7. Discipline and Grievance Procedures.

7. Discipline and Grievance Procedures. Maintaining discipline is an integral part of
leadership. Once employees know what is expected of them and feel that the rules
and requirements are reasonable, self-disciplined behavior becomes a part of „group
norm‟ (“attitudes drive behavior”- remember?).
Disciplinary action may however sometimes be necessary. This will usually involve
an interview with the „offender‟ and the supervisor should be properly prepared for it:
 Investigate first
 Discipline in private.
ACAS guidelines for disciplinary action suggests progressive disciplinary action in the
following sequence:
 An informal talk
 Formal oral warning
 Written or official warning
 Suspension or dismissal, if necessary.
Discipline and relationships. Four basic rules will help the supervisor reduce resentment
in disciplinary actions:
 Immediacy
 Advance warning
 Consistency
 Impersonality.
Grievance procedure typically provides the following steps:
 The employee should take the grievance first to his/her immediate boss
 If the immediate boss cannot solve the matter, the case should be referred to the
next level
 Cases referred to a higher manager should also be reported to the personnel
department for assistance/advice of a personnel manager in resolving the issue.
The advantages of these formal grievance procedures are:
 They are a means of solving the problem without disrupting the work process
 They are seen to give a fair treatment to all employees
 They allow for a „cooling-off‟ period
 They protect the employee from possible hostility from his boss
 They give an employee a chance to speak for himself and be heard.