February 2012

Senior Field Representative
Mary Blanco

Coaching, Counseling, Letter of Reprimand & Progressive Discipline

Coaching and counseling are part of the process of continuous feedback within a Performance Management System. Coaching should be used to enhance performance, encourage appropriate behaviors, provide support during a temporary situation, or to motivate and guide. Counseling should be used to redirect performance, correct a problem, deal with conflict situations and to provide management procedures that work with a progressive disciplinary system. Letters of Reprimand (LORs) are formal discipline and will be discussed later in this article.

Coaching should be used when a performance problem surfaces and you as the supervisor or manager have not had a chance to discuss the problem with the employee (with the exception of egregious acts). You should start out identifying the problem and asking if there are any reasons why the problem has become an issue. Is it a training issue? You should review performance standards and goals, in other words, let the employee know what your expectations are of him/her. You need to obtain agreement that there is a problem. If you don’t then the coaching session may become a counseling session based on their reluctance to admit there is a problem. Ask the employee how the problem can be solved. Co-create and agree on an action plan. Schedule time to provide feedback on how the action plan is or is not working. If it is not working then the action plan may need to be revised. Supervisors and managers should document the meeting(s) because if the issue is not resolved this documentation will justify your need to take disciplinary action.

Now some of you rank and file employees may be wondering why I am giving this advice to supervisors and managers. First, I want to encourage supervisors and managers to try these techniques first instead of going straight to a (LOR) which is considered discipline. Memos of counseling (MOC), letters of instruction (LOI) or letters of warning (LOW) are not discipline. They are corrective in nature. Second, employees should be informed that their performance is not meeting expectations or standards and given a chance to improve their performance. A negative or “below standards” Work Performance Evaluation should never be a surprise to the employee. Third, this Association also represents supervisors so giving them assistance in this area is just part of our duty to them.

When an employee continues to have problems in the area(s) identified in the MOC, LOI or LOW, the next step may be to issue a Letter of Reprimand (LOR). A LOR is formal discipline, and can be appealed as long as it’s filed timely. Each Department has its own appeal process with varying timelines to file. If you wish to pursue the appeal process, you must contact your field representative as soon as possible. A LOR may be rescinded, modified or upheld as the result of pursuing the appeal process. Results vary depending on your particular circumstances. The field representative will discuss the merits of the LOR with you. However, it is ultimately your decision if you wish to appeal the LOR.

Most importantly, if an employee receives a LOR, he/she should consider why this occurred. Was it a mistake on the part of the supervisor? If so, try to resolve it by filing an appeal! If the employee exercised poor judgment in a situation, he/she should try to learn from this mistake so it doesn’t happen again. If the LOR is for performance issues think of what you can do to bring your performance up to acceptable standards. A Letter of Reprimand is the lowest form of discipline. However, an employee should know that if he/she does not learn from the mistake, or continues to have performance problems, the next step may be suspension. This is called progressive discipline. If the problem continues, the employee may then be demoted or terminated.