"I have just judged a regional competition for Young Enterprise, a charity that runs programmes in schools where Year 12 students (16/17 year olds) set up a company and trade for a year.

Not only did they all use the formal hierarchy of MD, Finance, Sales, HR and other directors but I was really surprised to see how many of them had resorted to formal written warnings for team members who were deemed not to be pulling their weight.

Maybe this is a reflection of the school hierarchy / disciplinary systems and maybe the less traditional approaches had been eliminated earlier in the competition but it saddened me to see no attempt at a co-operative, democratic, peer group model of working."

This comment came from Ann Hawkins after she was recently asked to join the judging panel for Young Enterprise.  I too was surprised to hear that formal written warnings were the order of the day.  In my experience, businesses too often shy away from taking action when dealing with problems such as poor attendance, not following the rules, and other disciplinary issues.  Such situations are often left far too long and become very serious very quickly when really, they could have been resolved earlier in the process with much less effort. 

Having said that, perhaps this attitude can be attributed to generational differences.  Our young people have been brought up in a culture of “where there’s blame there’s a claim”.  Communication is out – litigation is in.  Why take the informal route when there’s a formal process to follow?

Regardless of whether it’s an established business or a Young Enterprise team, it’s essential to have the right attitude towards discipline and disciplinary action.  It should not be the first and only solution but nor should it be ignored until the last possible minute.  Neither approach is of benefit to anyone concerned.