On Wednesday night, Sam Allardyce left his job as England manager after he was caught telling undercover reporters how to bypass rules on player transfers.
Allardyce, 61, was also was caught slamming his predecessor Roy Hodgson and assistant Gary Neville, as well as the FA.
His tenure at the football club lasted a brief 67 days, and resulted in a one million pound pay off.
In a statement by the FA, the association said Allardyce’s conduct was ‘inappropriate’. ‘He accepts he made a significant error of judgement and has apologised’, they added.
‘The manager of the England men’s senior team is a position which must demonstrate strong leadership and show respect for the integrity of the game at all times’
But how can employers deal with employees that have damaged business reputation? No business wants to tolerate an employee being rude or disrespectful – especially if they’re at the risk of damaging business reputation. But before any intervention, it is important to make sure the employer understands any possible underlying causes beforehand.
Alan Price, Employment law and HR director at Peninsula, speaks with HRreview about the correct steps to take if the situation occurs within your own company:
The first thing to do if an employee is acting inappropriately is to arrange a meeting – this should be informal and not in the tone of a disciplinary meeting, as that’s not the purpose of the conversation. If their work performance isn’t in question, there’s no need for discipline in that regard.
Whilst it’s important to have an open mind, it may be the case that this employee’s behaviour is not actually due to any external influence. In that case, the employer is entitled to treat the issue as a conduct matter and remind the employee that they’re expected to act professionally whilst at work, and show respect to their colleagues and clients.
At this stage, an informal word to them should be enough to let them know that the negative impact of their behaviour on the workplace has been noted and should not continue.
If bad behavior continues despite having spoken to the employee, then employers should remain calm and attempt to improve any issues by issuing them a further warning or referring to a disciplinary procedure or gross misconduct practice.
Rebecca joined the HRreview editorial team in January 2016. After graduating from the University of Sheffield Hallam in 2013 with a BA in English Literature, Rebecca has spent five years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past she has been part of the editorial teams at Sleeper and Dezeen and has founded her own arts collective.
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