Handling employees is akin to raising children. There are rules to follow and if you let them get away with ignoring the rules they learn that nothing you say matters. How do you deal with a three year old in a full-blown tantrum? Time-out is one way. What's the grown up equivalent of that? Suspension. You get the idea. Just like I have to parent each of my children differently, each employee must be handled differently as well. The difference is that adults SHOULD be old enough to understand that the rules are applied fairly to everyone and the consequences are the same for everyone, but sometimes they don't. Worst-case scenario... when one parent undermines the other. This also happens in business... HR says you must follow the rules and the manager vetoes it. It's infuriating and can lead to the HR Pro having a tantrum of their own.
Last night I sent my four-year-old to her room. She and the two-year-old were playing outside and the baby ended up crying. He can't articulate what happened, and appeared to be fine, but she wouldn't tell me. I stressed that if it was an accident she wouldn't be in trouble. To no avail, she refused to spill so she went upstairs until dinner. After pressing and watching which questions made her go silent, I'm pretty sure she pushed him down after an argument of some sort. Luckily when Dad got home he sided with me. We make a conscious effort to present a united front at all times. I desperately try to foster this with my managers as well, but sometimes it just doesn't happen.
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