PRINCIPLES OF A SOUND DISCIPLINARY SYSTEM
Discipline is an essential prerequisite to achieving pre-determined objectives of an industrial undertaking. If the employees of an undertaking are well-behaved and disciplined, the objectives of the undertaking may be easily achieved. Therefore, it is essential for the success of an enterprise that the employees of the enterprise must be well disciplined. To develop the feeling of discipline among employees, it is essential that there must be a sound disciplinary system. The following are the principles that should be followed in an enterprise to maintain discipline:
1. There should be a well-defined code of discipline in the enterprise. Rules, regulations, systems and procedures of the enterprise should be clearly defined and communicated to all the employees.
2. Duties, rights and responsibilities of all the employees should be specifically determined. Standards should be determined for all the employees so that they may fix a target that they have to accomplish.
3. There should be clear provisions of reward and punishment for the employees. These provisions should be made clear to all employees.
4. The treatment of all employees must be equal. Any worker who violates rules should be punished without partiality.
5. The power to take disciplinary action should be vested with the immediate officer because only he can have subordinates. complete knowledge of the mistakes of his subordinates.
6. Decision on a disciplinary action should not be delayed so that it may have an impact on other employees. The delayed decision reduces the importance of disciplinary action.
7. The object of disciplinary action should be constructive. The aim of such action should be to remove the feeling of indiscipline among the employees and not to harass them unnecessarily.
8. The employees against whom disciplinary action is taken, should be encouraged in the manner that the cause of indiscipline may not be repeated.
9. Disciplinary action should be based upon the enquiry and investigation of all the relevant facts. Therefore, it iS necessary that all the relevant facts should be collected and deeply analysed before taking any disciplinary action.
10. The proceedings of disciplinary action should remain confidential. It should not be disclosed to the concerned employees before arriving at a final decision.
11. The employees against whom disciplinary action is to be taken should be given full opportunity to explain the reasons for the mistake. They should also get an opportunity to appeal against the decision before a higher authority.
12. If disciplinary action is being taken against an officer or a supervisor, it should not be known to the subordinate staff. If it is so, they will not pay due regard to their officer.
13. The behaviour of the officer with the employees against whom disciplinary action was taken should be normal. The success of disciplinary action depends upon the success of the fact that negative discipline may be converted into positive discipline.
14. Self-imposed discipline is the best form of discipline. Therefore, the managers should stress upon the development of feeling of self-imposed discipline among the workers.
RELATED TOPIC
Characteristics of Human Resource Management
Objective of Human Resource Management
Scope of Human Resource Management
