Protocol

            Most every day most of us are asked to decide how to respond to issues which can influence others as well as dealing with possible consequences or outcomes from our decisions which we make. The ability to choose or decide about things in a clear and definite way without too much hesitation or delay logically or morally can be based on knowledge and personal conviction.

            During a brief tenure as a manager of a call center I discovered that one of my subordinates was using un-prescribed pain medication during work. It was so obvious the situation was almost embarrassing. I had just completed a seminar on human relations which dealt directly with the issue in which I faced. The problem was that the person in question was my Assistant, and the person who helped trained me.

            Morally, my decision was to confront my Assistant and do what I could to rectify and preserve the core of the Management team. The other decision that loomed was the answer to my Managers who knew about my Assistants circumstances, and how I would deliver the disciplinary action which was governed by a set protocol.

               Logically I was required to look past any personal beliefs and follow protocol to the letter, but morally my convictions conflicted with some areas of protocol, so I concluded that a small compromise could be introduced that would benefit my Assistant and the company.

            The compromise was accepted and became an addition to protocol. Instead of a suspension without pay, the Assistant would be given the option to enter a substance abuse program (out-patient) and still contribute to the company without losing any pay days, and the only other outcomes would be either suspension, or termination.