Positive Discipline

A useful way to think about discipline is that it sends a strong signal to employees about how they should behave or otherwise perform at work. There are two prominent approaches to discipline: positive discipline and progressive discipline.

With positive discipline, the disciplinary process is not punitive; rather, it focuses on constructive feedback and encourages employees to take responsibility for trying to improve their behaviors or performance at work. The key to positive discipline is to help employees identify their problems early on and address the causes of their problematic behavior.

Like progressive discipline, positive discipline consists of steps. Step 1: Verbal warning - The employee and manager verbally agree as to how the employee must improve. Step 2: Written reprimand - The manager and employee hold a follow-up meeting and outline a new action plan; written documentation is kept. Step 3: Suspension - Employee is given a final warning of termination. Step 4: Termination - Termination occurs.

A few caveats are worth noting regarding discipline: First, employees must clearly understand the rules, regulations, and procedures for any discipline to be effective. This may be addressed simply by having a performance appraisal with an employee to discuss the situation. Doing so may avoid unnecessary discipline by helping to effectively manage performance expectations. Second, the discipline should happen swiftly.

Why? When employees aren’t disciplined immediately for a problem, they often don’t know the problem exists, and it may be unreasonable to expect them to correct it.