Discipline is not punishment. In a very basic sense, discipline should be perceived
as direction given to an employee (disciple); it is not and should not be viewed as
punishment to force change. Discipline, as direction, is the fundamental cornerstone
of an organization, and leaders must provide organizational guidance, uphold their own
self-discipline and ensure that employees are demonstrating discipline in their actions.
If any of these are not accomplished, an organization will become unmanageable,
rules will be broken and employees will make up their own guidelines and provide
their own direction.
This process identifies the correct behavior and ensures that the employee knows
what is expected. Often supervisors must explain certain “expectations” to employees
in a formal meeting, but these expectations also exist in policies, memos and
memorandums (for example, a union MOU, or memorandum of understanding). The
supervisor must not just explain and identify good behavior, they must also model this
behavior and teach the employee what is expected. Never should a supervisor assume
that the employee knows how to act; a smart supervisor will share expectations early
and often with the employee.
Employees like being recognized for demonstrating exceptional behavior. (On the
other hand, making too big of a deal about it or recognizing too often for normal dayto-day behavior is a turn-off for employees). A supervisor recognizing an employee’s
accomplishments can go a long way toward reinforcing the good behavior. A supervisor
should share his or her employees’ major accomplishments with his or her own
supervisors as well. Sharing this recognition “up-the-chain” to the organizational
leadership and having those leaders recognize the employee can have lasting effects
on not only the employee but the organization itself.
At some point during a career, nearly every employee will get off track and deviate from
expected norms. Some will need minor corrections in the form of a quick conversation,
and others will need major intervention. Whether the deviation is minor or severe,
the supervisor’s role is to coach and mentor the employee to obtain lasting change.
But many supervisors focus on the problem behavior itself—as opposed to
concentrating on the employee. They immediately look to some form of punishment to
fix employee’s problem. Yes, there are (and must be) consequences for our actions
when they are incorrect, but
By Dan Munsey
Discipline
is a wanted
trait. Think about this
situation: fire ground discipline
leads to effective and safe incident
mitigation outcomes. Every captain wants it,
and self-discipline leads to forming good habits. In fact
whether the subject is diet, exercise or learning new concepts in
our trade, every employee wants discipline.
Ensuring that discipline is perceived positively starts with the leader. To do this, the
leader must possess one simp