Nana Yaw Oppong
University of Cape Coast, Ghana

Series: Business Issues, Competition and Entrepreneurship
BISAC: BUS097000

It is very common to hear that human resources is the most valuable asset of an organization. This means employees are indispensable workplace components of resources for achieving organizational success. However, the same resources can become a very expensive form of inventory to keep; expensive because they become counter-productive due to their undesirable behaviours, which could reflect job performance, absenteeism, or most significantly, misconduct. Disciplinary policy and procedures are therefore necessary tools to deal with employees who may act contrary to the behavioural (and performance) expectations of the organization and, therefore, attempt to derail the objectives of the organization.

The book comes in handy for all those who perform human resource management. It is a companion to boost the confidence in handling not only the interview, but also to recommend the appropriate actions and effectively prepare related documents. The book is divided into eight parts, each part dealing with a unique aspect of the disciplinary process. Part One introduces the book and outlines the need for the book to help deal with conflicts that may arise as part of the employee-employer working relationship. Part Two outlines and explains the grounds for discipline, emphasizing three main areas: incapacity or under-performance, misconduct, and absence. Part Three opens with the main object of the book – the disciplinary interview – and considers the preparation stage (discussing the various steps and requirements), while Part Four advances the process further – how the disciplinary interview is conducted on the day of the hearing. Part Five looks at the possible actions (corrective measures or punishments) that could be taken based on the disciplinary panel/committee’s findings, with Part Six focusing on the “after the interview” period by communicating the decision (in writing) to the employee. Part Seven provides important guidelines for handling redundancies and pronouncing actions that will not degenerate into court claims. Part Eight concludes the book by providing important sources of advice for both employers and employees on industrial relations, especially with regard to disputes and perceived unfair and/or wrongful dismissals. Fourteen appendices provide documents relating to the various aspects of the subject to offer hassle-free production of each document. (Imprint: Nova)