Disciplining Employees

1
Disciplining Employees

• Hot stove rule
• Progressive vs. positive discipline
• Dispute resolution procedures

2
Hot Stove Rule

• Disciplinary action should
• be enforced consistently and in an unbiased way

3
Progressive vs. Positive Discipline (Kulik, 2004
162)
Progressive PositiveDiscipline Discipline ver
bal warning written warning suspension
w/o pay termination termination
First offense Second offense Third
offense Final offense
4
Progressive Discipline

• Major challenge 1 how to deal with multiple
  offenses
• Bundle related offenses into similar categories
  (consider type and magnitude)
• violations from different bundles get separate
  disciplinary proceedings
• The step you begin with should match the
  magnitude of the violation (e.g., dont just give
  a verbal warning to an embezzler)

most common
5
Progressive Discipline

• Major Challenge 2 getting employees to accept
  discipline change behavior
• progressive discipline is punishment based, and
  thus could easily lead to a me vs. them
  mentality
• need to ensure procedural fairness and maintain
  dignity of the those being disciplined

6
Positive Discipline

• Key differences from progressive
• shift from judge to coach
• decision day (employee comes up with idea for
  changes usually with pay) vs.
• Organizations who who use positive discipline
  report fewer terminations and disciplinary
  complaints, and less employee turnover, but

Shi
7
Positive Discipline Controversies (Sunoo, 2005)

• Decision day (paid) vs. decision leave (unpaid)
• John was instructed to return the next day
  either ready to change his behavior and stay with
  us or quit. John took his leave seriously and
  since has been promoted several times. Now hes a
  foreman
• We tried it decision day a couple of times.
  Did we get productive, enthusiastic, wonderful
  employees? No. We got the same employees back
  whom we sent home. The only difference was that
  they were carrying poorly written, scribbled
  promises to behave in the future. employees
  told us it was viewed as an extra day of paid
  vacation. So weve gone back to unpaid time off
  It seems to get their attention, and thats the
  whole point.

8
Progressive vs. Punishment

9
Dispute Resolution Procedures

• Advantages for organizations
• visible sign of commitment to fair treatment
• may reduce the need for legal action

10
Dispute Resolution Procedures
Type Description

Step-Review

Open Door

• Appeals are heard by employee committees
  consisting of management non-management
  personnel (usually volunteers who are trained).

Peer Review

• Employee whose role is to hear appeals. Role
  varies. May be explicit advocate of employee.
  Results may be binding or nonbinding.

Ombudsperson
11
Dispute Resolution Procedures
Type Description

• Third party whose purpose is to help both
  parties achieve a mutually acceptable solution on
  how to resolve conflict does not make the
  decision for them. May be internal or external
  to organization.

Mediation

• A third party from outside of the organization
  who hears the dispute and suggests a resolution
  or award.
• nonbinding either side may reject the decision
• mandatory when individuals must use arbitration
  as a condition of employment. Often used in
  conjunction with other grievance procedures.
  (Note often ever used).

Arbitration
12
Top 5 Reasons why Organizations Lose Arbitration
(Trafimow, 2005)

• Lack of supporting evidence
• Mitigating circumstances (18)
• Procedural due process errors (13) (e.g., not
  allowing representation during disciplinary
  hearings)
• Overly harsh punishment for rule infraction
  (8)
• Management partly at fault (gt7)

13
Closing Ideas Wrap-Up

• Velvet axe better than a sharp sword
• Customize different dispute resolution procedures
  to fit culture and unique organizational needs
• Train managers! (shocking, I know)

14
Ending the Employment Relationship

• Why you can fire someone
• How to fire someone during lay-offs
• How to prevent (mass) exits
• How to quit gracefully

Sometimes referred to as separation
15
Why You Can Fire Someone

• No reason. (70-75 of companies can fire you
  for no reason at all in theory -- because they
  use employment at will). Note with employment
  at will you can fire someone before they start
  their job!

16
Exceptions to Employment at Will (Kulik, 2004
Trafimow, 2005)

• Violation of public policy
• Whistle-blowing (e.g., PeopleSoft)
• Implied good faith
• Acting with malice (e.g., discrimination,
  revenge, or firing someone right before they are
  vested or in order to prevent them from receiving
  the second part of a bonus).

17
Exceptions to Employment at Will

• Implied contract
• Agents made verbal promises about conditions of
  termination (e.g., just cause)
• Employee handbooks or written contracts suggest
  termination conditions

18
Be Careful How You Fire Someone

• Given the long list of items that are not
  protected by employment at will, many court cases
  can be based on discrimination
• Disgruntled employees have more ways to damage
  the organization

19
Tips on Firing People During Lay-Offs (Kulik,
2004 Labich, 1999)

• Before firing
• Seek alternatives
• Reduced work weeks or involuntary vacations
• Employee buyouts
• Will it cost more to replace people than to fire
  them?
• Provide clear, repeated warnings (but be aware of
  the cost of this strategy). Note you may be
  required to do this by the Worker Adjustment and
  Retraining Notification (WARN Act)

20
Tips on Firing People During Lay-Offs (Kulik,
2004 Labich, 1999)

• Decide on termination criteria (and avoid adverse
  impact!). In this process, get feedback from
  employees (get many people involved)
• get new perspectives
• (but allows for political scapegoating)
• If offering severance packages (often you dont
  have to) -- try to minimize involuntary turnover
• dont make them too attractive customize to
  target specific workers

21
Tips on Firing People During Lay-Offs Tips
(Kulik, 2004 Labich, 1999)

• Delivering the news (biggest reason for
  wrongful termination suits)
• Do it yourself (dont pass it along to an
  external party and deny responsibility)
• When delivering messages, have right emotional
  tone (e.g., care regret, not defensive or
  nervous) and dont say too much (e.g., explain
  severance but dont give false hopes)
• Keep it short and on-track say (1) what is
  happening (2) why it is happening and (3) what
  the net steps are

22
Tips on Firing People During Lay-Offs (Labich,
1999)

• Provide a compelling reason why you are firing
  people, and where you are taking the company
• Be careful of when (e.g., early in the day, not a
  birthday)
• Remember that firing affects everyone (e.g.,
  survivors guilt).

23
Things Organizations do to Ease the Pain During
Lay-Offs

• Severance pay and/or benefits
• Common 1 week salary for every year with company
  for non-managerial, 2 wk/year for managerial
  these benefits appear to be declining
• Outplacement services educational benefits

24
Preventing Voluntary (Mass) Exits

• Some organizations face massive exodus of talent
  
• With a knowledge economy, talent must be
  retained

25
Preventing Voluntary (Mass) Exits (Byrnes, 2005)

• Promote within your company
• Pick the right insiders
• University alliances

26
Preventing Voluntary (Mass) Exits (Byrnes, 2005)

• Intensive, collective socialization that involves
  job rotation (even in HR)
• Avoid common HR pitfalls by
• avoiding meaningless metrics in determining who
  you want to keep (remember The Folly of Rewarding
  A while Hoping for B)
• assessing needs and incubating / developing
  your own leaders (e.g., GE) rather than overly
  relying on consultants and the latest software

27
How to Exit Gracefully (White, 2005)

• Plan what you are going to say to your boss
  before you quit bring notes to the meeting that
  you can refer to
• Bring a formal letter (emphasizes seriousness and
  avoids counter-offer)
• Emphasize new job over criticizing current one
• Tell boss you enjoyed working with him/her but
  that a compelling offer came up (e.g., more
  responsibility, greater impact, chance to learn
  new skills).

28
How to Exit Gracefully (White, 2005)

• Dont trash your organization even after youve
  resigned
• Remember it is a small world. With mergers,
  job-hopping, layoffs, etc. you never know if
  youll be working with the same people again

29
Wrap-Up

• For most organizations, managing employee exit
  needs to be improved
• Changes in recruiting (e.g., poaching) and in
  careers means that former employee may be a
  temporary condition
• For similar reasons, employees need to be very
  mindful at how they plan their separation from
  the organization (Give it as much thought as you
  do joining an organization!)

30
Questions?
31
Employment at Will Wont Protect You from Firing
for These Reasons

• Age
• Color
• Race
• Religion
• National origin
• Veteran status
• Union activity
• Disability
• Pension rights
• Polygraph
• Plant closing
• Family and medical leave

• Public policy
• Retaliation
• Sexual orientation
• Marital status
• Height
• Weight
• Political affiliation
• Gene or trait test
• Tobacco use
• Recreational activity
• Lawful consumable product

Trafimow (2005)