Subverting Expectations In Career Management: Recruiters On Hiring Employees For White Collar Jobs.

October 10, 2023

All Posts, Job Applications and Interviews, Job Interview Tips and Tricks

SUMMARY / KEY TAKEAWAYS

Job offers always give you the feeling that you do not fit the requirements. That you are not good enough.
In this article, we introduce the point of view of a few experienced professionals. Some of them are professional recruiters while others had a period of time in the past when they were recruiting.
As it turns out, modern recruiters hiring for innovative companies do not necessarily seek those who reflect the job offer in 10% but rather, those who subvert expectations, think out-of-the-box and present extra qualities.

Table of Contents

How To Do Career Management When Facing These Endless Lists of Job Requirements for White Collar Jobs?

If you have ever looked for white-collar jobs online, you must have noticed that the lists of requirements and expectations often far exceed the amount of attention spent on describing the position and the associated benefits.

And you probably recall this situation very well: there is an exciting new opening in a company that has always been high in your private ranking of dream employers. The scope of duties sounds exciting, and the geographical location is just perfect.

You have a strong working ethic, and the qualities of a good employee and you feel confident that you can handle the job. There is only one problem: the list of job requirements is long, detailed, and exceeds what can be found in your resume.

Do I Still Stand a Chance?

So, you start to wonder, “Can anyone even meet all these expectations at all? The list is so long!” Yet, you think to yourself, “They probably get hundreds of job applications…

At least a few of these people will likely hit all the marks. It’s not a good career management move from my side if I apply for a position where I have no chance from the get-go!” And, in the end, you sigh in disappointment and scroll down to read yet another job opening.

But wait! Have you ever wondered how recruiters treat applicants who don’t fit all the criteria yet still, decide to apply? Perhaps, they occasionally take a punt. And, they give a chance to a person who doesn’t hit all the marks listed in the official job offer?

In this article, professional recruiters hiring for white-collar jobs speak about their approach to hiring in such situations. Would they give you a chance once they notice your strong working ethic or qualities of a good employee? And if so, under which conditions?

Getting familiar with their opinions might change a lot in the way you perceive the role of a recruiter. It might also improve your chances to land a job that seems to be “out of your league”! And, let you improve on your career management practices.

Piotr Migdał, PhD:

“Job Offers For White Collar Jobs Are Often Imprecise! So, Be Bold In Your Career Management and Don’t Be Scared to Apply!”

As a foreword: in my job openings, I am careful to distinguish actual requirements from the personal competencies and skills that are just “nice to have.” And, I am always careful to make the list of obligatory requirements as short as possible. It is a conscious decision. I aim to make it straightforward for the applicants and reduce the guessing game. As a good example, you can view an application I drafted, which praised my environment. Most importantly, this job offer resulted in many relevant applicants coming to us. And in the end, it led to a wonderful hire! At the same time, most openings don’t go that way. Recruiters tend to write a long list of requirements, without a second thought on which of these requirements are essential, and which are not. Most likely, the final hire won’t fulfill all the criteria anyway! For worse, many potential candidates will cross themselves out preemptively and step back from applying as they don’t hit all the marks on the list. Furthermore, the confidence gender gap is a thing. It means that it is likely that unnecessary criteria make much fewer women apply.

Job Offers Offer Contain Spurious Requirements!

Even worse—it is likely that list covers requirements related to technologies that are not necessary for the job at all! Such job offers are either written by someone who is not familiar with the position or consciously written in this way to reduce the number of applicants. Therefore, if you hunt for a job and the job description is roughly aligned with your skillset—apply! It is up to them to decide if you fulfill enough requirements to invite you to an interview. Also, remember that some skills can be developed in the meantime, or are not as necessary at all.

What is stated in the job offer might also be more specific than necessary. For example, say, you read in the offer that they are looking for a candidate with a “PhD in Computer Science.” In this case, they mainly look for a PhD. However, they will likely be fine with other smart and research-oriented people without a PhD too. And even if they indeed look for a PhD, it’s rarely the case that they look only for PhDs in Computer Science rather, what they mean is PhDs in STEM sciences who have technical skills related to their company projects (so, for instance, Mathematics, Electrical Engineering, or Physics may also work, perhaps as long as the subjects are close enough).

Patrick Britz, PhD:

“Show The Strong Working Ethic by Explaining Which Requirements You Don’t Fulfill And How You Are Planning to Fix This.”

Did I ever accept a candidate who didn’t fully fit the job description for the position yet presented a strong working ethic? The short answer is, “Yes!” The longer answer would be that I have learned to write better job ads in the process. The candidate needs to fit the basic set of requirements. Having said that, the additional, nice-to-have requirements should be clearly stated as such. However, it also happened in my practice that we have modified a position or created a new position for a candidate without a matching profile—just because we were so impressed with that person and their strong working ethic! The main factors that drive such recruitment decisions are an anticipated high team fit, a valuable skill set, and a proven high commitment to the mission of the company and the team. From my experience, those situations happen rarely… But they’ve has always been a great success!

So, What To Do If You Have Strong Working Ethic Yet You Don’t Fit In 100%?

What would I recommend to job hunters who are thinking of applying for a position, yet they feel that they don’t fit the job description in 100%?

Well, unfortunately, job ads vary greatly in how precise they are written. If the ad appears to aim high, then applying without checking all the boxes is certainly a good idea.

A good point here is to be proactive in the cover letter or email. Explain which requirements you meet or exceed, and which requirements you do not meet (while also explaining how of course, you are willing to meet them quickly).

Mariam Kostandyan, PhD:

“In Your Career Management, Try To Match The Employer’s Mindset And Not Necessarily the Required Skills. Employers Expect the Strong Working Ethic!”

Job descriptions often contain a long list of “expected skills.” However, most of the time, it is not even possible to fully fit in all these requirements. Truthfully, employers know that too. Depending on the company and the actual job content, the job description is an ideal image of a future candidate rather than the realistic expectation. As an executive search consultant, I interviewed candidates who did not fully fit into the suggested requirements on multiple occasions. It’s either that they didn’t have the right degree, the right number of years of experience, et cetera. Of course, it is important to understand that there should be at least some fit with the requirements for the given position. But nowadays, progressive work environments tend to hire people not for their hard skills but rather, for their soft skills (except for the highly technical jobs). They also tend to hire not for the existing experience but rather, for the potential to learn new skills.

Choose For What Interests You The Most!

During my career in the management consulting firm, we hired several candidates who were “out of profile.” Yet, they were all successful in their positions! My advice for you would be to apply for the jobs that interest you the most. For those which you believe you can do content-wise and, most importantly, that you can prove that you could do—for examples, by providing examples from similar roles before, education-related experience, how your skills could contribute to that role, etc. In summary, if you trust your strong working ethic, yet, you notice that a skill mentioned in the job description is missing in your résumé, don’t be afraid to still send your application. My experience as a recruiter and a job hunter tells me that a full fit with the job requirements is not always needed.

Maura Declercq – Mîndrilà:

“In Your Career Management, Focus On Growing—Applying for Ambitious Jobs That Don’t Fully Fit Your Resume Is Often the Best Idea!”

Does it happen that candidates get the job even if they don’t fulfill all the requirements on the list? Actually, in my experience, it happens all the time! We rarely place candidates who are a 100% fit compared to the job description. And I think this is a great thing! There is no such thing as the perfect candidate. If somebody else has told you that, then I’m agreeing to disagree with them… Why is it great to hire candidates who don’t match in 100%? Well, think about it! It’s quite logical. If I would find the perfect candidate for a company, it means that this candidate is already very experienced in doing what they are already doing. So first of all, there is no perspective for this candidate. Why would he or she change if they can not improve themselves. If they have to do the same job that they’ve been doing for all these years at the previous employer? There is no learning curve then, or, there is a very small learning curve. Maybe they will learn something at the beginning just because it’s a new company… But in the end, the tasks that you have to perform will be the same and repetitive. There will also be no sparing with the teammates, and no aligning with the team—because this person knows what to do, is already self-driven, doesn’t even need sparing anymore. So, where is the motivation for that poor person to grow and work on professional development? For me, that’s a recipe for boredom and, consequently, for a disaster. I think such a hiring would make quickly somebody very disappointed and unhappy!

A Piece of Advice For Hiring Companies.

I also have some general advice for companies looking to hire talent. As in everything in life, I believe in the Pareto 80-20 rule. So, as an employer, look for the essential traits that you need in a candidate, and be flexible for the rest. In the end, there is a gap that needs to be bridged between the employer and the candidates. So, my recommendation would be: as a company, hire for mindset and not for skills because skills you can train. If the person has the right mindset—and it is relevant especially nowadays, with the distributed and asynchronous working—and who has high integrity, high intelligence, high energy, who’s driven by high motivation at work, and who really wants to contribute to the company. Also, as a company, please be flexible and open to surprises. If you have a very predictable candidate, how will this person elevate your team? How will they be able to surprise you? Some employers expect initiative from candidates. But at the same time, the candidates need to be very predictable and to behave according to a certain pattern. For me, these are contradictory expectations! And if you are hiring a manager, please don’t hire a copy of yourself as it will not make any added value for your team. Just be open to people with strong working ethic with qualities of a good employee!

The Summary: White Collar Jobs Are For Passionates With Strong Working Ethic Not For Machines.

What is the general picture that comes out of these interviews? It might be wrapped up in four points:

1. Hiring Someone Who Doesn’t Fit The Description Happens Quite Often!

Recruiters univocally recall situations in which they recruited a person who didn’t comply with all the requirements listed in the job offer. Some of them even modified the job offer specifically for that person. OR, they even created a brand new position to hire a promising candidate. Some recruiters even prefer to hire a candidate who doesn’t fit in 100% with the official requirements for white collar jobs, so they may work on their professional development! They believe that it can bring a valuable, new point of view and creative spirit to the company. Also, remember that most job offers online are created using a semi-automated template, for instance via the LinkedIn job offer creator. In fact, what the recruiters seek might differ from what you can find in such a standardized job offer.

2. Take Risks In Your Career Management!

If you are excited about a particular position, you should apply. However, if you don’t fulfill some of the requirements, it is not a good idea to wipe the fact under the carpet and give up the opportunity. Do the opposite: be as transparent as you possibly can. Go through all the requirements listed in the job offer, and specify which of them you currently fulfill, and which of them you don’t-yet, you are planning to acquire the necessary skills and experience in the future. Explain how you are planning to work on this soon! To the recruiter, it will be a sign of a strong working ethic.

3. Today, Employers Are Looking For Loyal and Self-Motivated Employees With Strong Working Ethic.

Employers are looking for loyal and self-motivated employees with a strong working ethic for white collar jobs. Therefore, they focus on finding the best fit in terms of mindset rather than in terms of skills. They look for candidates with an ambition to grow, learn and work on their professional development. Therefore, in your career management, it is good to also look primarily looking for the placements that will give you the inspiration to improve and transcend yourself, and not necessarily for the job in which you will be able to use all the tricks and routines from your previous job. Remember that your professional development is crucial for your career path.

4. An Applicant Who Wants Exactly The Same Job As Before Is Suspicious To The Recruiter.

We often believe that the safest and easiest way of changing the employer is to apply for another job that requires the same competencies and is associated with the same scope of responsibilities as our current job.

It seems obvious that in that case, we will become the top candidate. However, from the perspective of the recruiter, this is a strategic mistake! Namely, when the recruiter realizes that you have applied for a position that is the almost exact copy of your previous job, then in their eyes, you clearly don’t have an ambition to grow. What is the reason for you to apply then? They can suspect three things. The first possible reason for your application might be that you had conflicts in your previous workplace, and you felt an urge to leave. The second possibility is that, you are a type of a traveler and a complainer who changes jobs like gloves without any deeper planning or philosophy behind it. Lastly, it might be the case that you biggest driver is money-you noticed a similar but better paid position, thus, you decided to apply. And it that case, anyone can buy you over at any moment. In all these scenarios, it’s better to skip such a candidate!

5. The Rule of Career Management #1: Turn Your Weaknesses Into Strengths!

Lastly, the rule of career management number 1: turn your weaknesses into strengths! If during the job interview, the recruiter asks about a particular skill or experience that they wish you had—yet, you don’t represent it at the moment—obviously, you should declare that you are willing to acquire this skill in the near future. But at the same time, mention that you have experience with other, synergistic methods and techniques—those that were not mentioned in the list of requirements—that you can bring to the table. And that in that way, you can increase the know-how in the company and help in building the Intellectual Property within the company in new ways. Pitch the fact that you have strong working ethic and that you are different. It’s a chance for them to get a good employee with extra competencies at the same price and not as an issue!

SOURCE:https://ontologyofvalue.com/subverting-expectations-in-career-management-recruiters-on-hiring-employees-for-white-collar-jobs/

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15 Truly impactful feedback methods for your team

July 7, 2024

Feedback is one of the most frustrating elements of being a leader. An effective leader incorporates feedback into their management style. This not only improves performance but enhances employee satisfaction . The research is clear: employees want feedback. When managers provide valuable feedback, they create a culture where everyone does their best. Plus, it shows staff that their contributions make a real difference, which is key to feeling appreciated. 96% of employees say that getting regular feedback is good, while 41% of people have left a job because they felt they weren’t listened to. Furthermore, 83% of employees say they appreciate getting feedback, whether positive or negative. That’s because generally, people want to do their best. Shaping a culture where everyone works hard and offers unique contributions will make your entire staff more productive, happier, and especially loyal. 10 Effective feedback techniques 1. Sandwich Feedback This is one of the most common and most impactful forms of feedback. Chances are, you’ve received input at some point in your own life using this method. In these instances, you would sandwich a negative piece of feedback between two positive terms. You start with some form of praise, then focus on areas for improvement, and end with more positive feedback. This is particularly effective for people who have some really strong areas, along with things that need to be improved. For example: “I want to commend you for the great work you did on the Smith project. Your attention to detail was outstanding there. The only thing that we might want to improve is the timeliness of your deliverables. It seems we missed a few deadlines along the way, so I just wanted to remind you of the importance of meeting those milestones on time. That being said, I’m confident you will improve in that area and overcome any obstacles you might be facing here, because you have a tremendous work ethic. We’ve always been able to count on your skills and dedication.” 2. DESC (Describe, Express, Specify, Consequences) With this method, the goal is to deliver feedback in the most balanced way. The focus is on providing feedback that is clear and concise, while being constructive. With this tactic, you break down feedback into distinct and understandable parts. That will make it easier for employees to grasp and then act upon. Start by describing the behavior, expressing your feelings about it, laying out clear expectations, and then sharing possible consequences. For instance, “I’ve noticed you tend to run late to our team meetings. That behavior makes me feel as though you don’t prioritize our time together and it disrupts the flow of our discussions. I’d like to see you arrive on time for our future scheduled meetings. Once we address this issue, we’ll have more productive and efficient meetings and be able to have them less often.” 3. EDGE (Explain, Describe, Give, End Positively) Ensure feedback flows smoothly with this method. This strategy can serve as a roadmap for your feedback discussions, making sure you have all of the important points covered. As the acronym states, start by explaining the area for improvement, including describing what you noticed. Then give specific feedback and be sure to end on a positive note. Here’s an example: “I wanted to chat about our recent sales pitch with the client, because having stellar presentations is really important to our future success. I noticed that during the pitch you spoke very quickly and didn’t seem eager to engage with the client in meaningful conversation. To enhance pitches going forward, I suggest slowing down your speech, asking open-ended questions, and then actively listening to the client’s needs. I know those small adjustments will make you an even better communicator and help us to close even more deals.” 4. 360-Degree Feedback In this comprehensive approach, you’ll gather input from multiple sources, including peers, direct reports, supervisors, and the individual themselves. You’re essentially collecting feedback from everyone around the person to get some different perspectives and views. This is particularly effective for people in middle management who have their own direct reports but also report to you (or someone else). It’s also really helpful for people who work in cross-functional teams, so that you can get a better feel for the way that they are perceived and the way that they interact with others in the company. Start by collecting feedback and gathering insights from the person’s colleagues, subordinates, boss, and then the person themselves. Once you have all of this information available, spend some time compiling what you found out and analyze it. Look for patterns in strengths as well as areas for improvement. Share the feedback privately and constructively, and make sure to devote time to the strengths you appreciate as well as areas for development. Then, collaborate and make a plan for improving moving forward, including setting clear goals and the actions you want to see. An important part of this process is following up periodically. Check in on progress and make sure to provide ongoing support. For more team-centric approaches, strategies to build team trust , and team building tips , make sure to follow our blog. 5. GROW (Goals, Reality, Options, Wrap-Up) Model This four-step process is a good way to help others work toward their goals. The four steps consist of goals, reality, options, and wrapping up. Start with a conversation on goals, then tie that into the current realities of the situation. This will help the person to reflect on recent experiences. Then move into a discussion on the various options open to them, and talk about ways to improve. Finally, summarize by highlighting the key takeaways and action steps. In this example, you can help a staff member who wants to improve their leadership skills. Here is how the conversation might go according to the four steps: “Can you share the specific leadership skills that you want to develop? Maybe share some particular outcomes you’re hoping to achieve? Let’s talk about some of the leadership qualities that I’ve noticed lately, such as when you lead the project meetings on Tuesdays. What’s working well, and what’s challenging in those scenarios?” This will lead to a deeper discussion, where you can encourage the employee to brainstorm ideas with you. “What are some of the approaches you could try? To make those come to fruition, which resources or support do you need?” Ideally the employee will open up about some various ideas as well as what support they need from you. Make sure to wrap up on a positive note that includes concrete action items, for example “Based on this discussion, it seems like the areas for immediate focus are active listening and delegation. Let’s create a plan to delegate certain parts of your project next week, and perhaps sign up for an active listening workshop within this quarter.” 6. Start-Stop-Continue A lot of valuable feedback involves sharing what someone might start doing, what they should stop doing, and what they can continue for peak performance. For instance, the next time you need to have a general feedback discussion, you could say something like: “Let’s start thinking about implementing regular status update emails to keep the team in the loop. It’ll improve our overall communication.” For Stop, you could add something like “On the other hand, you might want to stop micromanaging the team in these ways. It can be demotivating, so let’s focus on helping the team to handle their tasks more effectively.” And finally, to continue, “Lastly, please continue to facilitate our weekly team meetings. Your leadership there has been really effective in facilitating great discussions.” 7. SBI (Situation - Behavior - Impact) Model This process is all about painting a comprehensive picture when you’re giving feedback. It focuses on describing a specific situation, the observed behavior, and the impact of that behavior on the team or work. For example, if you’re talking to an employee about a recent interaction with a client. Here is how you can start the discussion: “Let’s talk about the client meeting we had yesterday. I noticed that you interrupted the client a few times while they were explaining their requirements. I can imagine this made them feel unheard and maybe even frustrated. That could impact our overall client relationship and the work we get moving forward.” After that, follow up with a discussion on how things can be improved and how you are prepared to help. Sometimes, people need additional resources to improve in the ways that you want to see. You should encourage them to share that with you, and talk about what you’ll do to offer support. 8. STAR (Situation - Task - Action - Result) Tactic This option not only sounds cool, but can be really effective. It’s all about making feedback specific and relevant to the actual situation. This can be a good way to share negative or positive feedback, but it can be especially useful when you have good news to share. If we want to use another example from an employee during a client pitch, you can start by describing the situation. “Remember that important client meeting last week where we needed to secure a new contract? You were tasked with presenting our products’ features and benefits in a really convincing way. You were well-prepared and did a great job addressing the client's concerns, and offered real solutions. And guess what? You nailed it and we secured a huge contract. Congrats!” This is a powerful way to share great information with your star employee (get it?). 9. BOOST (Balanced, Objective, Observable, Specific, Timely) model The best feedback is objective and balanced, and includes behavior that is actually observable and relevant. This helps to ensure that feedback is fair, unbiased, and actionable, and also provides an avenue for future conversations. For example, if you want to give some feedback to a software engineer about coding, you could say: “I wanted to offer some feedback on some strengths and improvement areas. As you know, our objective is to improve coding efficiency and quality. I noticed in your recent code review that you found and fixed critical bugs before they caused problems in production. You showed superior debugging skills and attention to detail.” Share this feedback directly after a project so that the information is timely and specific to something the employee will remember. 10. CAS (Criticize - Ask - Suggest) This feedback technique combines constructive criticism with open-ended questions and options for improvement. Though you start with criticism, you move into a discussion with questions and then end with actionable suggestions. Here’s an example you could share with a marketing leader: “I’ve got some concerns about the effectiveness of the most recent campaign. Can you help me to understand how you chose that specific audience? How about for our next round we take a more data-driven approach and refine some of the market research available to target an audience?” Retreats offer an opportunity for feedback Providing feedback to employees is a crucial part of developing them and improving performance over time. It’s not always easy to find time to have these discussions, but an annual review is a good place to start. Some people find quarterly reviews worthwhile, but really you can have these discussions as often as you (and your employee) would like. If your staff isn’t geographically close or partly remote, it can be harder to schedule these conversations. That’s where an offsite retreat comes into play. You can use that time to pull employees aside and have one on one conversations. A team-building retreat offers time to learn and train together, as well as time to socialize and provide valuable feedback. A company or team retreat provides quality time between managers and their reports and offers lots of chances for giving feedback using any of the methods we covered here. Source: https://www.surfoffice.com/blog/team-feedback-methods

Progressive Discipline: Steps for Creating Discipline in the Workplace

July 7, 2024

When it comes to managing employee behavior and performance issues, the progressive discipline process offers obvious benefits One of the most difficult challenges for many companies is the need to address negative behavior and performance issues in the workplace. Without a concrete plan to manage discipline, decisions may end up being arbitrary, inconsistent, and even open to legal action. That's why it is incumbent upon businesses to develop sound disciplinary policies that clearly outline how these problems are addressed. A progressive discipline process is one commonly used option. In this post, we'll provide a progressive discipline definition and explain its many benefits. We'll also examine the steps that are commonly used in any system of progressive disciplinary action. What is progressive discipline? Progressive discipline is a process that involves a structured approach to correcting employee behaviors. Organizations that adopt the progressive disciplinary process implement a system of corrective actions that escalate in severity with each infraction. This allows management to provide helpful notice to employees that gives them an opportunity to correct their own behaviors or performance issues and avoid any escalation in discipline. Since organizations should use disciplinary processes to correct undesirable behaviors rather than punish offenders, this progressive approach offers one of the best ways to achieve that goal. It ensures that management communicates problems to employees in a clear and timely manner and provides a structured way to encourage improvements in performance and behavior . For managers who may struggle to deal with problem employees, this process can also provide a guided approach to engaging in difficult conversations. What are the benefits associated with progressive discipline? There are many benefits for companies that implement a progressive disciplinary policy for their organizations. We've listed some of the most important benefits below. This type of discipline process can help managers and employees to resolve concerns before bigger issues arise The progressive disciplinary approach can facilitate improved communication between management and their workers, which can help managers to develop more productive and higher-performing teams Implemented properly, this disciplinary approach provides employees with fair notice about expected behavior and results, and promotes accountability By using a progressive series of increasingly severe corrective measures, employees have incentive to self-correct Management can avoid arbitrary decisions that could lead to negative consequences, including legal concerns in some jurisdictions Employee retention and job satisfaction tend to be higher in environments that provide clear expectations and a fair, just, and consistent disciplinary process Because steps in the process are typically well-documented, employers will have an easier time defending difficult decisions about suspensions and terminations What are the typical steps of the progressive disciplinary process? To understand how a progressive disciplinary process works in a real-world company setting, let's examine a typical step-by-step progressive approach. Some of the most common disciplinary policies use a four-step framework that involves increasingly serious consequences for the employee. 1. Verbal warning This is almost always the first disciplinary action in any progressive discipline system. As soon as an issue comes to management's attention, someone is tasked with warning the employee about the problem. This warning can be delivered in either an informal or formal meeting, during which the employee is told about the behavioral or performance problem. In many cases, management also provides the employee with recommended steps that they can take to correct the issue so that further action can be avoided. Even though the warning is delivered verbally, company policies should require that the person issuing the warning document important details. These details include vital information like when the warning was given and the behavior or other issues that prompted the action. The documentation should also list everyone involved in the meeting, the actions the employee agreed to take to correct the problems, and whether any follow-up conversations are scheduled. 2. Written warning When verbal warnings don't lead to the necessary positive change, management then typically follows up with the next progressive disciplinary step – the written warning. This is a more formal action designed to signal to the employee that the issue has become a more serious concern. Some companies include the possibility for multiple written warnings within this stage of the progressive discipline process. The written warning should describe the employee's failures, the policies that have been violated, and specific steps that they must take if they want to get back in the company's good graces. It should also provide fair warning about the consequences the employee will experience if those corrective actions are not followed. Employers should allow employees to discuss the document and should inform them that signing it is simply an acknowledgment that they received the warning. Again, everything about this meeting should be documented, and the documentation and written warning should be placed in the employee's employment file. That documentation should include details about the participants in the meeting – all of whom should have signed the warning - as well as the agreed-upon action plan to correct the behavior and other important information that provides an accurate historical record of the meeting. 3. Final warning, including possible suspension period Once the written warning step has been exhausted (again, some companies may provide as many as three written warnings before escalating the process), the next stage of the progressive discipline process is considered the final warning. This is another document-based corrective action that basically puts the employee on notice that any continued failure to correct the problem will result in termination. Sometimes, this final warning can also be accompanied by a period of suspension without compensation. Like the other warnings, this one should be well-documented with details about the policies that have been violated and what the employee was told to do to correct the situation. The documentation should also note that this is the final warning. It must be signed by everyone present at the meeting and stored in the employee's employment file. 4. Termination As you might expect, the most drastic and final step of the progressive discipline process involves the termination of the employee. While the entire process is designed to correct behavior and avoid this step, there are times when there is no other option but to fire an employee who fails to correct behavior or performance issues. This step also requires detailed documentation and careful attention to the details. Larger companies will typically want to handle termination through human resources, and sometimes in consultation with employment lawyers if potential legal issues could arise. Witnesses should always be present whenever possible and the employee should be given a detailed review of the entire process, beginning with the verbal warning. The termination notice itself should be provided in written form, with a copy placed in the employment file. The appeal In addition to that four-step approach to corrective action, effective progressive discipline often includes an opportunity to appeal decisions made in each step of the process. This provides the employee with an opportunity to offer evidence or arguments in opposition to the discipline. Sometimes, employee behaviors involve disabilities or other issues that may require some sort of accommodation. The appeals process can help to promote fairer outcomes based on the best available information. Designing your progressive discipline policy If you're tasked with implementing a progressive disciplinary process in your workplace, it's vital to ensure that you have a well-constructed policy that outlines every key detail. Make sure that yours includes each of the following elements. Details about each step of the progressive disciplinary process This section of your policy should outline each progressive step your company takes to address employee misconduct and performance concerns. You may want to include a brief explanation of each, so that employees know what to expect if they fail to meet expectations. Exceptions that may result in immediate termination Some violations of policy are so serious that they qualify for immediate termination of employment. You should cite specific examples of these actions. For example, criminal activities, physical abuse of co-workers, theft, and similar actions may fall outside of the normal progressive discipline scheme. Any necessary disclaimers Each policy should also include disclaimers that preserve the employer's right to enforce the policy, disregard certain elements when necessary, or make needed changes. Legal issues like at-will employment should also be addressed in this section. Adhering to your company's progressive discipline policy Once you have a policy in place, it's important to make sure that it's followed as rigorously as possible. Employees tend to adapt to the prevailing company culture, and any failure of consistency or fair application of policy will impact their adherence to company rules, productivity goals, and other performance and behavioral metrics. Progressive discipline: a powerful tool to impact employee behavior Without clear disciplinary policies in place, any company will struggle to achieve a fair and balanced application of rules and expectations. Fortunately, the progressive discipline approach offers a clear and understandable approach to managing and correcting negative behaviors and performance issues. By creating and implementing your own progressive disciplinary processes, you can develop a powerful workplace culture that helps employees to overcome their shortcomings and meet your expectations. Source: https://www.topresume.com/career-advice/progressive-discipline-steps-for-creating-discipline-in-the-workplace