The Consequences

A management group called Sunday to deal with prohibited relationships between staff members worked out well. And probably one of the reasons it worked out well was that management set a tone before the meeting started.

The purpose of the group, said one of the managers, was not to punish or discharge those involved. The purpose was to have them accept responsibility.

Each voluntarily admitted their roles. Each accepted responsibility. The only thing left was to give consequences.

With one exception, the consequences were pretty much equal. They were asked to write a paper to be read at the next monthly management meeting. They also had to attend 90 meetings in 90 days. In addition, two were asked to apologize to the house during one of the weekly meetings.

The exception was that one woman lost her position as house manager. The group felt her involvement was more extensive than the others. 

At the last minute, one manager suggested the woman be allowed to keep her job. He pointed out that the position meant a great deal to her and was an important part of her recovery. 

However, he was overruled after another manager pointed out that he'd lost things over and over because of his bad behavior. He said the only thing that helped him change was by paying the consequences for his bad decisions.