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Dick Grote was head of the corporatetraining and development in a companyproducing potato chips. All workers in thecompany were frustrated, angry and bitter.In 9 months 58 out of 210 employees werefired for discipline reasons. Supervisorsspend most of their time writing uptroublemakers. There was a realenthusiasm for punishment.Dick Grote realized that the harsh disciplinesystem of warnings, reprimands anddismissals was in fact creating problemsinstead of solving them. The create a newsystem called Discipline withoutpunishment which transformed within 2years the plant.

The traditional progressive disciplinesystem works with progressively worsepunishment, identical to the criminal justicesystem.

Informal transactions: coaching andcounseling

Formal disciplinary transactions :1. Verbal reprimand2. Written warning3. Suspension without pay /

probation / final warning4. Termination

In the Discipline without Punishment wetreat employees as responsible people.Gap between performance and jobexpectations are explained by themanagers.

Informal transactions: positivecontact / coaching sessions

Formal disciplinary transactions:1. Oral reminder2. Written

reminder3. Decision-

making leave

Termination

The difference is that the traditional methodis seen by managers as a mechanism todismiss people, the new method as asystem to save employees.

In the past managers were focused oncorrecting poor performance, now onrecognizing good performance andcorrecting bad performance.

People getting no feedback, stop doingthings eventually; people doing somethingwith negative result will quickly stop doingit; people doing something with positiveresult will repeat it.Be aware that you should recognize goodperformance but also withhold recognitionfor below-average performance.

Some great ways to recognize employeesare :

A quick thank-you note A memo to your boss about the

employees accomplishment with copyto employee

Introduce employee to a visitor andexplain his contribution to thecompanys success

Buy coffee or take him out for lunch

Discipline without Punishment.The proven strategy that turns problem employees

into superior performers.

Dick GroteAMACOM Books 1995 ISBN 0-8144-0276-3

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Traditionally we pay attention to above-average performers or poor performers butrarely to the employees with an acceptableand competent performance.

If you want to raise productivity, you haveto start praising the vast, conscientiousmajority of your employees.

Characteristics for effective recognition :

Do it often Do it swiftly Praise individuals, not teams Do it proportionately Tailor it Think small

If a manager faces poor performance heshould first discuss informally with theemployee. See it as a positive contactphase. Explain the standard level ofperformance and pinpoint for the employeewere they are falling short. Be as specificas possible. Be ready to accept that it is notalways their fault, something can preventthem from executing properly.There are 2 things that cause poorperformance: deficiency in knowledge ordeficiency in execution.

The next step is coaching. But managersvery often mistake casual, unplanneddiscussions as coaching sessions.Plan and prepare your coaching sessions : Define the problem category (

attendance, performance or conduct) Set concrete dates Be clear for yourself on the expected

performance and the actualperformance

Have some good business reasons whythe problem should be solved

Have a list of consequences if theproblem is not solved

The authors describe the case of the TardyEmployee.

Sometimes the coaching or disciplinarymeetings dont work. Inevitably you have togo to the Decision-making leave. Yoususpend the employee for one day, withpay to give them time to think about how tosolve the problem and to committhemselves.When the employee returns most of themwill be ready for change. Be careful, askconcrete commitment to acceptableperformance and warn him clearly that anydisciplinary problem in the future will leadto termination.

If you have to go to dismissal this meansthat you have someway failed.

Basic rules to keep in mind for a dismissalmeeting are :

Get right to the point. Dont be brutal. Focus on the problem. When the employee reacts, dont

argue. Keep it short.

One last advice: choose your momentcarefully and ask the employee to leavethe premises immediately.