Influence of Employee Training and Discipline

Discuss about the Influence of Employee Training and Discipline.

Introduction

Each and every employee in an organization or a workplace maintains a certain type of relationship with the other employee or the colleagues. The relationship can be either bad or warm. The relationship can exist between the different hierarchies. It can exist between the two members of the management, between the superiors and the employees, and also between the co-workers. It is important to mention that organizations pay a lot of attention in marinating a healthy relationship with the co-workers and the employees so that the employees can deliver their best performances. A worker or an employee of an organization spends a lot of time at the workplace and the fellow co-workers are the ones that a particular employee spends most of the time with (Leat 2012). Thus, there is a less chance and at the same time, an organization cannot let the employees fight among themselves. Misunderstandings and the conflicts that arise in a workplace and these tensions only reduce the productivity of the employees. No individual employee can work alone and thus he needs guidance and support from the fellow workers to come out with an innovative idea that will help best to deliver (Ali, Lei and Wei 2017). This study is based on a critical argument on managing the employee relations; the impact of the discipline on the wellbeing of the employees; application of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) in the discussion of a case study. 

Disciplinary rules and the discipline has long been recognized as the major dimension in the management of the employment relationship. The employment relationship and the along with the interaction between the parties can be seen to produce a wide number of the employee relationship outcomes within an organization. At a certain level, it can be found that the outcomes can be purely perceived as the practices, procedure, processes. For example, employee relation helps in conflict resolution through the participation of the employees, involving the employees in the decision making decision making, control of the labour process, management of discipline and handling of the grievances or the achievement and pursuit of the equal opportunities (Nikoloski et al. 2014). In an organization, the presence of a human element is one of the very critical and productive assets that requires the special management. An organized social structure includes the clearly defined patterns of discipline and activity, and this must be related functionally to the purpose of the organization. The human behaviour, as well as the social sciences, are difficult to analyse and explain. Individuals are unique and unpredictable along with the distinct beliefs, perceptions, objectives, aspirations, attitudes, characters. Issues are likely to arise when there is an inability to manage the social elements that bring with it failed to achieve the goals, disorders and conflicts. The sound relationship between the employees and the management depends a lot on how it is regulated by the upper management. Thus, standards of code need to be maintained and these rules must be realistic so that the workplace is properly maintained. Rules that govern the taking drugs at the workplace, drinking in the workplace, gambling in the company premises, vandalism, theft, insubordination are all directly related with the general wellbeing and productivity of an organization. It is important to note that the most unpleasant role played by the leader of an organization is to enforce disciplinary action upon a rogue employee. The main motive for enforcing the disciplinary action is to modify the behaviour of an employee. The process of discipline entails with it the provision of learning. Discipline is a training process, however unlike the training process which is job oriented. The main purpose of discipline is to teach responsibility rather than evoking the obedience to the employees. Discipline within an organization consists of the settings that are clearly defined and with the clearly defined limitations for the employees. The discipline for the employees includes the information that prevents and hinders to not to do. The most striking thing about the discipline is that it does not provide any information about the preferable behaviours. Disciplinary policies are framed so that it can act as a guide and orderly conduct so that the organizational goals are achieved (Nwinyokpugi 2015). Discipline can be considered as an action that has to be exercised properly in order to discipline the behaviour of an employee. The Disciplinary guidelines are framed so that they can be used to maintain a standard and this must be imparted to the employees through the proper communication channels.

Discipline in organizations

Discipline is vital for every organization that works hard to stay ahead in market competition. This is vital for any firm that wants to run smooth. It at the same time vital because of the harmony and the peace in an organization so that the clients, customers and employees work in a harmonized way. Discipline in organization is described as the force that pushes the nation, organization and individuals to set the regulation and the rules that are considered vital for the efficient and effective performance of an organization.

Discipline in an organization can be instilled through the following ways: Regulation and the rules should be clearly stated: in order to instil discipline into an employee there should be clear mention of the regulation and the rules that stipulate of what is expected and things that are not expected from employees. A perfect piece of information can be an employee handbook have a clear mention of the dos and they do not (Apalia 2017). The regulations and the rules should be constantly reviewed and updated. This will set aside the rules that no more work with the new scenarios and environment. The regulations and the rules should be enforced without any kind of discrimination. In order to have discipline in an organization, the general rule should be made for each type of defaulter. The rules must be properly communicated so that discipline is maintained in a firm. The rules must be clearly defined and mentioned and put on notice. This will help in the proper dissemination of the regulation and the rules (Suci and Idrus 2015).

The several causes of the indiscipline in a firm can be attributed to the regulation and the rules as well as the disciplinary actions against the defaulters. The several causes of indiscipline are as follows: Favouritism- Most of the discipline enforcers and the managers favour certain staffs in their decision making. There are several instances when the staffs commit an offence and they are punished. Lack of proper communication- If the rules and the laws that govern the employment of the staff are not transparently communicated then there is a sure chance of disorder in an organization or a company. Inefficient leadership- for each and every section in a workplace, the leader guides and supervises the work done in an organization. The leader monitors as well as instils the discipline to his subordinates. Low motivation and morale within the staffs- when the employees are not motivated and enthused than the morale of the employee becomes low and the productivity reduces. This affects the discipline and the way of the work (Apalia 2017).

Disciplinary actions in a firm are an integral part of any organization that promotes discipline. The important part of reducing the disciplinary actions in a workplace is to punish the offenders that commit the mistakes. Some of the disciplinary actions that can be taken by an organisation are as follows: warning given vocally- the offender can be warned vocally when the offence is not a serious one. The human resource manager can invite the person to talk to the offender personally and can be warned to not to repeat such an act.  Written warning- When a mistake is committed by an employee and is not an offence at all, then the employee can be warned verbally and at the same time can also be warned through a written response (Hasina and Islam 2014). Loss of entitlement- an offender can also be punished by a signing of his or her entitlement. Even in certain cases the allowances, bonuses may not be paid as punishment for the indiscipline a person has done. Suspension- if the employee has committed a strong then he can be suspended without giving any pay. the suspension can have a time period of 2 or more months without pay depending upon the offence. Demotion- demotion can be done to employees from his or her position due to an offence. This can be done when an employee is repeatedly committing a mistake without having any remorse. Dismissal- this kind of punishment can be given only to the employee that has been found to be involved with the illegal business, stealing, fraud. This kind of action is taken on an employee that leaves no other option (Hasina and Islam 2014).

This is a case of Mr Morgan and the major facts that matter are as follows: Plaintiff is an ex-school janitor and she claimed to have a disability. The school has already warned and disciplined the plaintiff regarding his performance and was told that he would be fired if the condition did not improve. All this happened before the plaintiff informed his employer that he is having a disability. Plaintiff decided to take a disability leave. After plaintiff resumed work from the disability leave, the employer of plaintiff provided him with some instructions in a written form about the job duties and the expectations from the plaintiff. Plaintiff was later fired.

Impact of discipline on the psychological well-being of employees

The organizational rules are the regulations and the rules that work as strategies that instil good conduct of the employees. Psychological wellbeing is a very subjective term and the wellbeing of an employee increase due to the growth of the well-being; satisfaction at work and the interpersonal relations at work are becoming increasingly relevant. There are certain facts that can be summarized from the physical well-being of the employees: The social wellbeing through the noneconomic indicators matters a lot. Some examples of non-economic indicators are supported for human rights at the workplace, social capital and democratic management. The economic results are expected to form the wellbeing of an employee. The employees that exhibit the wellbeing accrue more success and benefits in comparison to those that have less wellbeing. The employee that have the better quality of social relations have the higher wellbeing. The happy people more often are found to live in a well-functioning family. The employees are also found to have a health and a better life. With respect to the general economic situation, the higher wellbeing has a general economic situation (Žižek and Mulej, 2017).

The psychological well-being of the employees can be maintained and managed effectively bringing discipline in the workplace. The performance level of an employee can only be achieved by an employee when an employee is externally pushed and forced to work. This can be effectively related to the fact that the psychology of an employee gets aligned with the workplace discipline. The alignment can be expected from the combination of an employee to accept the punishment, ability to carry out the different task, compliance with the unwritten and written regulations, loyalty, appreciation and respect.  Employee discipline is vital and for the activities to run smoothly and accordingly with the general mechanism. This, in turn, prevents the employees psychologically to prevent them from acting against the disadvantages of a company (Arsyad 2014).

Determinants of an effective disciplinary process

Discipline is the key and the various factors that act as a determinant for the effective disciplinary action are as follows: Supervisors training is necessary- the power of executing and enforcing discipline must be in the hands of the individuals that are trained and must know when to use the power when an offender commits a mistake. It is highly necessary and that the supervisor needs to be trained so that the decisions are taken in a precise way. Discipline centralization- no one can be over law and it has to be same for all the employees and the managers. An organization must employ laws that are consistent and uniform throughout the workplace. The uniformity leads to the effective enforcement of the procedures of discipline (Knight and Ukpere 2014). Impersonal discipline- discipline needs to handled impersonally. The managers must work hard in order to reduce and minimize the judgement of an offender's background rather than the judgement must be focussed on the offence. Review of the discipline decisions- the decisions must be reviewed first before its implementation so that the arbitrariness can be reduced. Disciplinary actions must be prompt- the effectivity of the disciplinary actions must be prompt so that it can be effective. The longer the time lag of the prompt action the less effective a disciplinary action becomes. Discipline must be consistent and flexible- the managers that are actually in administering the disciplinary must take into account the actions taken in the past. Consistency in the discipline is a good measure that helps to set the limits and informs the people about what discipline is leading to uncertainty and confusion. Documentation- effective discipline needs written record keeping in an accurate way (Knight and Ukpere 2014).

Case analysis through ACAS and Omani Laws

The decision of David relating to the disciplinary action of dismissing Mr Frank for the gross misconduct of punching Mr Lee and getting intoxicated at a company event. Mr David also undertook a decision of passing a judgement in which Mr Lee was only given a written warning. The decision passed by Mr David is not appropriate and just because Mr Frank was not the only person who was involved in the misconduct. Initially, both Mr Frank and Mr Lee were involved in an act which was not according to the company standards. Both of them got intoxicated in an official program and thus they both deserve to be looked and judged upon in an unbiased way. Initially it was Mr Lee that gave Mr Frank a kneeing at the back of the leg, however, Mr Frank did not reciprocate the same way. It was only for the second time, that Mr Lee again kneed Mr Frank and then he reciprocated with a punch on the face of Mr Lee. The decision of dismissing Mr Frank was not justified because it was one-sided and the company was inclined to punish Mr Frank whose act was visually more pronounced. The actions of Mr Lee fall in the same category of provoking and disturbing the other employees.

the disciplinary process that is initiated by the company was not in accordance with the ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service). Firstly, before taking the disciplinary action against both the employees the facts regarding the series of the incidents need to be established without the delay. The ACAS has mentioned that when a case of misconduct arises then people should carry out the disciplinary hearing and investigation. The disciplinary action was taken; however, it was not explicitly notified to both the employees (Acas 2018). Meetings should be held with both the employees so that both the Mr Frank and Mr Lee can get the time to prepare their own case. The employee has the right to be accompanied during the disciplinary meeting. The final decision is also not done according to the provisions mentioned in the ACAS. It is mandatory that the employee must be informed about the disciplinary action and also point out that the decisions are justified. Also, it is mentioned in ACAS that if an employee is found to be guilty of a misconduct then in the first instance the employee must be served a written notice. The repeat of the same offence, however, leads to harsher punishment. Finally, it is essential that the employee is provided with the chance of appealing if the offender feels that the disciplinary action taken against them is unjust and wrong (Acas 2018). Considering the codes of practice on the disciplinary action of an offender, it is important to mention that the procedure followed by the company in the whole procedure of the disciplinary action. Mr Frank unnecessarily faced a notice of dismissal, whereas the procedure followed was strictly not in accordance with the ACAS. According to the Oman labour laws (Article 120), an employer that refuses to lay down the procedures of grievance and complaints is liable to be punished (Oman Labour Law 2018).

The decision taken by David is not justified as it has been already discussed in the part a. If I had been into David's position, I would have taken a different judgement regarding the whole scenario. First of all, the degree of punishment varies with respect to the offence done. Regarding the initial set up of the case study, I feel that Mr Frank was unjust fully imposed a disciplinary action. Rather the activities of Mr Lee were taken lightly and he is only served a written warning. The conduct of the whole disciplinary proceeding is not done in a transparent way and both the employees were not even the part of the whole proceeding. Mr Lee is actually accused or provoking Mr Frank and if Frank is dismissed then, Mr Lee also deserves the similar kind of punishment. With respect to the ACAS handling of the grievances, the employer must have the knowledge of the grievance and in this case, the employer knew the grievance of Mr. Frank. The employer did not have any formal discussion with Mr. Frank regarding the grievance. The employer was not accompanied along with the during any conduct of the meeting. Mr. Frank’s grievance was not entertained by the employer and thus subsequent procedures which comes after the acceptance of the grievance is not applicable in this case. It is however important to note that the grievance of Mr. Frank was not accepted by the employer and this is a violation of the grievance redressal in the workplace with respect to ACAS (Acas 2018).

Conclusion

Thus, from the above study, it can be concluded that the discipline in the workplace is the best way to control, manage and enhance the working capability of employees. The capability and the disciplining the employees is necessary if an organization wants their employees to help in achieving the organizational goals. Organizations find it beneficial to discipline their employees and this increases the proper working environment at the workplace. This assignment also includes a case study which describes the two characteristics that is actively involved in tarnishing the image of their company. The employer thus decided to dismiss one employee and serve a written notice to another employee.

Reference

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