Throughout the world if you are in business, whether you work for someone or have your own business you work with people, i.e., your team. We also know that to be in business and to stay in business this will always be the scenario. We also know that this brings problems regarding disciplinary actions for misconduct, poor performance, etc. If you were asked how much does your company spend annually on labour disputes alone, some may say thousands, hundreds of thousands and maybe even millions in larger, corporate companies. That is in direct fees. When you also consider the negative productivity something like a dismissal of a colleague brings about, it becomes even more expensive, whether the dismissal is warranted is not the discussion, here. What is, is the repercussions these actions cause and why it is a negative investment in your people.
It is fair to say that by paying all these costs and all the time HR spends on preparing and going through processes to get to a hearing even does also cost a lot of money. This is also investing negatively. This is investing to rectify the past, so it is fair to say that it is throwing money away, because nothing positive comes from it for you or your company, let alone for the people left behind in the wake of negativity. All that can be said is we got rid of a bad apple, should it come to dismissal. Most workers nowadays also turn towards labour courts and unions to contest their dismissal, whether it is fair or not. What does this do to costs and time? Once again, it is not about the disciplinary process or whether it is fair or unfair or legit or warranted. The point here is the negative investment you have to make, monetary wise and time wise.
Furthermore, when working with people, there will always be disciplinary issues and that is also not being disputed. The question is, whether through positive investing in your people these severe disciplinary issues, like dismissals can be eradicated over a period of time?
Some questions for consideration:
1) What will the consequences be if your company could invest all this time, effort, and money into a positive?
2) What effect will a more harmonious team environment create?
3) What will it mean to the bottom line if productivity doubles over 12 months?
4) What will it bring to your company if HR spends 80% of their time in positive engagement with the staff?
Most of the time peoples’ different perceptions and behaviours are the main reasons for legal actions.
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