The first job you had, on an auto-parts assembly line, was an absolute nightmare, mostly because of your boss. If you were literally one minute late for your shift, he docked you a half-hour of pay. If you weren’t ten minutes early for every staff meeting, he would yell at you, in front of everyone else, for being late. If you took a sick day, he would call you three or four times a day to make sure you were bedridden at home. He once even called your doctor.
So when you became a manager at a software firm, you decided that you would never be that kind of boss. Even though there was much pressure to meet deadlines and quality standards, you always tried to make your place a relaxed atmosphere. You didn’t set a dress code, you let your staff set their own hours, and you never even thought of yelling at them or calling them out in public.
Lately, though, you wonder whether maybe you’ve been a little too lax. Several employees have been showing up really late for work, or taking days and even weeks off with no advance notice. What’s worse, they are giving really odd excuses for not showing up for work. One of your quality control engineers, who repeatedly showed up for work late, blamed his cat for hiding his car keys. One of his software engineers said that she couldn’t show up for work for three days because she dyed her hair blond, and it looked “tragic.” Even your Human Resources (HR) director got in on the act, saying that she had to have two weeks off because she broke up with her boyfriend and had to take a trip to Hawaii with another guy to deal with the pain.
Needless to say, you’re getting frustrated, not only because your employees’ absences are killing your productivity but also because you feel like they are treating you like a moron with their excuses. You want to find a way to bring some discipline back into your company, but you don’t want to end up being authoritarian like your first boss.
Questions
1. How would you resolve the situation described in this scenario?
2. What is an effective way for a manager to balance the need for supporting employee morale with the need for establishing discipline and authority?
Please write a 500-to-700 words paper in APA Style answering all questions, and include at least 3 reputable sources.