Disciplining managers

kates · May 2002

We have a manager that is relatively new to his position (8 months). He has been with our company, however for 7 years. He has always had a perception that because of his race, things do not go the way he wants. In the last couple weeks, he has gone to the owners of our company to say that his supervisor is out to destroy the company, no one likes him, etc, etc. None of this is true. We have surveyed the staff in this department and other managers regarding these accusations. The only complaint we are hearing is that this manager is always complaining about his supervisor, making comments about his ability to perform his job, hard to work with, etc. We want to discipline this manager but know that we are treading on delicate soil. He most likely will assume it is due to his race, when in fact it is not. We have invested a lot of time & money in this gentelman and it appears it is all for nothing. Any advice on how to deal with this situation would be appreciated.

Gillian · May 2002

Before documenting the problems in a disciplinary way you might want to be up front with him and tell him that his perceptions don't match what you have gathered from co-workers and others and because of that you have a dilemma. Suggest third party involvement to help mediate the differences. The third party could be someone from an Employee Assistance Program or someone from the community of which this person is a member. You have a lot invested, right? Disciplinary action without this step would guarantee failure. It may not work, but at least you have tried.

B_Jackson · May 2002

It is important that there is an impartial investigation of the manager's concerns. An investigation will go beyond determining if the perceptions of others are the same or different from those of this manager. An investigation will be able to show the manager that the evidence does not support his perceptions or claims. I would then suggest assistance in a positive way to help the employee change his perceptions before moving to any issue of discipline.

Theresa Gegen TX · May 2002

Here is the tact I would consider taking:

1. If he has complained about his manager and not brought up his race or discrimination as an issue, I would disclipline him immediately and maybe even consider removing him from that position. It is clear he is not happy there, and he is not contributing. Also, it is clearly improper for him to complain about the manager to others (outside of the normal open door or grievance policy). He is tearing down the organiztion. If he hasn't brought up race yet, he will, and once he does it is a whole different ball game.

2. If he has already brought up the race issue in regards to this manager, you are in a much more difficult situation. If his complaint involved race discrimination, I would not discipline him as a result of him complaining to the managers. That could be seen as retaliatory. In that case, I think you would need to run the facts by your employment lawyer before taking action against the employee. The risk is very great!

Good Luck!!

Disciplining managers

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