The Effectiveness, Fairness and Consistency of Disciplinary Actions and Procedures within Malawi: The Case of the Civil Service

Abstract

This paper analyses the effectiveness, fairness and consistency of disciplinary actions and procedures in the civil service of Malawi. The overall purpose of the study was to critically analyze the perceptions of civil servants regarding the effectiveness, fairness and consistency of disciplinary actions/procedure within the civil service.The study employed a qualitative research design by using both primary and secondary data collected from participants who were purposely selected. Skinners' reinforcement theories were adoptedto analyse the effectiveness and consistency of disciplinary actions and procedures in the civil service of Malawi. The results indicated that the theory is very relevant in the civil service as far as the aims of disciplinary procedure/actions are concerned. Hence, learning is the main aim of disciplinary procedure/actions, where employees learn the desirable behavior through reinforcement.The results also indicated that disciplinary procedure in the Civil Services faces a number of challenges. These among others include: lack of expediency, inconsistencies in handling disciplinary issues, failure to keep disciplinary records properly and favouritism. Similarly,the results also revealed that disciplinary procedure/ action was not effective. On the other hand, employees felt disciplinary procedure was not consistently applied, and that not all employees received the same treatment for similar actions. Therefore, the general view was that employees in the civil service are deprived of organizational justice due to weaknesses associated with the disciplinary procedure/action in civil service. The study then recommends that leaders within the civil service receive guidance and appropriate training to correct this perception, hence leading to the consistent application of discipline and appropriate treatment of all employees.