus on reducing their incorrect behaviors to avoid punishment instead of doing it to fulfill their responsibilities. They no longer behave because they understand the importance of the rules, but because they don’t want to lose something good or experience something bad.
It is clear then that employees must be given the opportunity to understand the legitimate reasons behind penalties. The idea of being punished is so undesirable that delinquent employees switch to a kind of “victim mode”, even when they’re fully aware of their fault. Their focus is shifted away from why their fault deserves a matching punishment.
How can employees be guided to remember the true purpose of disciplinary action?
Properly disclosing sanctions to offenders is still the ideal way to counter the current pessimistic culture. When informing policy violators that they will be sanctioned, try first to advise them of their violation and the impact it has had on the organization, no matter how big or small. Then, tell them the details of their sanction. This approach not only neutralizes the “victim” mentality, it also offers violators an opportunity to appreciate the importance of responsibility.
As a complementary measure, leadership must avoid using punishment as a tool to make employees afraid of making mistakes. Conditioning employees to be afraid of punishment is what created the negative perception of sanctions in the first place.
Try updating your disciplinary strategy in these ways, and foster a sense of responsibility within your organization. That’s already half the work.
Source:
7.2 Changing Behavior Through Reinforcement and Punishment: Operant Conditioning. University of Minnesota Libraries online resource. http://open.lib.umn.edu/intropsyc/chapter/7-2-changing-behavior-through-reinforcement-and-punishment-operant-conditioning/. Retrieved 23rd November 2017.