Discipline and sound professional conduct are the hallmarks of internal decorum within any organization. They are instrumental in cultivating and sustaining a culture of mutual respect and integrity amongst employees inter-se as well as between the organization and the employees.
In times of global outreach and cosmopolitan workforce, employers choose to lay down principles governing sound discipline in the organization by way of a Disciplinary Policy. The earlier notion prevalent amongst employers that documenting and referring a disciplinary policy was only essential in cases of gross misconduct has gradually lost its significance. Today, employers choose to take disciplinary action for good and sufficient reasons which are considered by the Management as necessary for maintaining discipline probity among the employees. In such cases, a well-drafted Disciplinary Policy serves as a ready reference for dealing with simple to complex disciplinary issues within the organization.
A concise disciplinary policy only contains the point frame for reference to the officer charged with the responsibility of taking disciplinary action against the employees. Such policy may suitably cater to small to medium organizations with considerably moderate headcount. However, an exhaustive policy is crucial for large organizations, which usually contains all the relevant details with regard to the expectations from the employees and the procedure for taking disciplinary action against the employees for breach of the code of conduct or for misconduct committed by the employees. An ideal disciplinary policy is user friendly and serves as a useful guide to the Disciplinary Authority as well as other officials who have to deal with the disciplinary matters within the organization.
