How and When to Discipline an Employee

By Nathan Gawlik

Nathan Gawlik's experience includes being a General Manager of a Hampton Inn and other front line roles such as a Banquet Captain, Front Desk Agent, Housekeeper, Catering Event Manager, and Director of Sales.

Be slow to hire, quick to fire. At least that's what some managers believe. If you are one of these managers, read on.

This mentality to hire slow can quickly be taken too literally. Some managers are scared that making the wrong hiring decision could result in a lot of extra work and costs. While they aren't wrong, this can mean that you lose out on an opportunity with a great employee.

Likewise, being quick to fire can lead to sticky situations. Did you know that the average days it takes to fill a vacant position has increased to 30, according to a 2017 report. Of course, we know times have changed post-covid, but I certainly found that surprising. Firing early or after a single poor decision could shoot you in the foot.

"Recently, I was asked if I was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. "No", I replied. "I just spent $600,000 training him – why would I want somebody to hire his experience?"

Thomas John Watson Sr., IBM

"Recently, I was asked if I was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. "No", I replied. "I just spent $600,000 training him – why would I want somebody to hire his experience?"

Thomas John Watson Sr., IBM

Manage Expectations and Temperature Checks

So what do you do instead? Build relationships and understanding.

It's just business. Personal emotions should be kept to a minimum. While the previous statements could be considered emotionally driven - they aren't. They are empathetic, courteous and represent the carrot tool that is seldom used effectively by managers. The sections that follow predominantly focus on the tool managers far too often reach for first: the stick.

One characteristic I think all Human Resource managers need to be successful is assertiveness. My definition of assertive is to be hard on the problem, not on the person. It's so important I'm going to repeat it:

Human capital is your most valuable asset. Investment in your associates is just that, an investment. But just as it is important to gently ‘course correct' your children when they do something wrong, gear up for uncomfortable conversations with employees.

Managing expectations is seldom the most fun part of any Human Resource manager's job, but it is wholly necessary for a successful department or business. Calling someone out on their behavior is awkward and unsettling, which is why people tend to avoid it. Most of us like to do what we can to avoid conflict.

Before you reach for your write up book,

SMART Goals

Consider using smart goals and worksheets. Template Lab has several free worksheets that can help you get organized and zero in on your goals, whether personal or professional.

There are a few different versions of the SMART Goal Acronym but my favorite is:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-Bound

I would often use smart goals with our staff members to get them thinking about goals for themselves related to work. This way they owned it and I would manage it. They came up with some incredible ideas. It was great. I didn't have to always generate all the ideas myself, but instead was able to tap into our human capital. This is another example of planting seeds to see who waters them. The SMART Goals worksheet wasn't mandatory, but it was a way for individual employees to take responsibility for change they wished to see in their position. They felt empowered and I would frequently explain that I wasn't going to force them to live in a house they didn't help build.

"I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail"

How NOT to write up an Employee

Don't try to play ‘gotcha.' So many managers make this mistake and I've coached so many managers on better practices. Everyone is human and makes mistakes. People should be worried about doing their job to the best of their abilities - not on putting others down when a power complex gets in the way.

I recall one particular housekeeping supervisor that was famous for this. She was a victim of her own negative outlook on the world. She assumed that all the staff were up to no good. Having that mentality is a self-fulfilling prophecy. As the psychologist Abraham Maslow so eloquently stated, "I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail."

This individual, referred here as Beth, was a very competent housekeeper and had been in the sanitation business for most of her life. Working at a large, complicated property, she was the cream of the crop among her peers. Her manager decided to promote her to cover the manager's days off. When the manager was gone, it was like night and day.

The manager was charismatic, warm and approachable. When she was at work, the housekeepers did their work with a smile, rallied to help one another, and often were done early.

When Beth was in charge, housekeepers were quick to find fault and often ran to me, the department head, to settle their grievances. This caused service disruptions, delays were regular, and it even got to the point of staff members expressing their desire to quit or not work on days when Beth was in charge.

On one particular day, I recall stopping into the office to check on Beth - as I had grown accustomed to doing lately given the slew of complaints. She was at her desk grinning from ear to ear while writing up a staff member for taking one too many smoke breaks that day.

I then explained that housekeeping management is a game of numbers and tight margins. Housekeeping is every hotel's largest expense and it needs to be managed effectively.

I also explained to her that people aren't Kiosks. They can't be programmed. Emotions and feelings get involved in any department but especially in housekeeping. Perhaps that housekeeper was having a rough day. Maybe something is going on in her personal life that would warrant an extra break and an extension of empathy.

Furthermore, we were currently operating in a tight labor market. Our property was in a rural area and finding good help was hard to come by. And the golf resort had a high degree of seasonality which made hiring even more difficult.

All these contributing factors made me very nervous about providing any write ups for this department in particular.

The Peter Principle

Beth was just the latest employee to be promoted to her own level of incompetence. She was promoted based on her prior success in another role but it was determined that she didn't have some of the skills necessary to be in her new elevated role. This is known as the Peter Principle.

Turnover was very high. After I implemented additional coaching with Beth, things got better. I'm pleased to say that we actually had the lowest turnover rate that summer compared to the five years prior.

I took away some responsibilities of Beth's because her soft skills weren't there. It wasn't a tool she had in her tool belt.

Most people want to perform well - that's the intrinsic motivation mentioned above.

I set the expectation that she didn't have authority to give write ups and that personnel matters were to be handled by me or her manager. Her responsibilities were to assign cleaning tasks and check rooms.

I could also tell that while her efforts were not misguided her delivery was the problem. She cared about the property and merely didn't want people to take advantage of not being micromanaged.

Beth performed well in other ways. I could tell she had a strong attention to detail. I taught her some basic functions of excel and provided her our labor budget. She was to review it weekly and make the schedule - not a small task for a department of 20 or more housekeepers. A few hours a week were spent on this schedule and frequent review with me was a necessity.

By the end of the second quarter the following year, we had come within four hundred dollars of our two-hundred and fifty thousand dollar labor budget! By the end of that year, we were within two thousand dollars of our labor budget. Talk about hitting the bullseye!

Beth worked well with these clear goals I detailed for her and we continued to work well together for many years.

The Proper Way to Write up an Employee

Write ups are a necessary part of managing expectations. They are known by many names. Counseling forms, written warnings, disciplinary form, employee log, and many others are synonymous with a structured, documented conversation with an employee. Many businesses have chosen to move away from forms with harsher titles in an effort to coach the employees and work with them to correct the issue.

Why do managers write people up? Is it to fire them? No - not always, and hopefully not initially. They do so for two reasons:

Typically, many organizations follow a structure of documentation that is administered by the Director of Human Resources. While not each step is required by law in all states, the greater the documentation, the better the business will be prepared to make its case should an issue be brought to court. As always, use your best judgement and consider local regulations.

Verbal warnings

Written warning

Second written warning

Final warning and termination

With each warning, be sure to provide the employees temperature checks after giving the conversation some time. They want to be led and they want to know if they are still in hot water. The sooner they can stop walking on eggshells the better it is for everyone.

Typically warnings are escalated based on each individual concern or action that should be corrected. Meaning if an employee is given an initial warning for being late, then I wouldn't suggest escalating to a second or final warning because an employee's quality of work didn't meet your expectations. I would put that on a different warning schedule. It is on the employer to prove they gave the employee the opportunity to make the right choice and the employer needs to provide adequate training and communication of expectations.

Ultimately these documents paint a picture of the individual employee and as the employer, you are looking for negative patterns of behavior. I wouldn't write someone up the first time they are late but if it becomes a problem, say after three times, speak with that individual and express the importance of punctuality. Then set the expectation by saying something like, "please text me if you are going to be late again and those instances may be excused. If you don't and you are late again, I'll have to escalate this to a written warning and further disciplinary action."

Look for negative patterns of behavior. Then give them enough rope to hang themselves with.

Look at the big picture. If someone has a bad day, that doesn't mean they deserve to be fired. Unless of course, their actions are so egregious that protecting the organization from further damage dictates immediate action.

I like to give our staff members the opportunity to course correct. They have the option to make the right decisions. They can choose to continue to do things the way they have been told is wrong and run the risk of termination or they can meet the expectations you have detailed for them. Give them rope to hang themselves with. The ball is in their court.

Don't get emotional or frustrated. Clearly review the expectation, explain the desired outcome and frequently check in. If they choose to make the wrong call, another write up will follow, leading to eventual termination.

The 80/20 Rule

The 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle, states that roughly 80 percent of consequences come from 20 percent of the causes.

I like to apply this in the context of personnel management. You may find that 20 percent of your staff take up 80 percent of your time or cause 80 percent of your problems. Conversely, and rather optimistically, the same can be said about your productive employees. 20 percent of your employees might do 80 percent of the productive work.

Arguably one of the most important jobs of Human Resource management professionals is to ensure a high level of employee productivity. With this mission in mind, HR also takes measures to protect the organization by ensuring all federal and local regulations are adhered to. They perform various administrative tasks to vet candidates prior to bringing them onboard.

HR is often the first point of contact and the last interaction associates have with their place of employment.

If an employee puts in their two weeks notice, but you terminate them prior to their completion of this, it still counts as being fired in most cases and that employee is eligible for unemployment, potentially increasing your insurance. This is typically referred to as a "walk".

If an employee puts in their two weeks notice, but you terminate them prior to their completion of this, it still counts as being fired in most cases and that employee is eligible for unemployment, potentially increasing your insurance. This is typically referred to as a walk.

Termination

Early on as a young manager, my General Manager told me not to cut off my nose to spite my face. As a young 20 something, I thought about this a great deal. It's evident that we may make every effort to move toward a desired outcome while only working backwards or creating more work for ourselves in the long run.

This couldn't be more true with staffing. Terminations are a necessary part of every working environment, but they can have unforeseen ripple effects. Take a measured approach and ensure you are in compliance with all state and federal regulations.

Consider Beth our highest performer elevated to a role she couldn't handle. I could have escalated the situation and caused greater confrontation and gone out of my way to belittle her for not having the soft skills necessary to manage associates properly. This would have led to feelings of contempt and potentially one of us would have left. But instead I met her where she was and worked to find a way for her to add value - and boy did she.

Conclusion

Other people may tell you that you should have a slow to hire - quick to fire mentality. But unless you have a line of applicants to take that vacant position, you may regret it.

My old GM used to tell me, "labor fixes a lot of issues." And he is right. With the right staffing levels, many of your concerns disappear. This is evident when you have a staff member call in sick or not show up.

Some companies constantly keep advertising that they are hiring. We were always accepting new applications due to turn over and quality of work that often comes with some of these hospitality positions.

But it's also a timing thing. If you think about it, getting the right people in the right seats ultimately comes down to timing. Is the perfect candidate looking for a job at the exact time that I'm seeking to hire?

I used to explain this to all people that would come through the door. Even if I wasn't hiring, I would interview them and do what I could to keep in touch. On one occasion we had a young man with a great deal of experience and we wanted him to fill a very unique role at our property that we weren't able to fill until we moved some staff around over the next few months.

I would check in about once a month to let him know the progress and see how the other new job he had found was going. After nearly 6 months we were able to get him his dream job and create our dream role.

When an employer and an employee come together like this, it has a tremendous impact on the business. It's synergy.

Resources

Dice | Statistics
Fastcompany.com | Slow to Hire Quick to Fire is Bad Advice
Harvard Business Review | Hire Slow Fire Fast
Employee-performance.com | Walking an Employee Legally and Fairly

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