The document proposes rebranding "progressive discipline" to "structured achievements" to focus on positively addressing performance issues through setting clear expectations, providing feedback and documentation, and supporting employees to meet goals within a set timeframe in order to improve performance and avoid unnecessary terminations. It argues this approach helps employees understand why good performance is important while reducing costs compared to allowing subpar performance or replacing employees.

1. It’s time to rebrand Progressive Discipline to
Structured Achievements
by Larry Miller
Key Words:
Performance; progressive discipline; human resources; feedback

2. It’s time to rebrand Progressive Discipline to Structured Achievements
In his classic book, The Twelve Principles of Efficiency, highly regarded management
consultant Harrington Emerson described discipline in positive terms. “Discipline is not so much
top-down discipline as it is internal discipline and self-discipline, with workers conforming
willingly and readily to the systems in place.”
Traditional discipline has typically been more negative and viewed as a process of oral and
written warnings from manager to subordinate with increasingly dire consequences if behavior or
performance issues are not improved. Although the end result might be the termination of
employment, at a minimum, the individual receiving the warning should know why they’re being
warned and what they have to do to remain employed.
The spirit of progressive discipline is to
make the day-to-day work environment
a positive or constructive one.
The spirit of progressive discipline is to make the day-to-day work environment a positive or
constructive one. The word “warning” is rarely used. The purpose is to manage through a
process to improve performance or behavior issues rather than as a way to fire someone. The use
of progressive discipline also has the practical advantage of reducing litigation risk. Though
potentially fruitful, progressive discipline is not simple to implement. The process should involve
accurate measurement and fair and just evaluation, planning, patience, and careful observation.
Sadly, we are all familiar with stories of how managers and supervisors delay in addressing
performance or behavior issues among employees. I was listening to a manager describe an
employee’s performance short-comings. The description clearly indicated that the performance
was sub-par. “How long has this been going on with your employee?” I asked. The response
was, “ever since we hired him 10 years ago!” It was obvious to me that appropriate steps should
have been taken long before.
…managers overlook performance or
behavior discrepancies without saying
anything...until their patience runs out!
Employees deserve to know how well they’re performing by receiving regular and periodic
feedback. Often, however, managers overlook performance or behavior discrepancies without
saying anything to the employee until their patience runs out. Somewhere along the way, the
manager presumed things will work out on their own. Before you know it, one little unaddressed
issue adds to another. Then, like the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, they want to take

3. dramatic, instant steps to remedy the situation immediately. Immediately is too late, however, if
progressive discipline has not preceded the urge to fire.
Many managers don’t understand that things won’t get better on their own without involvement
on their part. These timid, ignorant or inexperienced managers shy away from covering minor
issues with their staff because they are indeed minor and they fear not knowing how the
individual will take the feedback. Or, they assume the employee knows or should know better.
Things indeed may get better or dip below the radar, but if they do not, little issues have a
tendency to become big issues thereby increasing the risk of litigation for wrongful discharge.
Progressive discipline is, therefore, a great way to remedy these common situations. However,
the formality of providing an oral warning, followed by a written warning that includes the
statement “additional infractions will lead to additional discipline up to and including discharge”
only adds more negativity to a situation that was originally intended to improve performance or
behavior. The key is to find a way to implement the spirit of progressive discipline while
tempering the approach to fit the situation.
A simple example of Progressive Discipline
Suppose you have a receptionist working for you who misses calls, doesn’t take messages
consistently and can’t remember someone’s voice. Despite the fact that these issues may never
have been identified or communicated by the manager as required standards of performance and
behavior by the receptionist when he or she was hired, they still need to be addressed. If not, and
the individual is fired because of them, the receptionist can only presume the worst case scenario
as their reason for termination. Before long, the terminated receptionist’s family, friends and
neighbors will conclude the termination of employment must have been for discriminatory
reasons!
What if, however, you met with the receptionist privately and reviewed his or her job duties as to
what has to get done, how it has to get done and how these activities will be measured. For
example, answering the phone in 3 rings is the what, with a smile in your voice is the how, and
that patient or customer feedback is the way performance will be measured. Despite the fact that
this may seem like an over simplification of job duties, they are job duties none the less that are
required of most receptionists.
The key is that these criteria must be discussed when they’re not being met even if it’s done in a
very casual but direct manner. The best next step after the discussion is for the manager is to
send an email “to file,” and/or to the receptionist directly, that documents the key points of the
discussion that took place with the expressed hope that his or her performance will improve.
In this simple example, an oral warning just took place. Performance or behavior discrepancies

4. were identified, addressed, communicated and documented. The manager can revisit the
conversation in the following days to make sure the receptionist knows he or she must perform at
this new level and that there is a specific but a realistic time period to master the new standard of
performance.
Substandard performance always deserves
corrective action.
Sticking with this example, let’s now say the receptionist achieves the standard of answering the
phone in 3 rings but is unable or unwilling to get a smile in his or her voice. As soon as this
particular performance discrepancy is noticed, it should be addressed again. The manager may
have reservations about doing so because a whole host of incorrect assumptions might cloud the
reason for action. Substandard performance always deserves corrective action. Businesses can’t
afford to pay people for doing substandard work and people deserve feedback so they can
improve their performance. The receptionist may not know how to put a smile in his or her
voice or might require additional training to meet the standard required of the job. This
conversation, too, can be sent in an email to the receptionist. And, once again, a warning has
been created and documented.
What if the required achievements continue to be missed? The same process should be initiated
with one additional point: if the requirement(s) of the job continue to be unmet, it may lead to
additional discipline such as a cut in pay for a lessor job; a transfer to a different job, suspension
or termination of employment.
Communicating this type of message is one reason why progressive discipline is such a simple
concept in principle but not so easy in practice. It’s not fun. It’s not easy. It sounds like a
threat! It doesn’t change things immediately. A positive outcome is uncertain. Or, managers
think their specific situation is unique and can’t be addressed by a simple 1, 2, 3 process. Yet
identifying good performance standards is part of running a business and maintaining a job. A
collaborative approach that acknowledges employee achievements while addressing objective
job requirements and how they are met lifts the veil of false assumptions and presumptions that
tend to dominate the workplace.
Let’s say you owned a manufacturing company, and to make ends meet, each of your employees
were required to build 10 units per day. You may have Bill on the production floor who worked
for you for 10 years and everybody likes him. For most of his tenure he built 10 units per day.
For some reason, however, his output has been reduced consistently to a steady 8 units per day.
Perhaps Bill might be helped with some type of training and mentoring, or perhaps he could be
reassigned to a position where unit productivity is less essential. If Bill’s performance isn’t

5. addressed in the best way possible, 8 units per day is your new production standard and you’re
now building mediocrity.
Progressive Discipline in complex situations.
A tough-to-fill position doesn’t give the
incumbent the freedom to underperform or
misbehave.
If these examples seem overly simplistic, here’s a more complex yet realistic situation. You
have an employee who performs a job that’s hard-to-fill should the position become vacant. The
incumbent has behavior or performance issues. Regardless of the concern, is there a legitimate
rationale for not addressing the issues? A tough-to-fill position doesn’t give the incumbent the
freedom to underperform or misbehave. Tough-to-fill positions become an excuse that can reach
mythic proportions when it’s used as a rationale for not addressing performance.
No performance is better than bad
performance.
In this situation, the manager has a choice: continue with sub-standard or negative performance
or bite the bullet, address the performance issue and/or terminate the employee if the situation
calls for it. No performance is better than bad performance. The short-term hassle in replacing a
hard-to-fill position is typically cheaper than the cost of sub-standard performance that may drag
on for years! There’s also the impact on co-workers who are unintentionally taught that sub-
standard performance is acceptable which creates an even bigger, invisible, negative impact to
the company’s bottom line than just the shortcomings of one sub-standard performer.
Positive Progressive Discipline
Discipline can be interpreted as criticism, feedback, or as assistance. Progressive discipline that
leans toward a positive approach can gain traction in an organization when management is
perceived as helping staff achieve positive performance. Instead of looking at progressive
discipline as a negative process leading up to the termination of employment, it makes more
business sense to use it as a way to address critical performance or behavior issues with your
staff so that termination is not required. Progressive discipline when communicated as a series
of structured achievements can be at the root of a quality improvement system built to manage
good behavior, strong performance and effective teams. People want to be part of a class act and
need to understand when and where they’re already achieving good performance—so they can
continue.

6. The goal is for the employee to be
supported in a structured improvement
process so that a good performance review
is the end result of the process.
Please note that a change in focus from discipline to feedback is not simply a matter of words.
Managers address performance or behavior issues with their staff differently. One might tell the
employee that they need feedback, that they are getting feedback, and they had better adhere to
it…or else. Another manager may use a different tone by providing feedback on how to improve
performance along with why the change needs to take place. This guidance is often reinforced
with examples of how the employee has already achieved good performance in other related
areas of their job duties. The manager then summarizes the standard that has to be met and
within a specific time frame. The goal is for the employee to be supported in a structured
improvement process so that a good performance review is the end result of the process—instead
of termination
Research shows it costs anywhere between 30% and 300% of a new employee’s annual wage for
he or she to become fully proficient in their role. Yet termination of employment is all too often
the action of choice for substandard performance when mentoring or training an employee
toward better achievement makes much more financial sense.
I’m convinced the majority of U. S. workers actually want to achieve good results in their jobs.
Not all managers, however, believe this. Even the manager who may privately admit that he or
she doesn’t completely trust their staff wouldn’t want to be blind-sided with criticism of their
own performance. Instead, everyone deserves feedback on what they’re doing, how their job fits
into the needs of the whole organization, and why good performance is important.
It is easy for managers to take for granted that the standards related to good performance are
clear and understandable by all staff. In reality, staff may know the general requirements of what
they’re supposed to do and how they’re supposed to perform but performance will improve if
people understand why. You can get an adult to achieve acceptable and effective standards of
performance if their manager can effectively convey why good performance is important to the
organization and important to save everybody’s job.
Time spent guiding your staff toward
achievement is easier and less frustrating
and expensive than shouldering the burden
of a substandard performer….
This is why it’s time to rebrand our thinking and change our view to a process of progressively
structured achievement. How about looking at the elements of good and positive performance in

7. the work of your staff? Reinforce the results your staff achieves. Help them improve where they
need help. Time spent guiding your staff toward achievement is easier and less frustrating and
expensive than shouldering the burden of a substandard performer for years. Good quality
standards that are widely communicated and supported in the workplace can become
progressively infectious.
If you can rebrand your approach to progressive discipline to one of structured achievement, it
can result in a management practice and culture that may actually make it fun to come to work
and be productive.
©Larry Miller