One of the most miserable parts about being in a supervisory role is that there will come a time when you must issue a written warning letter in order to make sure your staff's productivity and morale stays high. No matter what you believe, employees know when someone is not following the rules within their department. The morale of the staff will drop if you do not act immediately.
Employees from the beginning of time will push the rules if allowed to. This means that if they see that you will do nothing when an employee shows up late, or worse is insubordinate, it sends a strong message that anything goes. Sooner, versus later, productivity will drop and chaos will set in, if you stand by and do nothing.
Establishing and informing every one of your workplace rules is one of the very first and extremely important duties that must be accomplished before presenting a written warning letter to any staff member. Producing an employee handbook outlining all your policies and rules and what consequences will occur if they are not followed is one way to handle this. Just to mention a few of the policies that should be included are, tardiness, absenteeism, insubordination, misconduct, etc.
After producing your employee handbook it is just as important to insure everyone gets their personal copy of it and then signs for it. You will also be encouraged to learn that you can obtain some very good employee handbook programs online for under $50. However, if you are so inclined you can spend a lot more money if you are looking for something more complicated with all the frills.
Another very important aspect of any employee discipline program is to make sure that you are treating everyone the same. More law suits are filed over companies that treat one employee differently than another when violating the exact same policy. You may try to justify your actions by stating that one employee is a better performer than another one, but the bottom line is if they violate your policy then treat them the same. Selective enforcement will get you in big trouble.
It is important to only state the facts when putting together the actual written warning letter. Using words like "I feel" are emotional and should not be used. The actual written warning should have within it the following; the specific violation, all the details surrounding it, whether the employee has received prior disciplinary action, what is necessary for them to improve, and finally what will be the results of them violating another company policy.
Beginning with the least amount of disciplinary action and progressing to penalties that are more severe, finally ending with termination is a suggested way handling your disciplinary program. There are some instances that will demand immediately terminating someone if they violate a policy, such as fighting or stealing. As you develop your employee handbook it is a good time to make sure you consider all your options. Then, provided you follow your own policies and insure that you are treating all employees consistently and fairly you should be just fine.
Employees from the beginning of time will push the rules if allowed to. This means that if they see that you will do nothing when an employee shows up late, or worse is insubordinate, it sends a strong message that anything goes. Sooner, versus later, productivity will drop and chaos will set in, if you stand by and do nothing.
Establishing and informing every one of your workplace rules is one of the very first and extremely important duties that must be accomplished before presenting a written warning letter to any staff member. Producing an employee handbook outlining all your policies and rules and what consequences will occur if they are not followed is one way to handle this. Just to mention a few of the policies that should be included are, tardiness, absenteeism, insubordination, misconduct, etc.
After producing your employee handbook it is just as important to insure everyone gets their personal copy of it and then signs for it. You will also be encouraged to learn that you can obtain some very good employee handbook programs online for under $50. However, if you are so inclined you can spend a lot more money if you are looking for something more complicated with all the frills.
Another very important aspect of any employee discipline program is to make sure that you are treating everyone the same. More law suits are filed over companies that treat one employee differently than another when violating the exact same policy. You may try to justify your actions by stating that one employee is a better performer than another one, but the bottom line is if they violate your policy then treat them the same. Selective enforcement will get you in big trouble.
It is important to only state the facts when putting together the actual written warning letter. Using words like "I feel" are emotional and should not be used. The actual written warning should have within it the following; the specific violation, all the details surrounding it, whether the employee has received prior disciplinary action, what is necessary for them to improve, and finally what will be the results of them violating another company policy.
Beginning with the least amount of disciplinary action and progressing to penalties that are more severe, finally ending with termination is a suggested way handling your disciplinary program. There are some instances that will demand immediately terminating someone if they violate a policy, such as fighting or stealing. As you develop your employee handbook it is a good time to make sure you consider all your options. Then, provided you follow your own policies and insure that you are treating all employees consistently and fairly you should be just fine.
About the Author:
Want to find out more about how to write a written warning letter, then visit Gregory Covey's site. You can also pick up a free employee discipline notice form to assist you in your disciplinary program.
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