Description
Equip your supervisors with the legal, procedural, and communication skills needed to use progressive discipline as a strategic tool for employee retention and performance correction. This course is designed by The Academy for Professional Development to ensure your supervisors can conduct disciplinary actions that are fair, timely, and legally defensible.
The true purpose of this discipline is not to punish, but to salvage the employee and get them back on track. By implementing a thoughtful, fair, and consistent system, your organization will also boost employee morale, increase team security, and improve retention of good employees.
Course Objectives: Master the Progressive Discipline Process
This training ensures supervisors provide employees with every opportunity to succeed before and during the discipline process.
1. Set the Foundation for Success & Investigation
- Establish Clear Expectations: Understand the ongoing, year-long process of communication that sets performance standards through job descriptions, training, mentoring, and goal-setting.
- Investigate Substandard Performance: Learn the practical steps for a thorough investigation, including gathering evidence, maintaining objectivity, and giving the employee a full opportunity to present their side of the story.
- Avoid Common Mistakes: Identify and prevent crucial errors like failing to follow agency procedure, losing objectivity, or violating confidentiality during the investigation.
- Assess Severity Fairly: Review the elements involved in fairly determining the appropriate disciplinary response, considering factors like the severity of the offense, the employee’s work history, length of service, and the organization’s past practices in similar cases.
- Apply Progressive Steps: Understand the usual sequence of corrective action: Verbal Warning (counseling), Written Reprimand, Suspension, and Termination.
- Lead with Clarity and Composure: Discuss and practice how to best conduct a disciplinary meeting by avoiding mixed messages, maintaining a serious tone, and keeping the focus on facts, not emotions.
- The Three-Part Message: Clearly state the precise problem, the corrective steps the employee must take, and the consequences if the problem is not solved.
- Manage Resistance: Learn techniques like the “broken record” to calmly restate your expectations and avoid getting dragged into arguments or “rabbit holes”.
4. Follow-Up and Documentation
- Documentation is Protection: Learn why proper, timely documentation is crucial for making expectations clear and protecting the agency against potential lawsuits or wrongful termination claims.
- Write Defensible Records: Understand the required components of a proper Written Reprimand, ensuring it is accurate, objective, and includes a clear statement of the problem, policy citation, required actions, and consequences.
- Ensure Consistency: Learn the basic questions to ask before discipline (Fairness, Consistency, Uniformity, Honesty) to reduce agency liability and ensure the action is defensible in court.
What’s Included:
This training curriculum provides comprehensive materials designed for engaging adult learning, including:
- Visually impactful PowerPoint presentations: Featuring modern design, relevant imagery, and clear layouts to enhance comprehension and retention.
- Detailed instructor notes: Embedded within the PowerPoint slides, offering guidance on key concepts, discussion points, and activities.
- Comprehensive instructor manual: Includes a detailed training agenda, facilitator guidelines, tips for classroom management, and assessment tools.
- Interactive student manual: Provides space for note-taking, reflection activities, and application exercises.
- Engaging class discussion questions and activities: Designed to encourage participation, critical thinking, and real-world application.
Benefits of “Take and Teach”
- Cost-effective: Reduces the cost of external training by providing reusable materials.
- Flexibility: Train supervisors at your own pace and schedule.
- Customization: Adapt the materials to fit your agency’s specific needs and context.
- Consistency: Ensure all supervisors receive standardized training on essential topics.
