Techniques of Effective Discipline - Term Paper Example

TECHNIQUES OF EFFECTIVE DISCIPLINE Discipline could be defined as following a certain of conduct or behaving in accordance to a set of rules. This is a word that a person begins hearing at home, to school, college, and then finally the workplace. Even though the basic techniques of discipline remain the same, they are molded according to every situation. Every work place requires a certain level of discipline. They have company rules, which each employee needs to adhere to so as to maintain a level of stability, else there could be havoc. Being punctual, submitting assignments on time, following a proper dress code, respecting fellow co-workers, all come under the category of discipline. But if an employee fails to respect these rules, the employee’s behavior needs to be corrected. The entire purpose of discipline is to improve the employee’s behavior, and hence in turn improving work performance. Effective discipline in the workplace involves three major components: 1) A positive employee/employer relationship 2) Use of positive reinforcement strategies to increase desired behavior 3) Use of negative reinforcement (punishment) to eliminate unwanted strategies A positive employee/employer relationship: This relationship is considered the most important factor that governs effective discipline in the work environment. If a manager gets along well with his employee and they develop an understanding, life in the workplace becomes fairly easy. A good manager would take time to go through the work of the employee and would not hesitate to give positive as well as negative feedback. This would motivate the employee to improve and actually perform better. For example: if a manager were to give negative feedback, point out mistakes and rebuff the employee, everytime he submitted an assignment, and not compliment the employee for submitting it before the deadline or even when he did a good job , then obviously the employee would be extremely demotivated and would not try to improve. Hence, it is extremely essential for the manager to be supportive, helpful and encouraging so that the employee strives to do a better job. Whenever an employee makes a mistake the manager should explain what went wrong and then guide the employee on how to correct the mistake. This not only motivates the employee but it could help to make him enjoy his work. Positive reinforcement: Positive reinforcement is one of the primary techniques in effective discipline and one the most successful one. It is a known fact that people work harder and better when they are rewarded for doing something right than when they are punished to do something wrong (B.F.Skinner, 2011). Whenever an employee does a commendable job the manager should praise him so that he is encouraged to do an even better job the next time. For example: If an employee has never been late to work or has always submitted his assignments on time, the manager should praise him in the monthly meeting so that he keeps up the good work. Not only that, other employees might learn from his behavior and improve theirs. Even though these may seem trivial, they go a long way. But one must take care while using positive reinforcement. Some managers, unknowingly, promote wrong behavior. If an employee does something wrong a manager should correct the erroneous behavior instead of letting it go or saying ‘it’s fine’. This would make the employee think that it doesn’t matter if he repeats the mistake again. And of course no company wants such an attitude in ones employees. Natural reinforcement: Another phenomenon that is described by Skinner is natural reinforcement. This type of reinforcement promotes ‘inborn talent’. Some people are born with an innate interest, an urge to learn, a certain curiosity. A manager must learn to bring out this interest so that the employee works with added enthusiasm. Natural reinforcement is difficult to implement, but if businesses were able to utilize this natural curiosity in all their employees, life would be so much simpler. There would be less stress for the employees as well as their employers. For example: Suppose an employee is given an assignment on a research topic which he or she is genuinely interested in, compared to a topic which he considers boring, then the employee will perform the task with more zeal. When talking about natural reinforcement, another phenomenon called artificial reinforcement comes to mind. This can be explained by an example of a student who does not want to do his homework, but his parents give him 2 dollars as an incentive to complete the work. This means that the natural curiosity or interest of the student is not being utilized, but instead an artificial factor is being introduced to motivate the kid. This same phenomenon could be applied in the workplace. A manager can offer a bonus, like free petrol, a vacation, or even better, a monetary bonus, if the employee were to complete a certain number of assignments in a given time. Punishment or negative reinforcement: Punishment is to impose negative reinforcement for negative behavior, like verbal reprimands or corporal punishment. It is a technique which generally should be used as a last resort, basically when all else fails. Even though some managers do use verbal insults, they should avoid it, and even if they use it, they shouldn’t say anything that would abuse the employee’s character. In the workplace, punishment is used when there is progressive negative behavior. That is even after using all the techniques above, the employees behavior continues to deteriorate, like coming late every Monday, or consistently handing in bad reports. Then the manager should resort to these techniques: Warnings Pay cuts Taking away perks Firing(if the negative behavior persists) Progressive discipline All the points listed above were individual techniques, but if these techniques are carried out in a haphazard fashion and without careful planning, then they could backfire as well. Therefore progressive discipline is another more organized technique, which sums up all the pointers discussed above. (Susan.M.Heathfield) The main purpose of progressive discipline is to formally provide feedback to the employee so that he or she can correct their problem and hence improve work performance. If this technique succeeds it will help the employee learn and advance, and then eventually become a valuable member of the organization. But if it were to fail, then a manager can eliminate that employee from the organization, thereby assisting the company to eradicate the employees who are ineffective and unwilling to improve. Following are the standard steps used in the progressive discipline process: Arrange counseling sessions with employees, so as to understand the issues that they could be facing at work and why they are unable to perform well, and then try to resolve them. These counseling sessions could be used to encourage and praise employees if they are performing well. The phenomena of positive reinforcement could come in play here. Such interactions also help in improving employee/employer relationships, helping the employee to become at ease in the work environment. If an employee is unable to perform well, even after the counseling situations, then a manager should give them a verbal warning. The next step should be to add a written warning in the employer’s file, so as to make the employee realize that further disapproving work could lead to suspension or maybe even termination. If such faulty work continues, then the manager should start with a series of escalating suspensions. Starting from one day, to 3, and so on. Obviously if all else fails, the manager will have no choice but to fire the employee, since the employee would be nothing but a load on the organization. Works Cited B.F.Skinner. (2011). about behaviorism. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. jeff dusak. (n.d.). positive reinforcement in the workplace . Susan.M.Heathfield. (n.d.). discipline(progressive discipline). About.com . Read More