By Ikenna M. Okafor, (OgaHR)
In an organization where I once worked, the Managing Director while introducing me to some military officials who have visited remarked, “This one”, holding me “is the military man of our company. He is very firm”. Then he added, “…for the type of workers we handle, we need such a person.” Even to date, I don’t know if that is a positive or negative compliment. Whereas, in another place I had worked earlier, the CEO described me as being too soft. Well, be it as it may, the shades of me displayed to employees or in an organization are dependent on the attitude of the staff. Why should one enforce strictness with compliant staff? However, when dealing with non-compliant staff, my advice to managers and leaders within various organizations is to address any unacceptable behavior that hinders the organization’s progress at the earliest stage possible. Failing to do so may allow such behavior to grow unchecked and influence others negatively.
Some unacceptable employee behaviors are but are not limited to the following: Dress code not consistent with the corporate culture, poor hygiene, Absenteeism, Poor work ethics, Insubordination, Improper behavior toward colleagues, Unprofessionalism, Failure to meet remote work expectations, Use of company properties for personal gains, Social media misconduct, Breaking confidentiality of company information, Alcoholism, taking hard drugs, Involving in theft, bullying, and violence.
HOW THEN DO YOU DEAL WITH UNACCEPTABLE EMPLOYEE BEHAVIORS?
First, have an Employee Handbook. The importance of this is that it erodes all forms of ambiguity and makes it easy for reference purposes. As much as possible ensure that your Employee Handbook is robust and captures basic offenses like absenteeism, late coming, insubordination, failure to meet deadlines, etc to advance offenses like theft, embezzlement, fraud, disclosure of confidential data, sabotage, etc. Upon joining the company, it is recommended that each staff member be provided with a copy of this document and be required to acknowledge receipt by signing to confirm that they have obtained, read, and comprehended its contents.
Communicate effectively whether verbally or when written. Communicate in the language your audience would understand better. For instance, the mode, style, and language of communication while communicating with white-collar workers is different when communicating with blue-collar workers. Irrespective of the employee’s job category, it is imperative to establish a culture of communication between the management and staff. This practice is likely to diminish fears or unproductive behaviors stemming from a lack of information.
Adopt a preventive measure for wrong behavior. Such measures as training, re-training, engagement, and educating the staff on the implications of their behaviors. Give rewards to those without negative records through your reward and recognition program and attach attitude to your performance appraisal exercise. Where these have been done, and staff continues with unethical behavior, it is strongly advised to advance to corrective measures. Corrective measures such as suspension, warning letters, dismissal, and similar actions.
The benefit of corrective measures is that it creates deterrence. To achieve this, discipline for any offense should be swift, consistent, and measurable to the offense committed. Part of the dangerous things I see some managers do is to let issues slide without any documentation or discipline for others to learn. This practice isn’t healthy for the growth of any organization. Also, some organization lacks consistency in giving discipline to their staff. When people in an organization see that staff A, B, and C were punished, the staff watching would understand that there is consistency in discipline and would most likely not commit the same offense others were disciplined for.
When dealing with unacceptable behavior from staff in your organization, follow due process. The process must be followed and never subverted by higher powers of the organization. One of my former CEOs will humorously say “As far as this organization is concerned, I am the law. Whosoever I forgive is forgiven”. I do not worry about this statement, I worry that with this belief, sometimes he thwarts our disciplinary process if the culprits find favor in his eyes for any reason. This brought about double standards so that people from a particular clime could commit an offense could go scot-free due to the CEO’s interference, while others would commit the same offense and may even be terminated.
My final advice is, that as we handle unacceptable behavior in our organizations, we should not forget to document the process. Documentation is key to any organization. Failure to document incidents could expose an organization to legal action. It is advisable to document even minor infractions, such as verbal warnings. A copy of any documentation should be placed in the employee’s file, and a copy should be given to the employee.
KEY WORDS
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