Does anybody have a good idea on how to punish my new hires if they are late to class? I need to penalize them somehow within the HR guidelines.

Is there an examination at the end of orientation? If so, don't allow them into the room until the next time you take a break, which means they'll miss valuable information and potentially fail the exam. Of course, this only works if there's some price to pay for failing.

Another technique, when a person comes in late, ask another student to summarize what they've missed. It may not be punishment, but it does bring into an even brighter light the fact they arrived late and are now slowing everyone else down.

Ever consider making them do the YMCA dance for the rest of the group? Only kidding.

Hope this helps!

Del Laughery
President, Instructional Dynamics

I'm a bit confused about the need to *punish* these *adult* employees. What exactly did you have in mind when you say "punish"?

It probably depends on the style of class. In our new hire and customer service training we do little things like make them sing a song. I have seen classes where people had to dance into the classroom. Just be sure these consequences are known in advance.

This works well with companies who have high customer contact demands (Casinos, retail, sales etc) but would probably NOT go over well with more Sr Management or highly analytical training. In that case I favor individual coaching.

Occasionally, I have seen instructors use the "Anyone late to class has to sing a song outload in front of everyone" threat. You have to be willing and able to follow through with it, which hasn't been a problem. The downside is that you have to hear to their singing...