Employee Discipline

Employee Discipline
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Table of Contents
Abstract3
I. Introduction4
II. Statement of Issue5
III. History of the Issue6
IV. Literature Review of the existing literature7
V. Possible Alternatives/Solutions to the problems9
VI. Recommendations10
VII. Conclusion11
VIII. References13

Abstract
Employee discipline is an important aspect for consideration since it directly associates with the productivity of the organization. Traditional measures towards employee discipline have so far been unsuccessful in the eradication of indiscipline incidences. The traditional methods include varying levels of severity through the use of threatening language.
The report explores the various considerations in workplace misconduct as an aspect of cause and effect. Employees in the organization are part of the human resource contribution to the workplace. Human nature should form part of the organisation’s perspective in the analysis of discipline issues. Therefore, organizations ought to consider the unique personality of each employee when addressing discipline concerns to guarantee effective measures for the progression of the organization.
The report also provides recommendations that include a consideration of the unique personality of each worker in the process of administering disciplinary measures as well as the standard expectations for the workers. A separate recommendation draws from the failure of the four-step process that comprises the first and second warnings which culminate in suspension and eventual termination of errant employees as traditional means of employee discipline.

The measures fail in resolving indiscipline issues because they do not address the underlying cause of employee misconduct.
I. Introduction
The process of establishing an organization along with its manufacturing and production processes requires a myriad of elements. The range of elements for consideration in establishing the operations of an organization includes the production process as well as marketing, and distribution along with consumer satisfaction. Although the process of establishing an organization and its processes depends on the input of the investors and the management, the driving force for all the processes is the workers in the organization. The employees are at the forefront of all the organizational processes that range from manufacturing and production to customer services, distribution along with marketing. The input as well as the performance of the employees directly contributes to the success of an organisation. The dependence on employees for the survival of the organisation makes employee discipline an important managerial aspect.
One issue that is significant in an organization is the discipline of the workers since it relates to their productivity and the eventual output of the organization. Employee discipline is based on the principles as well as the standards that are established to ensure cordial relationships among the human resource in the organization along with the integration of processes to ensure optimal productivity.
Deviation from the set standards and precepts of operations in an organization result in disciplinary action. In the process of establishing the standards of the organization, the management also incorporates disciplinary action that addresses misconduct among its employees (Bratton & Gold, 2017). Often the traditional methods of employee discipline utilize the set standards. The traditional standards in employee discipline overlook the uniqueness of the employees and the disciplinary situations.
II. Statement of the Issue
The problematic human resource issue under investigation in this report concerns employee discipline. Misconduct among the employees presents an issue of concern because the outcome of misconduct affects not only the workers but also the organization and the economy at large (The University of British Columbia, n.d). An illustration of the negative implications that arise from employee discipline is a situation in which the magnitude of the issue requires the termination of the employee.
Terminating a model employee negatively impacts the productivity of the organization especially if the said employee provided a unique set of skills to the workplace or acted as the source of encouragement for other members of the workforce. Further, the termination of the employee impacts their financial status as well as the finances of their families. Essentially, employee discipline is a concept that presents cascading implications. The cascading nature of the implications is their inclusion of the individual under consideration, along with the organization and the families of the individual. Therefore, it is in the interest of the society to minimize instances of employee misconduct, particularly in the era of economic decline that is accompanied by minimal employment opportunities for the members of the society (Saundry, & Antcliff, 2006).
The human resource issue of employee indiscipline also raises the concern of the disciplinary measures as well as their failures to resolve the issue at hand in the organization. While it is rarely in the best interest of the organization to terminate a model employee, several organizations may not have the alternatives to resolve the issue of employee discipline. Thus, the report will analyze the alternatives that are available for employee discipline as well as the potential failures of the existing strategies.
The analysis will lead to recommendations that will contribute to the available literature on employee discipline. Conversely, while several individuals, publications, and blogs have addressed the concern of employee discipline in organizations, the literature fails to present working solutions that organizations can implement to alleviate the negative implications of employee discipline that affect the individual workers, their organizations, and the society in general.
III. History of the Issue
Conflict in the workplace is often unavoidable. The conflict resolution processes have evolved with the advancement of industry, society, and various technologies. The historical basis of conflict resolution in an organization is to restore a cordial situation in which all aspects of the organization work together in harmony. Misconduct in the workplace is an instance that results in a conflicting situation in the workplace, thus the need for resolution using employee discipline.
In this context, the solution to a given extent involves having rules and regulations that ensure the cordial existence of the members of the workforce. However, situations have existed in the past in which individuals in the workplace or groups of individuals choose to overlook the regulations in the workplace, with the outcome of disciplinary issues (Saundry, & Antcliff, 2006). Traditional discipline in several organizations and institutions operate by way of minimizing communication with the errant parties, and in extreme instances, using threatening language (Saundry, & Antcliff, 2006). The processes in traditional employee discipline in recent history further evolved to include measures of progressive discipline.
According to the definition, progressive discipline is the process in which the disciplinary measures for the errant employees become increasingly severe as the individual repeats the mistake (Ekakoron, 2017). The process of progressive discipline is a state that consists of four stages. The four-stage process in employee discipline has a verbal warning as the first factor to alert the employee of the misconduct with the hope of rectifying the situation and improving performance. The stage of verbal warning occurs through the immediate supervisor to the employee while in the process the two avoid drawing attention to the disciplinary issue.
The second stage in the four-step process involves a written warning. In this stage, the errant individual has probably ignored the initial disciplinary action, and the management seeks to make the disciplinary issue worthy of consideration by both parties. Essentially, the principle in the written warning that separates the stage from the first stage of verbal warning is the storage of records. Unlike talking to an individual, the process of writing allows both parties to keep a record of the occurrence, possibly for future reference if the misconduct persists.
The third stage in the four-step process involves a second written warning that is accompanied by a suspension depending on the situation and the position of the employee in the workplace. The suspension period is punitive because in many cases, the employee goes without their earning as their issue remains under investigation. Assuming that the employee learns from the process, they resume work following the suspension. However, after assuming work, the persistence of the misconduct results in termination.
The four-step process has been applied in several organizations in recent history with minimal improvement in the employee discipline. While the organizations have applied the disciplinary action in the past, they fail to recognize that the process is non-intrusive. The non-intrusive nature of the perceived solution to discipline in the workplace means that the human resource department does not dig into the indiscipline issue, while in the process teaching a new behavior and ultimately eradicating the problem.
IV. Literature Review of the Existing Literature
Various forms of literature exist not only on conflict resolution in the workplace but also on human resource management that included the sub-analysis of employee discipline. The first publication is by Bratton and Gold, who, in their sixth edition of the book Human Resource Management, asserts that rules within the organization set standard of conduct as well as performance among the members of the workforce (Bratton & Gold, 2017). Conversely, set-procedures present a strategy that the organization utilizes towards ensuring that the workforce adheres to the set standards and at the same time act as guidelines for fair human resource management.
The authors go further to detail the measures the organization can impose in cases of failures to adhere to the standards of the establishment. Some of the impositions, according to the two authors include rebuking the errant individuals, providing warnings, which according to the previous segment can be verbal or written warnings for the employee (Bratton & Gold, 2017). Alternative measures include providing transfers to the errant employees, and in some instances, demoting them from their previous positions in the workplace hierarchy. Suspension and eventual dismissal are also alternatives in employee discipline in the workplace.
On the other hand, Richard Saundry and Valerie Antcliff, in their study on the workplace discipline and grievances conclude that vulnerable employees ought to receive support and advice as needed during various workplace procedures. The advice and support for the said employees come from the Workers Union representatives in the workplace, who look out for the welfare of the employees (Saundry, & Antcliff, 2006). Further, the authors conclude that consistent application of the right measures ensures eventual uptake so that all the individuals are at par with the requirements in the workplace with minimal fear of employer bias (Mabuza, 2009).
Mark Alexander on his part notes that the poor performance of employees that result in indiscipline and the subsequent need for disciplinary measures is the outcome of minimal recognition (Alexander, 2000). The author notes that employees perform below standard once they fail to receive appropriate as well as accurate feedback on their performance. A different problem is the absence of clear guidelines concerning job expectations in the workplace.
V. Possible Alternatives or Solutions to the Problems
From the literature review portion of the analysis, it is evident that several issues result in misconduct among the employees. The first issue worth noting is the provision of clear guidelines in the workplace that determine the standards and procedures of operations. The absence of the said guidelines results in employees lacking a clear direction for performance with the result of perceived indiscipline. Often the situation is such that the employee is unaware of the expectations and standards in the workplace, as well as their work requirements. The organizations that fail to provide a clear direction on the conduct of the employees, thus, suffer adverse implications that include misconduct among the members of the workforce in the said organization.
On the other hand, the previous segment on workplace discipline indicates that the absence of approval and performance review in which the employee received due recognition for their workplace performance results in instances of indiscipline (Alexander, 2000). The organizations in this context have to understand that the workforce that contributes to the realization of the organizational goal and vision is human. The human nature requires some degree of approval which will not only encourage productivity but will also minimize the instances of indiscipline the workplace.
A separate consideration in the workplace is employee support. The support for the workforce in an organization comes in the form of established groups that manage the concerns of the employees in the workplace. Some organizations fail to comprehend that indiscipline among the employees is rarely out of spite for the management and the workplace principles (Saundry, & Antcliff, 2006). The vulnerable individuals in the workplace will often form targets of disciplinary measures.
VI. Recommendations
The standards in the workplace that include the measures to manage employee discipline are often all inclusive with minimal considerations for the unique personality of the individual employees as well as the unique nature of a disciplinary situation. Therefore, the organizations implement uniform mechanisms in disciplining the workers without taking time to incorporate the individuality of the person they are targeting for the discipline.
Conversely, while one individual reacts more to the discipline measure that presents a threat of penalties that might infringe on their budgets, a separate individual who does not care for penalties will respond to measures that threaten their public image. Therefore, one recommendation is for the human resource management to invest time in understanding what makes each employee tick. The indication is that each member of the workforce is unique with a given set of capabilities and backgrounds that set them apart from the other individuals. For this reason, the unified measures in managing misconduct in the organization fail because of the absence of targeting.
The conflict management measures are targeted towards ensuring their adherence to the protocols and standards in the workplace. The measures work by minimizing the incidences of disciplinary action by understanding the unique personality. An analysis of the worker’s personality can perform the additional purpose of informing the appraisal process that includes rewarding and recognizing outstanding employees (Alexander, 2000). Understanding the unique personality of the employee will thus inform the disciplinary action so that the employee adheres to the protocols and standards of the workplace in future.
A second recommendation follows the analysis of the failures of the traditional disciplinary procedures that include naming and shaming as well as providing progressive levels of threatening language (Great Work Cultures, 2017). While the process may be effective in certain situations, it fails to address the underlying cause of the misconduct among the employees and thereby fails to provide the organization with a lasting solution.
In this regard, the organisation can commission the human resource department to give special consideration to each issue of misconduct. The misconduct might be presented by a single employee, or by a group of workers. The process of discipline should include measures to unravel the foundation of the indiscipline so that the organization can address the cause and provide a lasting solution that will be beneficial not only to the organization and its employees but also to the society by preventing unwarranted terminations and suspensions that impact the level of productivity in the organization.
VII. Conclusion
The process of disciplinary action is an attempt to remedy the situation and restore the operations in the organization to the set standards that align with the productivity of the organization. Essentially, the sole purpose of an organization and its operation is to realize profits along with various missions and goals. Any factor that takes the organization away from the fundamental components requires an immediate address to prevent the eventual decline in operation. Disciplinary action is relevant because of the various implications of misconduct in the workplace with the crucial consideration being an impact on the productivity of the organization as well as its integrity.
Evidently, the traditional methods of employee discipline management fail to address the issues that arise in the workplace and result in the indiscipline (Ekakoron, 2017). The failure to address the underlying causes results in unnecessary disciplinary action that includes terminations, which negatively impact the organization, its employees and the society that relies on the continued productivity of the organization.
Therefore, it is important for organizations to revise the disciplinary processes according to the recommendations in the report. The recommendations in the previous segment not only prevent the negative implications of misconduct in the workplace along with the traditional disciplinary measures that culminate in termination. Once the human resource incorporates the recommendation of individualizing the disciplinary measures, it will ensure that the discipline process is tailored to the personality of the employee and thus improve the impact.
References
Alexander, M., (2000). Employee Performance and Discipline Problems: A New Approach. Industrial Relations Centre, Queen’s University Kingston, ON K7L 3N6
Bratton, J. & Gold, J., (2017), Human Resource Management, 6th edition: Theory and Practice. Macmillan Education UK, Business & Economics – 688 pages
Ekakoron, A., (2017). Effects of discipline management on employee performance in an organization, International Academic Journal of Human Resource and Business Administration | Volume 2, Issue 3, pp. 1-18
Great Work Cultures. (2017). A Respectful Way to Discipline Employees. Great Work Cultures, Retried from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/great-work-cultures/a-respectful-way-to-disci_b_5853024.html
Mabuza, J., (2009). Discipline in the Workplace, Law and the entrepreneur, Retrieved from http://bclr.com/EntrepreneurArticles/BCLR%202009%2006.pdf.
Saundry, R. & Antcliff, V. (2006). Employee representation in grievance and disciplinary matters – making a difference? Employment Market Analysis and Research Department of Trade and Industry, 1 Victoria Street London SW1H 0ET
The University of British Columbia, (n.d). Discipline in the Workplace. HR for Administrators 600 – 6190 Agronomy Road, Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z3, Retrieved from http://www.hr.ubc.ca/administrators/employee-relations/discipline-in-the-workplace/