The effectiveness of disciplinary action within a state owned entity

Abstract

Disciplinary action is used within an organisation to remedy undesirable workplace behaviour and to redirect employee effort towards the achievement of organisational goals. However, to achieve this goal, principles of substantive and procedural fairness must be adhered to when implementing disciplinary action against any employee. The objective of this paper was to explore whether the state owned entity under study took into consideration the substantive and procedural elements in the application of its disciplinary action and how employees perceived these principles. To attain this objective, a qualitative research design was adopted in which semi-structured interviews were conducted with research participants. A total of 10 research participants, from every level of the organisation participated in the study. Results of the study demonstrated that research participants perceived disciplinary action to be in accordance with a fair procedure, but not always for a fair reason. It is recommended that the organisation under study adheres to the principles of substantive and procedural fairness at all times, that the disciplinary policy is reviewed, benchmarked and adhered to, that the human resources department plays a greater role in administering disciplinary action and that expenditure is minimised at external dispute resolution bodies.