What's the Most Important Next Step After Disciplining an Employee?

What to Do When You Have Been Disciplined at Work
The first step you may never have considered. It is to help employees respond appropriately to the displinary matter and use the crisis as a way to advance their career. We all have our bad days and performance difficulties from time to time. But too many of either can lead to consequences that put your job in jeopardy. Nearly all employers have a process for addressing employee problems. To manage performance, disciplinary measures (or adverse actions) exist in nearly all organizations. When discipline affects you, it’s important to know what it means and how to respond constructively to it. Discipline is not punishment. The goal of discipline is to deter a repeat of the performance problem (quality of work, attendance, availability, conduct, or attitude problem). Some offenses, such as theft or violence, are grounds for immediate termination in many companies, with no discipline or second chances—and no available recourse. This tip sheet will help your employees know exactly what to do.

Improving Employee Communication: Yes, You May Need to Teach Them How. Don't Blame Employees, It's What We Bargained for With Our Modern Society.

Employees who fail on the job often do so because they cannot communicate well. Is there anything you can do. Many employees fail somewhere along the way...and I do mean being parented...to acquire good communication skills. You have choices: 1) Tolerate it. 2) Accept and adapt 3) Help them change and improve communication. And, one more.... 4) fire them. Which one sounds better to you? Especially if you have an otherwise skilled individual with good production value, you should accept your lot in life, and decide to teach them how to better communicate. So, you are right if you chose 3): "help your employee change and improve the communication." This is indeed, the most cost-benefiting business solution -- the proper business resource management model. You see, your employees are resources..no, not cogs in a wheel but valuable, necessary, precious tools for productivity. If you have a broken printing press, you'd fix it. You would not buy another printing press for big bucks. The same model applies with employees. The ability to communicate successfully is the most important of all the traits so invest in it--not a lot, but do invest. There is a ton of good stuff out there. Without education and training employees in effective workplace communication, sorry, but failure is more likely. A big part of successful communication is the ability to listen to others and understand their points of view, compromising as necessary to reach goals. So, here is a fantastic video, dvd, or my favorite--web course that will make a huge tent in your employees ability to communicate well. There are lots of options, but the basic powerpoint to help increase effective employee communication is only $297.00 http://workexcel.corecommerce.com/Communication-Tips-for-a-Happier-Workplace.html

You're No Psychiatrist, But...........

You won’t be able to intervene with every issue and stressful problem employees throw at you. And you're not a shrink, of course, but there are broad categories of stress worth knowing about. This can help you stay attuned to relationship and workplace dynamics with which interventions could reduce the impact of stress. Stress research with employees, of which there is a lot, usually focuses on 1) conflicts with supervisors, 2) complaints about the work culture and factors associated with it, and 3) dissatisfaction with making too minimal a contribution, not feeling like one belongs, is included, or fits in. This includes a feeling of not being valued for one’s contributions to the achievements of the work unit. Keep these categories in mind in conversations with employees. If you do, especially when dealing with normal workplace conflict, you will see opportunities to make lives better for your employees as a good supervisor. You will be able to take action, and this can reduce turnover if you jump on problems quickly and resolve them.

Preventing Workplace Violence (It's More Than Look Out for These Signs and Symptoms)

Conducting a violence in the workplace training program in your company is more than offering a presentation on the signs and symptoms of an employee who might go postal.

Workplace violence may have many antecedents, and signs and symptoms, although important, are really too little, too late to stand alone as a prevention strategy. While training employees how to lock a door or escape through the lunchroom alley door is worthwhile and could save a life, there is a lot more to preventing workplace violence than hiding in place.

To put on an effective and comprehensive workplace violence prevention program, consider the following topics, and if you would like to see videos for each of these topic as part of the larger more meaningful strategy, visit this free preview library at WorkExcel.com.

- Violence in the Workplace Prevention General Discussion
- Mastering the Respectful Workplace
- Avoiding Workplace Harassment
- Facing Bullying at Work--What to Do.
- Improving Day to Day Workplace Communication
- Employee Conflict Resolution: Simple Steps and Strategies
- Improving Your Assertiveness Skills
- Supervisor Assertiveness Training
- Effective Performance Evaluation of Employees that Improve Relationship with Supervisors
- How to Respond to a Disappointing Performance Review
- Valuing Diversity at Work
- Anger Management: Tips for Employees
- EAP Orientation: The EAP Can Help (for employees under stress and frustrated)
- Manager's Role in Promoting a Respectful Workplace
- Supervisor's Role in Helping to Prevent Workplace Violence
- Supervisor Training: Using the EAP in Supervision to Manage Difficult Employees

Can you see how these topics all contribute to reducing risk of workplace violence? To see any of them as videos, go to WorkExcel.com's all videos preview page.

Insights on Coaching Your Employees

I hope you have an understanding of the value of coaching your employees. The truth is that a competitive pay and benefits package gets the right employees in your door, hired, and sitting in the chair.  Good training prepares them to react properly to recurring problems.  Neither, however, is effective in motivating employees or developing their individual talents. That's where your coaching skills come in. Coaching is not hard to learn, but it is critical in helping your employees "get to the next level." At many companies, the role of management is seen strictly as administrative and supervisory.  A largely procedural, one-size-fits-all approach is applied in monitoring employees and ensuring quality control.  Because supervision involves only the negative — what employees are NOT doing — it is motivational only to the degree that employees are afraid of losing their jobs. Coaching differs from the evaluative and reactive nature of supervision I just mentioned by focusing on employee guidance and development. Coaching is both proactive and positive, and involves motivators and tailoring incentives toward them...and a few more. You can purchase an awesome one page tip sheet on coaching employees here, along with a few other supervisor training topics.

Proactive Management: What Management Wants from You

Are you a proactive manager? If not, I can tell you that management wants you to be exactly that. They may not know how to describe what you should be doing, but trust me this it - proactive management. Proactive means “anticipatory.” Management wants your energies and resources used to think ahead, anticipate problems and issues, and do less “reacting” to problems your work unit experiences. Here’s the key: When managing proactively, you strategize and target problems that have not happened yet in an effort to prevent them. You cannot just “think” proactively. Instead, you target the risk with interventions to reduce or eliminate them. The EAP is not an expert on your specific functions, but is experienced at coaching, analyzing, and examining the mandate you’ve been given. That assistance can help you keep on track and help ensure that you follow through on management’s directive. For more insight, consider the only book dedicated to this topic, Proactive Personality and Behavior for Individual and Organizational Productivity (New Horizons in Management series) by Andrew J. DuBrin. - for a supervisor training package -- the last one you'll ever buy -- go here.

Don't Participate In Social Undermining of Your Employee

Not every supervisor will enjoy the personality style of each employee. Don't expect anything less, and keep in mind this one tempting pitfall when this happens to you: Be cautious and avoid something called “social undermining.” This refers to any behavior or attitude toward your employee with the goal of sabotaging and curtailing that person from advancing, achieving, or being recognized for what he or she accomplishes. Social undermining is not necessarily bullying — it may be completely covert. Hindering success is the distinguishing feature of the behavior. Objectively assess your attitude. You may discover certain elements of your employee’s work style or personality that create anxiety for you. This may be attributed to feelings such as envy, jealousy, fear, and perhaps disappointment in your own achievements. These sorts of issues are usually quickly overcome with short-term counseling, coaching, or just venting with a friend...but do it.Get a free trial to Frontline Supervisor Newsletter to see this can advancing your skills in managing others FAST.