Discipline as an integral part of effective supervision

Table of contents:

1. Discipline in terms of supervision
2. Subordinate discipline
3. Discipline combined with positive attitude
4. Appropriate disciplinary techniques
5. Conclusion

1. Discipline in terms of supervision
In terms of supervision, discipline must be referred to as a set of instructions given to the subordinate employee. It makes the subordinates learn all the instructions, which are required in order to provide successful work performance. The inability to follow such instructions results in certain “penalties” for the individual. Each organization has its own disciplinary code aimed to maintain the order within the organization. Discipline may be analyzed as the attempt to model the conduct of the subordinates in accordance with the peculiarity of a given organization. It actually shapes the behavior which is considered to be acceptable by the supervisors. Improper professional conduct may result in various negative consequences especially when it deals with police supervision as misconduct may lead even to death. Discipline in terms of effective police supervision is achieved through coaching, mentoring and counseling of subordinates and is controlled through a set of penalties. The major task of the supervisory discipline is to form the subordinate’s self-discipline and therefore secure the work process (Ianonne, 2000). All the disciplinary procedures used to reinforce the importance of the disciplinary code of the given organization deal with making the individual committed to a certain type of actions during his work hours. Discipline also plays an essential role in the formation of the subordinates’ motivation. It results in the type of individual behavior especially vital in extreme situations, when the subordinate chooses what is right according to the organization and not him. This makes discipline the regulator of instruction fulfillment (Pickett, 2000).
2. Subordinate discipline
Subordinate discipline is a vital element of the effective police supervision primarily due to the fact that the supervisors ability to set a corresponding discipline code and perform a proper reaction to misconduct results in the organization’s professional level of work. The disciplinary code preplans all the possible misconducts and confrontations with subordinates and leaves no space for unexpectedness which can be harmful in terms of effective supervision. The secret of a successful disciplinary supervision lies in the supervisor’s ability to develop clear rules and following consequences in case of misconduct. Discipline is an integral part of effective supervision as it actually becomes a code of rules for the police officers related to their duty. Such discipline is necessary become it serves the peace of the community and teaches the officers how to act in order to prevent crimes and not discredit the police supervision system. As the police supervisors need to make sure that their subordinated conduct fair police service disciplinary defaults are followed by corresponding punishments. The disciplinary code is a guarantee of the protection of the quality of the police service (Pickett, 2000). Police disciplinary defaults vary from discreditable conducts to improper of-duty conduct. In other words it does not matter if the police officer in on or off duty – he is still a subject of disciplinary code applied by the effective police supervision. As the supervisors need to be sure that the police officers will perform a corresponding behavior and work with considerable professionalism the disciplinary code helps to avoid unsatisfactory work service performance.
3. Discipline combined with positive attitude
Discipline is the major responsibility of the police supervisor. In terms of effective police supervising discipline becomes a harsh responsibility. An effective supervisor puts a great effort into making the subordinate understand the way it is necessary to act to fit the police disciplinary code. From the listed above factors it become obvious that an effectively build disciplinary code is on of the main advantages and the trump card of the effective police supervision model. If the subordinates perfectly know the order rules they will understand the fairness of this or that penalty. The reason the disciplinary code is so essential and effective is that it develops self-discipline and therefore reduced the probability of misconduct and at the same time it lead the organization to progressive discipline.
Nevertheless, the supervisors need to remember that the discipline measures are always applied to the behavior of a subordinate and not his personality. Very often such misunderstandings lead to fatal errors resulting in systematic misbehavior of a subordinate. Once, the subordinate knows the rules he knows what to expect in case of failure to follow the disciplinary code. Another important issues in order to achieve effective supervision in terms of discipline is to reveal general positive attitude to the subordinates. The less problems with the attitude of the subordinates the less discipline issues arouse and the work is done on an appropriate level of quality. Individual differences should also be taken into consideration as it is one of the key elements of effective supervision. As a suppor, More and Miller in their book “Effective police supervision” state that in term of discipline a subordinate has the obligation to report to the supervisor but at the same time the supervisor needs to take into consideration the subordinate’s peculiarities and differences (More & Miller, 2005).
4. Appropriate disciplinary techniques
Good discipline may be the precondition of good subordinate performance. According to the effective supervision model at the beginning of duty each subordinate is aquatinted with the disciplinary code. As at the first several days of work are very sensitive for learning the subordinate always put a lot of effort in trying his best. Therefore it is the moment when disciplinary influence should be conducted. In order to maintain the effective supervision it is vital to make sure that appropriate disciplinary techniques are applies. Among the most effective disciplinary techniques is the hot stove rule and progressive discipline. Hot stove rule can be applied to various situation of misconduct. Its name speaks for itself as it provides the hot stove effect: it gives the subordinate an immediate warning about his behavior. As a rule it will burn every single subordinate the very same way and therefore makes the subordinate feel the fairness of discipline measure applied to him. In its turn progressive discipline involves four main discipline measures such as: verbal warning, written reprimand, suspension and further discharge. Here the most important element of disciplining is communication (Baker, 2005). This gradual warning system always leaves the subordinate a chance to change, to improve and to start acting in accordance with the disciplinary code of the organization. According to the analyzed above material discipline plays a very important part in the formation of effective supervision.
5. Conclusion
As the discipline helps the supervisors to maintain the organization’s functioning on the top level it has become an integral part of effective supervision. The subordinates should follow the disciplinary code and at the same time the supervisors should take into consideration their peculiarities and therefore chose the corresponding discipline measures. The mentioned above arguments speak for discipline and many authors agree with this. But it is vital to remember that in order to perform effective supervision within an organization it is necessary not only apply behavior penalties but also have a system of rewards. For instance, if a person is penalized for being late, a person who is never late should be correspondingly rewarded. The discipline code is a guarantee that the subordinates will understand what is the supervisor expecting from them. Supervisor with the help of discipline minimizes the problems within the organization and makes it functioning more productive. In terms of discipline proactivity is vital because it eventually assists the effective supervision in the creation of positive environment at the workplace where the subordinates know what the supervisor expects form them through the disciplinary code. This is the reason discipline is such an essential part of effective supervision.

Bibliography:

1. More, H & Miller, L.(2007). Effective Police Supervision, 5th Edition. Anderson Publishing.

2. Pickett, J.et al.(2000), “Discipline”, American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.), Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

3. Baker, T.(2005). Effective Police Leadership. Looseleaf Law Publications.

4. Ianonne N. & Ianonne M.(2000). Supervision of Police Personnel. Prentice Hall.