The MTL Professional Development Programme is a collection of 202 PowerPoint presentations that will provide you with step-by-step summaries of a key management or personal development skill. This presentation is on "The Routes through Discipline" and will show you the key ways to approach discipline in the workplace.  

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
The Routes Through Discipline
THE ROUTES THROUGH
DISCIPLINE
Manage effective discipline and performance
MTL: The Professional Development Programme

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
The Routes Through Discipline
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Learn.
The Routes
Through
Discipline
Introduction: Discipline is essential in all organisations where rules, standards and
measures of performance have to be followed. However, applying discipline doesn't
automatically produce effective discipline, ie discipline that works. To do that, you'll need to
consider and manage the 7 routes to discipline in this topic.

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
The Routes Through Discipline
What do you understand by “discipline”?
1. DEFINING
"DISCIPLINE"
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The word "discipline" has the same origins as the
word "disciple". Just as a disciple follows the
teachings of a master, so discipline means
following the rules, laws, and procedures in an
organisation. In the dictionary, "discipline" has a
number of different meanings. It can mean
instruction and learning. It can also mean
improvement. And it can mean correction and
punishment.

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
The Routes Through Discipline
2. THE AIMS
OF DISCIPLINE
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Decide what the purpose of discipline is
Like the aims of social laws, there can be a
number of different aims in workplace discipline.
These include:
a. conformance to rules
b. correcting behaviour that doesn't conform to
the rules
c. re-asserting authority
d. setting an example
e. punishing wrong-doing.
These aims will vary according to the
organisation, the needs of the business, and the
particular circumstances of someone's behaviour.

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
The Routes Through Discipline
Weigh up the costs and benefits of discipline
3. FOR AND
AGAINST
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There are arguments in favour and against
punitive discipline at work. Some argue that
discipline is a poor substitute for good people
management, sends the wrong signals, and
doesn't always work. Others argue that, without
discipline, the workplace would be chaotic with
everyone doing exactly what they wanted.
Psychologist Chris Argyris suggests that discipline
encourages conformity and obedience when,
today, in many organisations what people want,
and the organisation needs, is change and rule-
breaking.

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
The Routes Through Discipline
4. THE
CONTRACT OF
EMPLOYMENT
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The contract determines your responsibilities and rights
The contract of employment is at the heart of
workplace discipline. The contract is the set of
explicit and implicit expectations that are agreed
between employer and employee. When an
employee fails to live up to these expectations, eg
through failing to attend work or failing to behave
appropriately, then the employer has the right to
warn the employee that he or she is in breach of
the contract.

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
The Routes Through Discipline
Think about the moral, legal, and practical issues
5. QUESTIONS
TO CONSIDER
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There are 3 sets of questions that you need to
think about in your approach to discipline:
a. the moral question. As an employer, do you
have the right to pass judgment on an employee's
moral behaviour?
b. the practical question. As an employer, does
discipline work in solving poor performance?
c. the legal question. As an employer, is discipline,
and, in particular, dismissal fair, just, and legal?

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
The Routes Through Discipline
6. YOUR
STYLE
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coworkers.html
Do you resolve problems or do you punish them?
There are 3 approaches to discipline:
a. if you believe that people need to be
controlled, - known as Theory X, - you will favour
an authoritarian approach.
b. if you believe that people problems can be
solved through dialogue, you will favour a
consultative approach.
c. if you believe that people are able to take
responsibility for themselves, - ie Theory Y, - you
will favour a self-discipline approach.

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
The Routes Through Discipline
The ultimate step is dismissal from the game
7. A MODEL
OF DISCIPLINE
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While every organisation will have its own rules
on discipline, most organisations use a
progressive approach to discipline, first
encouraging self-discipline, then consultation,
and finally punitive action. This means first
addressing breaches of discipline through
warnings, then with formal action and
subsequently, if there is no improvement, using
more punitive measures, culminating in dismissal.

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
The Routes Through Discipline
This has been a Slide Topic from Manage Train Learn
AFinal
Word
Getting your disciplinary procedures right can be one of the most difficult functions of
management. The route to effective discipline will often mean a tortuous journey around the
difficulties and traps that lie in your way.