Episode 40 Employee Discipline: Reprimand, Correct, and Praise.

How do you discipline your employees effectively?  

Sometimes disciplining employees can feel awkward, making us go too far, or not correcting behavior at all out of fear. Having an intentional plan of how to disciple employees, can help make sure that discipline is done well.  

Know the Difference Between a Correction and a Reprimand.  

One of the most important aspects of disciplining well, is knowing the difference between a correction and a reprimand. A correction can be done on the fly. These are simple adjustments of behavior or procedure that you notice, which you can then correct by asking the individual to modify their behavior.  

A correction can be as simple as saying, “Hey, I noticed you phrased it that way on the phone. That was great, but next time I’d like you to adjust it by doing it this way”.  

A reprimand is heavier, and it’s more serious in nature. It often involves addressing deeper issues that have led to a series of inappropriate actions that have yielded negative results.  

You might reprimand one of your employees after they’ve done something that cost the company money and explain that to them and ask them why they chose to act that way.  

Or a series of actions A, B, and C resulted in X, Y, Z which really hurts the company and the rest of the team… so you would ask your employee what’s going on.  

Not only are corrections and reprimands different, but they are best utilized at different times. As we learned, corrections can be made on the spot and are totally appropriate to perform in front of other people.  

Affirmations— positive and negative, can be really great corrections that you can perform on the spot. People want feedback, and frequent corrections can be the guidance your team needs. These corrections can happen publicly and should be said with a different voice or tone than a reprimand.  

Reprimands must be done in private. They require a one-on-one or one-on-two interaction, depending on the situation. Such a discussion needs to happen away from the rest of the team, because if done publicly, reprimands can create shame.  

Shame will halt the production of a person entirely. If you allow that shame to spread to your team publicly, or infect your company culture, it can be extremely dangerous. Never reprimand in a public setting.  

This Week’s Take Away 

This week I want you to imagine the physical and mental space of where your next reprimand is going to happen. Is there a conference room, meeting room, or your office that would be a good location? Choose the location ahead of time, so when you need to reprimand you can confidently act with intent and move the discussion to a private place without hesitation.  

Again, protecting your employee (and your culture at large) from shame is paramount.  

For a mental space, you need to make sure you’re ready to reprimand. Communicate with clarity, control your emotions, and say what you need to say with intentionality. This will make sure your employee successfully absorbs what you have to say.  

You can mentally prepare in many ways, as long as it puts you in a place where your emotions aren’t affecting your actions. It could mean writing down your thoughts of what you’re going to say in word format, or it could mean that you pray or listen to music. The bottom line is to make sure that your tone and your reprimand have purpose.  

Having a plan for discipline means you can move your company culture in the direction you want it to be.