Dear All,
One of our employees comes late on a daily basis despite various verbal and written warnings. On top of that, he is quite argumentative, which makes things a bit more difficult. Being a good salesperson, we can't afford to lose him. What can be done in such a case?
To provide a better understanding of the case, let me brief you on the policy we follow. We allow three short leaves in a month, meaning an employee can come late thrice in a month by half an hour. However, after that, every short leave is considered as a half day.
I would appreciate your views to resolve this issue.
Thanks,
Shradha
From India, Gurgaon
6One of our employees comes late on a daily basis despite various verbal and written warnings. On top of that, he is quite argumentative, which makes things a bit more difficult. Being a good salesperson, we can't afford to lose him. What can be done in such a case?
To provide a better understanding of the case, let me brief you on the policy we follow. We allow three short leaves in a month, meaning an employee can come late thrice in a month by half an hour. However, after that, every short leave is considered as a half day.
I would appreciate your views to resolve this issue.
Thanks,
Shradha
From India, Gurgaon
Respected Madam,
Ms. Shradha,
Since you have, on several occasions, warned him in writing and orally, now is the time to issue him a show cause notice calling upon him why disciplinary action should not be taken against you for your habitual late coming and argumentative behavior. Based on his reply, you will have to initiate an inquiry against him.
The above are my views; perhaps this will help you.
Regards,
UMESH KAPOOR
From India, Mumbai
Ms. Shradha,
Since you have, on several occasions, warned him in writing and orally, now is the time to issue him a show cause notice calling upon him why disciplinary action should not be taken against you for your habitual late coming and argumentative behavior. Based on his reply, you will have to initiate an inquiry against him.
The above are my views; perhaps this will help you.
Regards,
UMESH KAPOOR
From India, Mumbai
Dear Shradha,
I would like to comment on the first paragraph of your post. Reply to the second paragraph is based on the Payment of Wages Act. Experts in this field will reply for this paragraph.
You have written that "[i]Being a good salesperson, we can't afford to lose him." The catch lies here. He has well understood that because of his salesmanship, the organization cannot afford to lose him. Hence his peremptoriness.
You have two options now. One is to maintain the status quo. If you do that, you will be pampering indiscipline. It will become difficult for you to take disciplinary action against other delinquent employees. Ignoring his indiscipline would mean a long-term impact on the organization's culture as a whole.
The other option is to implement progressive discipline. Do not hesitate to terminate if required. If you do this, you will send a signal to one and all that there cannot be a trade-off between the performance of higher order and indiscipline. People may come and go, but the discipline in the organization remains. Discipline is an organizational value, and it has to be cherished at any cost.
Discuss this issue with your management. For the second option, the logical conclusion is termination of the employee. Make sure that your management does not get cold feet at the last stage.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
I would like to comment on the first paragraph of your post. Reply to the second paragraph is based on the Payment of Wages Act. Experts in this field will reply for this paragraph.
You have written that "[i]Being a good salesperson, we can't afford to lose him." The catch lies here. He has well understood that because of his salesmanship, the organization cannot afford to lose him. Hence his peremptoriness.
You have two options now. One is to maintain the status quo. If you do that, you will be pampering indiscipline. It will become difficult for you to take disciplinary action against other delinquent employees. Ignoring his indiscipline would mean a long-term impact on the organization's culture as a whole.
The other option is to implement progressive discipline. Do not hesitate to terminate if required. If you do this, you will send a signal to one and all that there cannot be a trade-off between the performance of higher order and indiscipline. People may come and go, but the discipline in the organization remains. Discipline is an organizational value, and it has to be cherished at any cost.
Discuss this issue with your management. For the second option, the logical conclusion is termination of the employee. Make sure that your management does not get cold feet at the last stage.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
Dear Shradha,
Umesh and Dinesh have given you excellent suggestions. Hence, let me ask you a few questions to clarify the scenario. How large is your organization? How large is the sales force? Have you implemented the penalty policy and deducted half a day's salary/wages when the salesperson has come late? Have you or his boss discussed why he comes late? Does he stay late also to finish the work? Have you considered introducing flexi-time working? If not, why not? I can keep on raising questions, but these will suffice for the time being. These should give you some idea of the extent of detail required to get precise advice.
From United Kingdom
Umesh and Dinesh have given you excellent suggestions. Hence, let me ask you a few questions to clarify the scenario. How large is your organization? How large is the sales force? Have you implemented the penalty policy and deducted half a day's salary/wages when the salesperson has come late? Have you or his boss discussed why he comes late? Does he stay late also to finish the work? Have you considered introducing flexi-time working? If not, why not? I can keep on raising questions, but these will suffice for the time being. These should give you some idea of the extent of detail required to get precise advice.
From United Kingdom
Dear Shradha,
Dinesh has given a very good suggestion. At the cost of the discipline in the industry, you cannot continue with a person even though his performance is excellent. Despite many opportunities given, if there is no improvement, you have to make a final decision and take severe disciplinary action by issuing a charge sheet/show-cause notice and conducting an enquiry, which will send a clear signal to the other employees.
GIRI
From India, Hyderabad
Dinesh has given a very good suggestion. At the cost of the discipline in the industry, you cannot continue with a person even though his performance is excellent. Despite many opportunities given, if there is no improvement, you have to make a final decision and take severe disciplinary action by issuing a charge sheet/show-cause notice and conducting an enquiry, which will send a clear signal to the other employees.
GIRI
From India, Hyderabad
@ Dinesh, exactly. I totally agree with him. In fact, I was about to write the same thing. Once the person is aware that you have already tagged him as a good salesperson and he is fully taking undue advantage, it's better to give him a written warning three times. If he still continues the same behavior, then it's better to terminate him.
From India, Mumbai
From India, Mumbai
Dear Shradha,
Though excellent views have been provided by Mr. Dinesh and Mr. Giri, I would like to add a few more suggestions which will help you implement the aforementioned ideas on practical and legal grounds.
It is important that the Leave Policy, as described by you, be communicated to each and every individual in the organization. If this has not been done yet, please share the same through email, Standing Order, or the company intranet.
Please calculate the number of late days retroactively, deduct appropriate half-days for all employees, and inform them of these deductions in the next payslip or through email to check the updated leave status on the company intranet.
It is crucial that this policy is applied uniformly to all employees to avoid potential complaints to the Labor Office regarding targeted implementation.
While I generally do not advocate for deductions from employee remuneration, in your case, it appears to be a necessary measure. As an HR professional, it is your responsibility to strike a balance between employee remuneration and the organization's values, ethics, and discipline.
Remember, no player is bigger than the "GAME." Players come and go, but the game continues in each stage.
Failure to address this issue may create a negative impression on other "EXCELLENT" employees and could potentially erode the company's culture and values.
As always, I recommend seeking prior approval from Management, especially the Marketing department's Head, before taking any significant actions.
Thank you.
Best regards,
[Your Name]
From India, Delhi
Though excellent views have been provided by Mr. Dinesh and Mr. Giri, I would like to add a few more suggestions which will help you implement the aforementioned ideas on practical and legal grounds.
It is important that the Leave Policy, as described by you, be communicated to each and every individual in the organization. If this has not been done yet, please share the same through email, Standing Order, or the company intranet.
Please calculate the number of late days retroactively, deduct appropriate half-days for all employees, and inform them of these deductions in the next payslip or through email to check the updated leave status on the company intranet.
It is crucial that this policy is applied uniformly to all employees to avoid potential complaints to the Labor Office regarding targeted implementation.
While I generally do not advocate for deductions from employee remuneration, in your case, it appears to be a necessary measure. As an HR professional, it is your responsibility to strike a balance between employee remuneration and the organization's values, ethics, and discipline.
Remember, no player is bigger than the "GAME." Players come and go, but the game continues in each stage.
Failure to address this issue may create a negative impression on other "EXCELLENT" employees and could potentially erode the company's culture and values.
As always, I recommend seeking prior approval from Management, especially the Marketing department's Head, before taking any significant actions.
Thank you.
Best regards,
[Your Name]
From India, Delhi
Dear Shradha,
Mr. Divekar has rightly suggested the implementation of progressive discipline, which for any other department is always the correct way. However, I have a slightly different view on the timing policy for the sales team members or field staff. I feel we should try to give them some flexibility with respect to the in-time.
I am not saying you should encourage indiscipline, but many times we see that sales members have to attend calls at all hours depending on the convenience of the customers or clients. Sometimes, they even attend calls on weekends and other holidays if it suits the customers.
Have a general discussion with your sales team members and find out about the hours they are normally putting in. After the discussion, if you feel that they are genuinely attending to business calls in the evenings, holidays, weekends, talk to your management and propose a flexible time for your sales team.
Regards,
Vineeta
From India, Mumbai
Mr. Divekar has rightly suggested the implementation of progressive discipline, which for any other department is always the correct way. However, I have a slightly different view on the timing policy for the sales team members or field staff. I feel we should try to give them some flexibility with respect to the in-time.
I am not saying you should encourage indiscipline, but many times we see that sales members have to attend calls at all hours depending on the convenience of the customers or clients. Sometimes, they even attend calls on weekends and other holidays if it suits the customers.
Have a general discussion with your sales team members and find out about the hours they are normally putting in. After the discussion, if you feel that they are genuinely attending to business calls in the evenings, holidays, weekends, talk to your management and propose a flexible time for your sales team.
Regards,
Vineeta
From India, Mumbai
Talk to ur management for introducing flexi timing .It does not matter as long he is able to achieve targets .many companies have introduced this concept of flexi -timings
From India, Mumbai
From India, Mumbai
Since you are a good worker, you should call him and discuss the issue in detail. Explain to him that this habit of yours sends the wrong signals among other employees and disrupts the decorum. In every work environment, two factors play a crucial role - dedication and behavior. Therefore, to maintain complete discipline, he should be given some leeway due to his good sales performance, but this should not negatively impact others. If he is unwilling to change his attitude, you may need to take administrative action in line with the prevailing norms of your company.
From India, Lucknow
From India, Lucknow
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