By Priscilla Kohl | HRTools.com Business Writer
Coping endlessly with a troublesome employee is a manager’s worst nightmare.
Employees arrive at work every day with a range of strengths and weaknesses, attitudes and behaviors.
Let’s take a look at the differences between “cannot do” and “will not do” behaviors and progressive discipline and performance reviews.
Generally speaking, progressive discipline addresses “will not do” behaviors before they get out of control. An employee infraction or a violation of policy is usually the triggering event. For the most part, progressive discipline interventions help managers nip performance problems in the bud.
By contrast, the employee performance review is ongoing and helps set the stage for motivating and advancing employee performance—for all employees.
The performance review is another multipurpose tool for a manager’s toolbox. Overall, this tool fortifies and documents the manager-employee relationship. It also sets in motion a number of relationship drivers that serve to foster employee development such as:
- communicating;
- collaborating;
- motivating;
- setting goals and expectations; and,
- benchmarking employee progress.
In addition, managers and their direct reports can stake out employee-development progress by identifying additional training and development goals and plans and mentoring needs. Again, the performance review is an ongoing process for all employees.
Performance reviews are also opportunity-driven. They should be developed and implemented based on the “there’s always room for improvement” premise. As someone once said, “There’s always room for improvement; it’s the biggest room in the house!”
Since a manager’s job is all about achieving results through his or her employees, it’s in a manager’s best interest to: (a) further develop employees’ strengths to reach higher levels of performance; and (b) correct behavioral problems well before the manager ends up spending precious hours of the day fighting employee performance-related fires.
And the latter point (b) above should have a direct arrow pointing to progressive discipline interventions which, by the way, is known by a variety of terms. Among them:
- Performance improvement plans
- Corrective action procedures
- Positive discipline programs
According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), employers are more likely to see positive results from progressive discipline interventions by keeping two key principles in mind:
- Employees must know what is expected of them in terms of behavior and performance.
- Warning notices are tools for explaining unacceptable behavior or performance so that employees have opportunities for changing those behaviors through corrective action.
Basically, progressive discipline interventions afford managers with a professional means to correct employee behavioral and performance issues. Progressive discipline interventions should also include a documentation step, which is further explained below.
Formal, written documentation is a critical component of the progressive discipline intervention. Employees should be required to sign and date the documentation acknowledging the progressive discipline conversation took place and confirming awareness of the manager’s expectations regarding future performance. A copy of the signed document should be given to the employee for his or her records.
As previously mentioned, most progressive discipline interventions are taken due to an employee infraction or violation of policy; those which can be corrected by the employee within a reasonable and specified period of time. However, some employee infractions may require drastic corrective action—even immediate termination.
This is because some employee behaviors can be so egregious (such as when an employee threatens the health and safety of other employees) that it may be necessary to skip progressive discipline intervention steps and immediately take action. This is why employers should consult with an HR professional or an employment attorney before employee behaviors escalate to a crisis stage.
In most cases, progressive discipline interventions are used for addressing those behaviors that can be corrected by the employee—after the manager has clearly communicated and documented stated expectations. Again, these behavioral issues are usually those within the employee’s control. For example:
- Chronic tardiness
- Chronic absenteeism
- Constantly missing deadlines
- Failing to follow procedures
- Failing to follow policies
- Failing to call in and/or not show up for work
All employees start their first days of employment with the same record. After that, when an employee chooses to ignore stated procedures or policies, managers and supervisors might decide to initiate progressive discipline procedures.
Here follows an example to help illustrate. Employee Bert is chronically tardy and absent, so Manager Ernie takes the following progressive discipline steps:
- He meets privately and calmly with the employee.
- He communicates and documents expectations regarding normal work starting and ending times, including times for breaks and meals.
- He allows opportunities for Employee Bert to repeat the above-mentioned expectations, to comment and ask questions.
- He explains how his behavior affects individual and team performances.
- He clearly defines and documents expected procedures for Employee Bert to follow whenever he will be late or absent.
- He provides Employee Bert with the progressive discipline document to sign. Manager Ernie also provides a signed copy for Employee Bert’s records.
As state above, a progressive discipline intervention should be conducted in a one-on-one meeting; not in public areas where other employees can see or possibly overhear.
The objective of all progressive discipline interventions is to give the employee an opportunity to correct their behavior and performance. Managers will also want to ensure the employee understands potential consequences for continued behavior deficiencies.
Ultimately, you want to see the employee take responsibility for his or her behavior and understand that he or she will be held accountable.
Again, employers are encouraged to consult with an HR professional or legal counsel when establishing progressive discipline programs. Employers with collective bargaining agreements should also review those agreements for language relating to progressive discipline.
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The information contained in this document is for general, informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. This information is not a substitute for the guidance of a professional and should not be relied upon in reference to any specific situation without first seeking the advice of a qualified HR professional and/or legal counsel regarding applicable federal, state or local laws. HRTools, Insperity and their respective employees make no warranties, express or implied, and make no judgments regarding the accuracy of this content and/or its applicability to a specific situation. A reference or link to another website is not an endorsement of that site or service.