Read these comments from an ER lawyer. Do you agree or disagree with all or some of her perspectives? Explain. What risks are involved with eliminating a progressive discipline system?

What could/should be done if needed in lieu of progressive discipline if an employees behaviors or actions are harmful to the workplace? Support your answer with concepts from the text, other sources, and from your own experience in the workplace.

Progressive discipline is a way for employers to set up a power-based, parent/child relationship with their employees. They set the tone for the relationship in their recruiting process. They reinforce the parent/child dynamic through their policies and procedures and cement it once a year with an annual performance review. Then they use progressive discipline to keep people in line.

It's a new millennium now. The smartest people, the folks who have the best ideas and who care the most about their work are the ones who make your business or break it. People who go through the motions and keep their heads down won't grow your business, but if you cannot step out of the mode of managerial power and control, you'll never see your teammates' brilliance.

For years people told me that progressive discipline is essential to keep a company out of court. That is a complete fabrication. I go to court as an expert witness in employment matters and I can tell you that writing someone up twice or three times or four hundred times will not keep you out of court. It may get you into court, in fact -- if your employee or ex-employee or their lawyer can make the compelling case that the application of progressive discipline was unfair or intended to get the employee to quit or to make another mistake.

It is 2022 and past time we got rid of Henry Ford-era progressive discipline policies. Your employees are not wayward children. Threats of termination never made anybody work harder or care more about their work.

Honest, human self-reflection and collaborative problem-solving are vastly superior to progressive discipline for helping your team grow and learn together.

We are stepping out of the mechanical workplace and into the Human Workplace together. Losing your archaic progressive discipline process is a necessary step in that evolution.