The Administration of Disciplinary Action and Its Forms

An important element of human resource development is the administration of disciplinary action. Often, employees may be found to be out of line with the organization expectations. This prompts the need to establish some reaction measures with the aim of discouraging situations where employees fall short of the organizations expectations. Some common forms of disciplinary actions include reprimands, suspensions and dismissal. Some forms of disciplinary actions include reprimands, suspensions, demotion or even dismissal. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Administration of Disciplinary Action and Its Forms specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Most disciplinary actions are seen as adverse actions. This is because most of them are aimed at instilling some level of pain or discomfort on the employees. When an employee is demoted for having a poor attitude towards work of for consistently not achieving the set targets, the action adversely affects them. There are several dimensions of a disciplinary action. These dimensions ensure that the disciplinary action is as effective as possible. First, the disciplinary action should be aimed at ensuring that the employee behavior improves. This means that the action should not merely punish the victim but should influence the behavior towards the desirable attributes. Secondly, the disciplinary action should be just and congruent to the magnitude of the offence committed. This implies that the disciplinary action should be to the scale of the wrong done. This way it is effective as there is a feeling that the action is well deserved. Thirdly, disciplinary action should be consistent. Similar action should be taken for similar offences for all employees. PEER SURVAILLANCE is an accountability process where employees are given the responsibility of watching each other as they undertake their tasks. This method is now being seen as the most effective in ens uring accountability among work mates. The method is known to greatly enhance relationships at the work place while at the same time improving productivity in the organizations workforce. It is the most ethically plausible staff management method. VERTICLE SURVAILLANCE on the other hand follows a hierarchical organizational structure to determine who is accountable to who is answerable to which member of the organization. Here junior employees are report to their seniors. This model is widely used by organizations around the world. However, its effectiveness in relation to the peer surveillance has been highly questioned. HORIZONTAL SURVEILLANCE seeks to place the roles of accountability within the various existing departments. One department is accountable to another so long as they are on the same level of the organizational hierarchy. This model is mainly applicable in organizations where different departments complement each other towards achieving the overall organizational goa l. In a case where one department is performing poorly, other departments are affected hence the push for better performance.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Progressive discipline is a concept applied in the practice of human resource management. The concept stipulates that a penalty for a wrong doing should keep increasing with repetition. This means that every time an employee does a wrong, the penalty is stiffer than the previous time the same wrong was committed. It is aimed at discouraging repeated mistakes within the organization. The first time may attract a verbal reprimand, the second a written warning, the third a suspension while the fourth would attract a demotion and finally dismissal. Progressive discipline enables the human resource department to continually influence employee behavior. The fact that a stiffer penalty is imposed each time an offence is repea ted means that the employees are highly motivated to achieve the organizations expectations. The effectiveness of the actions is enhanced by several issues. First, the action should be timely. One should take action early enough before the behavior develops in to a habit. This is amounts to a nip on the bud. Secondly, one should be fair in application. Fairness is first seen by clarifying and clearing the expectations placed on the employee within the organization. More importantly, the actions should direct the employee’s behavior. This is through availing avenues of solving the existing problems with the workers. In the process of enforcing the progressive disciplinary action, it is important that one is careful not to violate the rights of the employees. Due Process right of an employee refers to the full consideration of the legal implications of the actions taken against an employee. It is critical for the rights of an employee to be fully respected to avoid cases where disputes arise on the legality of the actions. This not only ensures that the process of human resource management is smooth, but also ensures that the organization is free of legal tussles. The most important dimensions of progressive discipline actions include fairness and measured severity. The actions should be fair and consistent among the employees. When one is reprimanded, the second penalty should be just slightly severe and should not jump to dismissal. However, the progressive disciplinary actions should be in full consideration of the severity of the successive offence. If an individual misappropriated funds and was reprimanded, a second and bigger scale attempt to still will not attract another warning but would justifiable lead to dismissal of the employee.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Administration of Disciplinary Action and Its Forms specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This essay on The Administration of Disciplinary Action and Its Forms was written and submitted by user Arya K. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.