How to deal with a manager who behaved badly at an office party

15/01/2009

There are several things to consider before decided on disciplinary action for a manager that has drank too much and behaved lewdly at an office party.

Firstly, if allegations have been made that lewd remarks were made to the opposite sex, these allegations need to be clarified and made official, they cannot simply be office rumours.

Once allegations of inappropriate behaviour have been established, the extent of this behaviour needs to be made clear and corroborated through a swift investigation. Details should be gathered using interviews with staff members.

It is not necessary to prove the manager’s behaviour, but you must hold a reasonable belief that he/she behaved poorly, based on the investigations. At this point, disciplinary action can be arranged.

Dismissal is unlikely to be the correct option unless the remarks and behaviour were truly offensive or abusive, instead some equal opportunities training and a warning may be the right course of action. Your decision on how far to take the action may also be affected by the manager’s track record and reputation among staff.

The relationships between staff members could also be looked at in order to conclude whether there are personal or professional problems between any of the colleagues.