How a Boss Corrects Bad Conduct in the Workplace Really Does Matter

Back to the Rule of St. Benedict after our little vacation break posts.

Last time we discussed the importance of good conduct in the workplace. We saw how good conduct promoted stability in the workplace. We also recognized that those who disrupted the peace and stability of our workplace with their bad conduct should face consequences.

Those consequences could range anywhere from a good talking to, to being fired. Typically it's the boss's job to decide just how to address bad conduct. And how the boss does this can either lend itself to restoring stability to the workplace, or stirring up even more distraction and disruption.

A good boss, like a good abbot in a monastery recognizes that bad conduct comes in many shapes, forms, and - mostly - shades of gray. So it could make sense - short of outright malicious conduct - to give a wide birth to the employee who's called on the carpet for words or actions that upset the operations of the business.

The Rule of St. Benedict recognizes that some offenses are worse than others. 

"The brother who is guilty of a graver fault shall be excluded both from the table and from the oratory. Let none of the brethren consort with him or speak to him."

"Let the abbot exercise all diligence in his care for erring brethren, for 'they that are in health need not a physician, but they that are sick.' (Mat. ix. 12)...For the abbot is bound to use the greatest care, and to exercise all prudence and diligence, so that he many not lose any of the sheep entrusted to him. Let him know that what he has undertaken is the charge of the weakly souls, and not a tyranny over the strong...let him imitate the merciful example of Good Shepherd, who left the ninety and nine sheep in the mountains and went after the one sheep that had strayed..."

Note the punishment imposed on those who commit a graver fault. Then note how St. Benedict instructs the abbot to "use the greatest care, and to exercise all prudence and diligence, so that he may not lose any of the sheep entrusted to him."

So this seeming strict punishment springs from a caring abbot, not one bent of imposing undue suffering on his charges. Is there any reason a boss can't embrace such an approach? I think that a Catholic, in particular, can manage to be a boss who cares about their charges without being unduly soft, or, worse, ignoring bad conduct. 

This is one of the important areas in the Rule that can have a great positive impact on how boss and employee relate to each other in a business. The boss isn't one who merely dictates or demands. Conversely, the boss doesn't just let things go in hopes that they will straighten themselves out. 

Enforcing discipline, which includes consequences for bad conduct, will always be a primary task of a good boss. But how we take up that task makes all the difference.

In addressing the abbot, St. Benedict writes, "Let him know what what he has undertaken is the charge of the weakly souls, and not a tyranny over the strong." We should see that the same can be said of any boss. 

Employees are not cut from one cloth. Personalities differ. Mental and emotional states can be swayed this way and that by personal matters, or even whether it's sunny or cloudy that day. Any boss can take all this into account and temper their direction and their correction accordingly. And if one strives to follow the example of Our Lord - which all of us Catholic men at work naturally do strive to do, right? - then we can easily accept the conclusion of St. Benedict's instruction: "...let him imitate the merciful example of Good Shepherd, who left the ninety and nine sheep in the mountains and went after the one sheep that had strayed..."

Seriously. Is there any good reason we can't be like the Good Shepherd in how we enforce discipline on the job? Not a softee, mind you. But one motivated by charity. And, as we should know, charity sometimes calls for correction or even punishment. Just as we hate the sin but love the sinner, we can hate the bad conduct, but love the worker.

Charity will bring calm and peace to the table in any dispute or conflict. Such an approach will inevitably strengthen stability in our workplace.