Re: Disciplinary Policy for Press Room
This is a simple SOP enforcement isue. If you have Standard Operating Procedures in place, those which would identify the defects you're experiencing, and they are 1) not following them or 2) ignoring the procedure when it reveals a defect, then they are in violation of company policy and you should follow YOUR SOP for disciplining them.
So if you're "searching in the dark" and nothing is in place, I suggest the following. (Your employees should be employed "at will" meaning there is no contractual obligation for them to continue working for you, or for you to continue to employ them. It is your will to employ them and thier will to remain employed. Either your or their will can be changed without cause or reason. This should be in your policy manual.)
1) The management team (try to leave out top-level C*O's...) should agree on an easy to understand, easy to enforce and black/white disciplinary system. It should contain several levels taking into account that people do make mistakes, and they should not be punished for normal human behavior. I like the 3 strikes program... this should become an SOP, enforced equally across the entire organization/department.
2) The management team and production leaders (a trusted pressman, maybe a shift supervisor) should write Quality Assurance SOP's that very clearly define the frequency of inspections, the scope of the inspection, retention of the inspected product and accountability for those actions. Furthermore, these SOP's should contain (or reference other SOP's that describe) how an operator is to address quality issues. Do they fix it on their own? Do they alert a supervisor and fix it? Should a mechanic be involved? At what point do they pull the job and get management involved?
3) When the SOP's are in place, get everyone on board. It isn't important that everyone agree, persay, on the content of the SOP's. As long as they are clear, concise and address only critical-to-quality issues, there is no arguement to be made. If someone chooses at that point to ignore their SOP's, you use your SOP to discipline them.
The "three strikes" system is very effective everywhere I've seen it used. If you accumulate 3 strikes in 12 months you are either dismissed or reallocated.
Strike one is "oops, I'm sorry" No disciplinary action takes place other than a form in their personnel file.
Strike two can be a second "oops" as long as it doesn't violate the same SOP as strike one. If it does, the employee should attend SOP training to ensure he/she understands what is expected of them. This strike may also come with unpaid time off (two or three days is appropriate, depending on the cost to the company of the error) Another form in the personnel file here, including the cost to the company and details of their time off.
Strike three of the same SOP violation is "you're out." Most people who habitually violate the same SOP really don't care. They should be free to find alternative employment. If you value the employee and they're just careless in their job, find them another place to work in your organization. Wipe the slate clean in that case... job fit is a major factor in many people's performance problems. Strike three involving a different SOP should still be "you're out" but in this case, a valuable employee should be retrained. Perhaps for the same job, maybe another.
If you use this system, it's important not to make your SOP's too broad; if any screw-up would violate the same SOP over and over, it's not working the way it was intended.
-Brian