- An employee is constantly late to work: refer to your attendance policy В which mandates that employees can only be tardy twice before disciplinary action is taken.
- Dress code violations: include that company policy says employees must always be in their expected uniform while on the clock.
- An employee continues to use social media during work hours: cite your cell phone usage rule and that employees shouldn’t be using social media or personal devices while on the clock.
When it comes to progressive discipline, a write-up is a to explain why the documented behavior isn’t up to standard and how employees are expected to improve. If your employees signed an employee handbook or attendance policy when they were hired, now’s a good time to include that as well.
4. Include any relevant witness statements
If the performance issue at stake was raised by another team member, involves multiple employees, or your employee works closely with another supervisor or shift manager between you, include their statement in your write-up. Keep in mind any of these statements may be relevant later in the case of a legal claim. So it’s important for witness statements to follow the same guidelines as good documentation:
- All witness statements should be factual observations, not subjective opinions.
- Witness statements should help build a credible case of ongoing behavior leading to the employee write-up.
- Witness statements should include any efforts or disciplinary measures by other supervisors to correct behavior along the way.
5. Set expectations for improvement
After you’ve detailed where your employee’s performance needs to improve and why, it’s time to set guidelines for how you expect them to correct it. It’s not helpful to simply lay out what employees have done wrong. In fact, the Harvard Business Review В reports that more employees would rather receive corrective feedback from their boss than praise and that 72% of employees believe their performance would improve if they received corrective feedback. Continue reading “6. Deliver the news in person (and proof of receipt)В”