11.3 Cases and Problems

Chapter Summary

• Performance issues in the workplace are common. Examples of performance issues include constant tardiness, too much time at work handling personal issues, mishandling of proprietary information, family issues, drug and alcohol problems, nonperformance, theft, and conflicts in the workplace.
• Employees choose to leave organizations for internal and external reasons. Some of these may include a mismatch of career goals, conflict, too high expectations, time-management issues, and a mismatch between job and skills.
• HR professionals should develop a set of policies that deal with performance issues in the workplace. The advantage to having such policies is that they can eliminate WRONGFUL DISMISSAL legal action.
• A mandated issue is usually one that deals with safety or legal issues that go beyond the workplace. An infringement of this type of issue requires immediate attention.
• A single incident may include a misstep of the employee, and the employee should immediately be spoken with about it, to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
• A behavior pattern occurs when an employee consistently exhibits a performance issue. This type of issue should be discussed with the employee and actions taken, such as providing more training, to ensure it does not continue. A persistent pattern occurs when an employee consistently exhibits a performance issue and does not improve, despite HR’s talking with him or her.
• At some point during the persistent pattern, disciplinary action will likely need to be taken. It is important to develop consistent procedures on how to record and handle disciplinary issues.
• Employee separation occurs in one of three ways. First, the employee resigns from the organization. Second, the employee is terminated for performance issues, and third, an employee absconds. ABSCONDS means the employee abandons his or her job without submitting a formal resignation.
• In some cases, a severance package may be offered to the employee upon his or her departure from the organization.
• CONSTRUCTIVE DISMISSAL means the conditions are so poor that the employee has no choice but to leave the organization.
• The privacy of employees is an issue that HR must address. It is prudent to develop policies surrounding what type of monitoring may occur within an organization. For example, some organizations monitor e-mail, computer usage, and even postings on social network sites.

Team Activities

1. In a team of three to four people, discuss each of the situations and determine if you think the employee should receive immediate termination or a progressive discipline process, and provide justification for your responses:

a. The employee stole one pack of office paper, stating he would be using it at home to perform his job.

b. An employee posted how boring her job is on a Facebook status update. You know she is Facebook friends with several clients.

c. The employee groped a colleague in the break room.

d. You saw the employee’s résumé posted on LinkedIn, stating she was looking for a new job.

e. The manager has told you the employee is difficult to work with and not liked by his colleagues.

In teams of three to four, discuss the following situation: Your marketing manager has just told you she plans to dismiss her administrative assistant for nonperformance and needs help designing a severance package. The administrative assistant was with the organization for two-and-a-half years and his current salary is $35,670. What would you suggest he be offered? Discuss and be prepared to share your ideas with the class.