As a human resource matter, the goal of effective discipline is to help an employee improve their performance or conduct, thus at the County we call it Corrective Action.  Corrective Action helps employees to focus on areas for improvement.

As a legal matter, if an employee is let go, following our processes and policy, it helps to show that you are providing a legitimate, non-discriminatory and documented reason for the separation of employment. Plus, no matter what the legal theory may be for challenging a discharge, fairness is often considered.  Fairness always matters, and corrective action increases actual and perceived fairness.

Typically, you will start with verbal coaching.  Of course, there are certain situations that require considering immediate adverse action or high-level corrective action, i.e. theft, harassment, discrimination, violence, etc. But generally, coaching is the first step toward affecting change.