This document provides an overview of non-compliance in the workplace and effective discipline strategies. It discusses various types of non-compliant behaviors such as misconduct, poor work performance, criminal acts, fiddles, sabotage, absence, boredom, de-motivation, and personality clashes. For each topic, it explores reasons why these issues may occur and examples. The document is made up of 20 slides from Manage Train Learn that cover non-compliance and can be used for training purposes.

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Non-Compliance
Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
Non-Compliance
EFFECTIVE DISCIPLINE

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Non-Compliance
Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
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Non-Compliance
Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
ARE YOU READY?
OK, LET’S START!

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Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
INTRODUCTION
We all have times in the workplace when we are below par.
This may be because we are tired, de-motivated or have
distracting problems which relegate work to a lower place in
our priorities. These infrequent lapses are normal and
shouldn't be the cause for disciplinary action. They may
even be the springboards to renewed efforts. Such
behaviours must be separated from non-compliance which
is serious and ongoing. In these cases, non-compliance
needs some kind of response from those in charge.

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Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
FAIR CONTROLS
It is important to have in place at work some means for
checking on people's behaviour and performance but to do
so in ways which are non-intrusive and fair.
Excessive or discriminatory checking on people which signal
you are trying to "catch them out" are dishonest and
indicate you have made up your mind about someone's
guilt. Such instances are likely to lead to accusations of
discrimination, harassment and victimisation.
To ensure your systems of supervising are fair...
1. treat everyone the same
2. do not go seeking out wrong-doing (because you're
bound to find it)
3. do not pounce on minor lapses of discipline as evidence
of more serious crimes
4. do not apply discipline just when it suits you.

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Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
TYPES OF CONTROL
There are three ways to control the way people behave...
1. Reports of alleged non-compliance
These are likely to reach management via the supervisory
chain or through the grapevine.
2. Direct observation of staff at work
This should never be intrusive or invasive since over-bearing
supervision can create the very behaviour you are trying to
avoid. Good supervision should be based on keeping
yourself well-informed and taking a genuine interest in the
welfare of your staff.
3. Statistical reports
These are likely to give indications of poor or declining
performance, such as absence figures, output, labour
turnover, customer questionnaires.

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Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
RULE-BREAKING
Often people put more energy into planning and executing
non-complying behaviour than they would have needed to
have complied in the first place. So, what makes people
decide to break rules, defy management and turn in sub-
standard work?
Psychologist Gerald Mar suggests that the reasons are
complex and may be about the nature of the individual-
organisation relationship rather than an inherent anti-social
tendency.
He says the reasons people break rules may be...
1. to express their individuality
2. to express anger at what they see as management
failure
3. opportunism
4. revenge for past repression by the organisation
5. proof of their credentials to their colleagues
6. game-playing, eg see if they can catch me out.

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Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
NON-COMPLIANCE
Non-compliance can emerge in three quite different ways:
1. Misconduct. Misconduct is usually a once-off act, such
as swearing at supervision, refusal to carry out
instructions, immoral behaviour. Misconduct, like
criminal acts in society, is the easiest type of non-
compliance to identify. Most formal disciplinary cases
are cases about misconduct.
2. Poor Work Performance. Poor work should be the most
important area of non-compliance for management to
deal with. Discipline should be a last resort to resolve
poor work problems.
3. Unsatisfactory Attitudes. Poor attitudes on the part of
staff are often the most difficult to deal with but need
to be resolved if they are not to affect others.

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Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
COMMON CASES
It is impossible to put together a definitive catalogue of non-
complying behaviour. Individuals are often creative in their
ingenuity to break rules without being detected.
The following are examples of the more common cases of
non-compliance...
1. anti-work attitudes which may be directed against
management or the organisation
2. criminal acts on the organisation's premises which may be
directed at colleagues as well as the organisation. These can
include fraud, petty theft and fiddling.
3. rule-breaking occasioned by de-motivation, boredom and
frustration
4. absence from work for reasons that are not legitimate
5. sabotage which may be carried out for personal as well as
political reasons
6. personality clashes between people who do not get on.

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Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
ANTI-WORK ATTITUDES
Frequent poor work may be the result of an emphasis on
those parts of our personality which see work as "a bad
thing".
Nine examples of anti-work attitudes are...
1. criticism of management ("I know better than them")
2. spending excessive time on socialising rather than
working
3. acting deceptively: lying, pretending, deceiving, acting
fraudulently
4. believing work is a dirty word and beneath you
5. focusing excessively on what others do, so doing less
yourself
6. blaming others for your own errors
7. playing games to catch others out
8. acting in a rebellious fashion
9. doing as little as you can get away with.

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Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR
Workplaces can offer easy opportunities for the criminal-
minded. Unlike public places, they are less scrutinised by
authorities. Controlling criminal acts is left to management.
Criminal behaviour can range from minor acts of pilfering
and fiddles, to vandalism and sabotage, to theft and fraud
on perhaps a large scale.
One study of criminal behaviour suggests there are a range
of reasons why people should break the law at work:
1. people feel alienated from the organisation and seek
revenge
2. jealousy of those whom they perceive as "the haves"
3. easy access to money and other resources
4. greater opportunity to commit criminal acts
5. greater opportunity to get away with it.

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Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
FIDDLES
In 1982 Gerald Mar carried out a detailed study of pilfering
at work and identified four types of fiddlers. Mar classified
them into hawks, donkeys, wolves and vultures...
Hawks are rapacious and act alone. They are the most
entrepreneurial. Typical hawks are taxi-drivers, fairground
buskers and wheeler-dealers.
Donkeys are in isolated positions and constrained by their
jobs. When they fiddle, they act alone and when the
opportunity arises. Typical donkeys are checkout cashiers
and machine minders.
Vultures act alone but need the group's support to get away
with it. Typical vultures are waiters, sales reps and delivery
drivers.
Wolves pilfer in packs in organised ways. Typical wolves are
refuse collection gangs, dockers and airline crews.

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Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
DE-MOTIVATION
There are three reasons why people tend to perform poorly
in a job...
1. they aren't right for the job; ie there is no fit between
the person's natural strengths and the needs of the job.
2. they can't do the job; ie they lack the skills.
3. they don't want to do the job; ie they lack the
motivation.
While lack of a fit and lack of skills can be relieved by
management action, such as re-organising, coaching and
training, lack of motivation is likely to be the most
problematical and may require disciplinary action.

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Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
ABSENCE
Lack of motivation to work is often indicated by lateness and
absenteeism. People not only don't want to work; they
don't want to be at work.
In a survey of 431 companies in 1987, the Confederation of
British Industry discovered the following reasons for non-
genuine absence (ie neither sickness nor authorised,) for
manual and white-collar staffs.
1. poor motivation in nearly half of all the cases involving
manual workers
2. family responsibilities cited in just over a third of all
clerical workers' cases
3. stress cited as the second largest reason for all office
workers
4. other reasons included taking longer holidays than
intended and problems related to drink.

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Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
BOREDOM
Boredom arises when we no longer find work challenging or
interesting. It often strikes when people decide their jobs
are too easy, meaningless or repetitive, when they have no
control or responsibility over what they do and when they
do not share in the goals, purposes and vision of the
organisation or team.
Boredom does not just result in dispirited employees and a
drop in work standards. It can also lead to...
1. neglect, inattention and carelessness with possible
safety implications
2. stress and frustrations
3. a search outside the job and its responsibilities for
challenge and excitement. These opportunities may be
sought in negative and potentially destructive outlets.

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Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
SABOTAGE
Sabotage is rule-breaking which takes the form of conscious
action or inaction directed towards mutilation or
destruction of the work environment.
Ian Taylor and Paul Walton have identified three reasons for
sabotage at work...
1. an element of mischief to enliven an otherwise tense and
frustrating work environment.
2. a deliberate attempt to slow down the workplace.
3. an attempt by employees to show that they have some
control over their workplace.
The word "sabotage" comes from the French word "sabot"
or "clog". During the Industrial Revolution, French workers
put their shoes into machinery to stop it working as an act
of sabotage to “clog” up the works.

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Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
FRUSTRATION
Frustration is the emotional and behavioural state people
fall into when they are unable to reach their goals.
The result of not giving people power to achieve their own
goals is..
1. people give up trying ("What's the point?")
2. people fall into mechanical robotic patterns and
perform at well below their potential.
3. people revert to immature behaviour and hit out at
others.
Timothy Costello and Sheldon Zalkind, two American
researchers, have found large evidence of frustration at
work, largely because of our past attempts to de-humanise
the workplace through putting machines before people and
group needs ahead of individual ones.

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Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
PERSONALITY CLASHES
We frequently use the euphemistic expression "personality
clash" when people simply don't like their colleagues or
bosses. Personal antipathy can result in both misconduct,
especially when it involves boss and subordinates, as well as
poor job performance.
Personality clashes can result in various symptoms of
indiscipline. In a representative sample of 339 cases brought
before the UK Arbitration Service, ACAS, over a five-year
period, the most frequent problem between boss and
subordinate was a refusal of the subordinate to carry out
instructions, followed by rule violations, dishonesty and
poor work. These actions may be examples of game-playing
with supervision. Other symptoms of indiscipline, such as
absenteeism and intoxication may be related to the
employee's loss of interest in the job and the workplace.

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Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
THAT’S
IT!
WELL DONE!

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Effective Discipline
MTL Course Topics
THANK YOU
This has been a Slide Topic from Manage Train Learn