***Behavior and Discipline

There are two types of discipline happening in business or regarding teams or there should be. The is the job performance discipline which is usually done in a progression to correct a problem. In other words there is some lee-way knowing that people make mistakes. It is a corrective and teaching process. Often the employee will have several chances to correct a problem. This is a good thing and discipline should be used to teach.

Behavior is a different story. There are expectations from any employee that a person will act professionally at all times because the company is represented through employees. Because this is very important there are behaviors that are simply not tolerated. It is expected that all people in a company will have excellent customer service and must be polite at all times. There is an expectation that cursing will not be used. There is an expectation that yelling will not occur or putting others down. There is also an expectation that no employee will make another employee feel uncomfortable or feel there is a hostile environment. There are others but you get the message.

Concerning behavioral issues there is not and should not be the same tolerance or chances. There is a strong line that needs to be here. Many businesses have employee manuals that explain these rules and yet it is helpful to remind a couple times a year that these exist. Concerning the discipline these are the infractions that can cause immediate termination or a final warning at least. They are not negotiated or given several chances. These are simply expected and must be done by each employee. When it occurs it must be corrected immediately.

If behavioral problems are not corrected timely there is a breaking down of the team. Other team members will see nothing was done and it will seem like anything goes. It will send a message that professionalism is not important. It will probably have others do the same. It will also begin to take down the reputation of the company.