Question

An audit of Comet BPO identified that there were no employee disciplinary policies, grievance procedure and an appeal process. Analyze the relevance of the disciplinary policies, grievance procedure and an appeal process in mitigating bad behavior and creating a healthy working environment. Include in your discussion, what you think management’s role should be in these processes

Answer 1

Introduction

The word Organization means an organized or managed group of people who work together to achieve a common goal such as business or government department. So, to link it with the disciplinary policies, grievance procedure and an appeal process is quite evident because if two or more person is working together they might face certain issues which needs to be resolved on priority basis by the management. The organization can't be effective if there is no existence of disciplinary policies, grievance procedure and an appeal process in the company.

Importance of Disciplinary policies, Grievance procedure and an Appeal process in an organization

To implement the disciplinary policies, grievance procedure and an appeal process in an organization needs a careful planning. Planning plays a vital role in the success of an organization and the success is greatly depends on these policies and procedures. It aims at achieving specific development goals of an organization. It is important to formulate these policies and procedures in an organization without them the objectives or goals cannot be identified in true sense. Thus, disciplinary policies, grievance procedure and an appeal process goes hand in hand in an organization.

• Dealing with employees fairly: The disciplinary policies, grievance procedure and an appeal process are important because it establish a clear procedure in front of the employees that if any misconduct happens in an organization towards any employee it will be consider as serious event. This will demonstrate that the company is dealing with employees fairly and consistently. This will help the organization to create a healthy work environment for employees.
• Provides job security: These policies and procedures helps to provide guidance and job security to employees which will result in the efficiency of the organization. If employees feel safe in the work environment where they spend their most of the time than it will create a healthy work environment and nobody will have the right to act badly with them.
• Protect employees: If employees knows their rights and knows how to get out of the punishment then these disciplinary policies, grievance procedure and an appeal process will protect the employee. This means if any employee feels any kind of injustice or is not satisfies with the decision taken by the organization panel then he/she can make an appeal in a higher panel.
• Enforce laws and regulation to employees: In some organization there are different kind of disputes between employees, with these policies and procedures we can enforce the employees to obey the laws and regulation of the company so that they do not violate it and they do not involve in bad behavior practices and always follow the code of conduct which ultimately leads to a healthy work environment.
• Employee satisfaction: All three policies and procedures are equally important for the organization to make employees feel satisfied in their work environment and also they feel secured while working in the company. Hence, it enhances employee’s satisfaction which increases their productivity; this will be an added advantage on of implementing these policies and procedures.

All the above points proves that disciplinary policies, grievance procedure and an appeal process help to mitigate the bad behavior of an employee and also enhances the work environment of an organization.

Management role in these policies and procedures

• Provide notebook: Management should provide a notebook with all the policies and procedures written for the guidance of employees so that they should be aware about the company's rules and regulation, and in case of any violation of these rules, employees should be aware about that and should be ready with the punishment or explanation.
• Transparency with employees: Management should create transparency with employees so that they will be able to communicate about the problem with their managers easily. This often helps management to solve the issue and avoids formal complaints. This can be encouraged in a form of one-on-one session; team meetings etc and also create an open and honest culture in an organization.
• Provide trainings: Management should be responsible to follow all the policies and procedures set by the organization and also provide the same knowledge to the employees by providing trainings on code of conduct. By doing so, this will bring more clarity in the organization environment and employees will be aware about the fact what steps needs to be taken if any misconduct happens.
• Take necessary action: If any employees violate these policies and procedures a necessary action should be taken against without any partiality and irrespective of his/her position in the organization. This will set an example for employees that organization treats everyone equally and there can be consequences if anyone violates these policies.