Administration of discipline is a process of making employees disciplined at work, The general guidelines developed by behavioral scientists for administering discipline are as follows:
1. Discipline Should Be Corrective
This is the very first guideline of administering employee discipline. This holds the philosophy that disciplinary action should be a corrective one rather than punitive. This means to say, the disciplinary action should not deal out the way of punishment, instead it should correct an employee's undesirable behavior. The objectives of disciplinary action should be mentioned in the policies and procedures of disciplining manual.
2. Discipline Should Be Progressive
Although the type of disciplinary action depends upon the frequency and nature of problem, it should be a progressive one. This means, any disciplinary action should follow a procedure of progressive approach that proceeds from an oral warning to written warning to suspension to dismissal. More specifically, when problem is not much serious, an employee should not be dismissed after a first offense. But in case of a severe problem the employee will be dismissed even after a first offence too.
3. Discipline Should Follow The "Hot Stove" Rule
The rule of 'hot stove' holds the philosophy that any disciplinary action should be quick reactive, immediate thereby leaving no question of cause and effect. When we touch a burning stove we get an immediate response. We have ample warning that we should not touch burning stove. Hence, the comparison between touching a hot stove is similar to administering discipline. This means that the disciplinary action should be as like a red-hot-stove.
4. Employee Explanation
This states that the employees should be given a ample opportunity to clarify the matter before initiating any disciplinary action. This means, the employees should be provided with a chance to explain their position so that the real cause of such problems can be found out. Sometimes errors may occur due to misunderstanding and in influence of others. In such situation, a severe disciplinary action will not be an ethical.