Rothwell W.J. - Beyond Training and Development[c] The Groundbreaking Classic on Human Performance Enhancement (2004)(2-e)(en)

264 SELECTING AND IMPLEMENTING HPE STRATEGIES: INTERVENING FOR CHANGE

conduct training on selection methods. Diversity programs can build awareness of the need to respect differences and make selection decisions accordingly.

Applying Progressive Discipline

Discipline refers to worker compliance with existing policies, procedures, work rules, and other requirements. While recruitment and selection ideally ensure that individuals are initially assigned to jobs or work assignments for which they are well suited, progressive discipline holds people accountable for doing what they are supposed to be doing and achieving the results they are supposed to be achieving.

What is progressive discipline? When is progressive discipline an appropriate focus for HPE strategy? How can progressive disciplinary methods be improved? What problems can hamper the application of progressive discipline as an HPE strategy?

What Is Progressive Discipline?

Progressive discipline is the process of holding individuals accountable, within the constraints of the work environment, for the results they are to achieve. It is progressive because individuals are subjected to increasingly severe actions over time if their behavior or work results do not improve.

Discipline may be positive or negative. Positive discipline is the basis for individual accountability. It provides people with the information, resources, and other support mechanisms they need to perform and includes informing them of work rules and company policies. Positive discipline establishes the framework for accountability by enabling people to achieve optimum performance and to avoid behaviors, problems, situations, or performance that will lead to negative discipline. Negative discipline imposes penalties on individuals who deliberately depart from work rules, company policies, codes of conduct, or desired work results. In a progressive disciplinary system, the penalties become more severe over time if the behavior or performance does not improve.

The respondents to my 2004 survey cited progressive discipline as one of the least often encountered and least significant HPE strategies.7 That is not surprising. Discipline is a word loaded with negative connotations—and that is why many people prefer the term corrective action. Most people associate discipline with punishment or with other distasteful personnel actions, such as terminations. Managers dislike negative discipline because it forces them to confront

people and face unpleasant situations. However, all discipline does not have to be negative.8

When Is Progressive Discipline an Appropriate Focus for HPE Strategy?

Positive discipline can be used with all employees to establish a framework for accountability. Inform people what work rules exist, what will happen if the rules are violated, and why they are important. Also inform them about what desired job performance standards exist, what will happen if the standards are not met, how they were established, and why they are important. Often a good employee orientation program can become a basis for establishing individual accountability by informing individuals of work rules and worker responsibilities.

Use negative discipline only when all of the following conditions are met:

Work rules are deliberately violated without extenuating circumstances.

Employees fail to achieve minimum job performance standards in a reasonable time, even though they are trained on what to do and how to do it.

Sufficient evidence exists to identify the perpetrator.

The perpetrator is or was aware of the work rule(s).

The perpetrator is or was aware of the consequences of violating the work rule(s).

Examples of appropriate occasions for imposing negative discipline include excessive absenteeism, tardiness, insubordination, theft, horseplay, and sabotage. Negative discipline may also be applied to employees who, although given adequate training and resources, choose not to achieve reasonable work results.

The important point to remember is that it is fair to hold individuals accountable for their own actions, but it is unfair to hold them accountable for matters beyond their control. Negative discipline should therefore be avoided when management has failed to:

Establish work rules.

Communicate work rules.

Explain the reasons underlying work rules.

266SELECTING AND IMPLEMENTING HPE STRATEGIES: INTERVENING FOR CHANGE

Establish job performance standards or work expectations.

Communicate the job performance standards or work expectations.

Consistently apply work rules or job performance standards.

Managers, like employees, should be held accountable for their action—or inaction. If managers themselves violate work rules, they should receive the same disciplinary treatment to which other workers are subject. After all, management must model compliance with work rules and job performance standards if they are to maintain the credibility essential to leadership.

How Can Progressive Disciplinary Methods Be Improved?

Often it is wise to form a project team consisting of relevant stakeholders to establish disciplinary procedures. A project team charged with reviewing disciplinary practices may consist of representatives from line (operating) management, the human resources function, and the legal function. If the organization is team-based and if teams carry out member discipline, then team representatives should be included. If the organization is unionized, then an HPE strategy must be pursued within the framework of existing collective bargaining agreements.

To improve progressive disciplinary processes, a project team can audit current policy and practice, beginning by directing attention to questions such as these:

Does a progressive disciplinary policy exist, and is it clearly understood?

Has the disciplinary policy been communicated to managers, supervisors, and employees?

Do procedures exist that are associated with the policy?

Are the procedures well understood?

Are employees routinely informed of work rules or job performance standards early in their employment with the organization or early in their assignments?

Are employees informed about the consequences of violating work rules or failing to achieve job performance standards?

Is it clear who should hold employees accountable?

Have those to whom employees are accountable been trained to apply disciplinary policy consistently and follow procedures?

Find out about the most common disciplinary problems by interviewing team members, supervisors, managers, and others who deal with large groups of employees on a daily basis. Pose questions such as these:

What are the most common employee behavior problems you encounter?

What are the most difficult employee behavior problems you encounter?

How are you handling those problems?

What recommendations would you make to solve the problems?

Then examine personnel records to find out why employees are being documented and how those problems are resolved.

Last, review existing progressive disciplinary policies and procedures. How should the disciplinary process work? Answer that question, in part, by flowcharting existing disciplinary procedures.

This page intentionally left blank

P A R T F I V E

E V A L U A T I N G R E S U L T S

This page intentionally left blank

What Is Evaluation?

Evaluation is the process of placing value.2 A value, in turn, is a ‘‘belief about what is good or bad, important or unimportant.’’3 Indeed, ‘‘values beget attitudes, which specify behavior. The values of those who hold power fundamentally shape the character of an organization.’’4

Evaluating HPE strategy is the process of placing value on results. It can occur before, during, or after HPE strategy implementation. Timing is thus an issue in evaluation. Forecasting is the process of predicting the results of an HPE strategy; it precedes implementation.5 Formative evaluation occurs at the end of a small-scale (pilot) tryout of the HPE strategy.6 Concurrent evaluation occurs during implementation of the HPE strategy, and summative evaluation occurs after the implementation.7

Evaluation is carried out for four reasons:

1.It yields information about what changes resulted from HPE strategy.

2.It provides information about how much change resulted from HPE strategy.

3.It suggests what value can be placed on the change that occurred.

4.It suggests how much value can be assigned to those changes.8

How Do HPE Strategy Evaluation Methods

Resemble Training Evaluation Methods?

In the most general sense, HPE evaluation resembles training evaluation. After all, training is an HPE strategy. It may therefore be useful to frame this discussion by reviewing training evaluation methods.

Levels of Training Evaluation

Donald Kirkpatrick is generally credited with developing a key conceptual model to govern training evaluation.9 His model, which has been widely adopted since 1960, remains a convenient and easily understandable way to think about evaluation in general. Kirkpatrick’s model describes four levels of evaluation: participant reaction, participant learning, participant on-the-job behavior, and organizational results.

Participant reaction is the lowest level on Kirkpatrick’s hierarchy. It addresses this key question: How much did participants like the training experience?

Approaches to measuring participant reactions include end-of-course attitude questionnaires and questionnaires sent to participants following the training experience (an example of an open-ended questionnaire is shown in Exhibit 14-1). Training and development professionals can also measure participant reactions by conducting follow-up surveys of participants by telephone, electronic mail, or focus group.

Evaluating training by measuring participant reactions is easy, fast, and inexpensive. Unfortunately, the results do not necessarily satisfy top managers or others who assess the bottom-line impact of training or calculate the return on training investments because the results focus on participant likes and dislikes rather than on the training’s job-related or organizationally related impact. Participants may ‘‘like’’ useless but entertaining training and ‘‘dislike’’ boring but useful training.

Participant learning occupies the second level on Kirkpatrick’s hierarchy. It addresses this key question: How much did participants learn from the training experience? Attempts to measure participant learning have traditionally been less common than attempts to measure participant reactions. Approaches to measuring learning include paper-and-pencil tests and on-the-job performance demonstrations. Training and development professionals can also measure participant learning by administering oral questions to participants after the training is delivered.

Measuring participant learning establishes accountability for the training and development professionals who designed and delivered the training. However, many adults do not enjoy test taking. They may experience test anxiety or wonder what employment decisions may be made on the basis of the test results. Test anxiety is particularly acute among employees of organizations that have recently undergone downsizing, where employees fear that tests may factor into decisions about who will be laid off. Nor are tests more useful than participant reactions in satisfying the desire of top managers to calculate the financial return on training investments; the results focus on participant learning, but, unfortunately, participants may ‘‘learn’’ from useless training.

Participant on-the-job behavior occupies the third level on Kirkpatrick’s hierarchy. It addresses this key question: How much did participants change their behavior on the job because of a training experience? Attempts to measure participant on-the-job behavior change have traditionally been even less frequent than attempts to measure participant learning. Approaches to measuring on-the-job behavioral change include follow-up questionnaires sent to participants, their organizational subordinates, their organizational superiors, and cus-