Published April 2001

Peer discipline can resolve problems and build trust

Q. Our company has experienced an increase in employee dismissals due to disciplinary infractions, along with lawsuits challenging some of these actions. This comes at a time when the company has started to instill a broad set of values focusing on employee trust, empowerment, fairness, respect and commitment. How can we integrate these values with an effective disciplinary system?

A. Applying the most progressive mission or value statements into what is usually perceived as an unpleasant part of running a business can appear daunting.

Your question implies you are on the right track. A business may set values and talk values, but those that consistently rank the highest as the best places to work consistently apply those values in every category of doing business, including employee discipline.

The key is adopting an attitude shift, thinking of discipline as a positive, not a negative, part of your business operation. The traditional punitive-oriented “open door” or “one-over-one” disciplinary processes place management in absolute control, an anathema to your company’s stated values.

Commonly, managers have regarded discipline as a contentious and negative part of their job because it places them in the uncomfortable role of being both prosecutor and judge. If a union is involved, it usually takes the role of defense attorney. Although mediation or arbitration can add an element of fairness (one of your company’s values), this means usually bringing in outsiders who may not fully appreciate or understand your company’s values.

To achieve a disciplinary process in line with the company’s values means shifting away from thinking of discipline in terms of punishing miscreant children. Instead, think of it as ensuring that as adults, employees are expected to live up to their responsibilities and the company’s values for the good of the organization, their co-workers and themselves.

One proven method of achieving this value-oriented approach is through a peer discipline model. This system usually relies on a disciplinary panel of two managers and three non-exempt employees that is called upon to adjudicate workplace disputes and cases of alleged employee misconduct.

Peer discipline is not a new concept. It has a proven track record at such companies as General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, Motorola and Marriott International. A form of peer discipline has been a part of the U.S. military since its inception.

Peer-review panel members, drawn from all levels of employees, are trained in listening skills, due-process procedures and investigation processes. The peer-review panel is referred to in cases already reviewed by senior managers but which remain unresolved at that level. A panel’s decision can be final or a recommendation to a senior manager.

A study of peer discipline by the consulting firm of Caras & Associates of Columbia, N.J., shows that the system results in an overall 49 percent reduction in referrals of disciplinary cases to outside agencies, such as arbitration or the courts. Peer panels do not show an employee bias — siding with employees in only 18 percent of the cases.

Most importantly, peer discipline helps build trust, respect and cooperation between employees and managers, which seem to match the values your company has embraced.

Eric L. Zoeckler operates a marketing communications firm, The Scribe, and writes "Taming the Workplace," which appears Mondays in The Herald. Contact him at 206-284-9566 or by sending e-mail to mrscribe@aol.com.

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