In this humorous, sponsor‑filled episode of the "Honor Roll" podcast, host Mike Michalowicz (author of Toilet Paper Entrepreneur and The Pumpkin Plan) shares an unconventional yet practical approach to employee discipline. After a series of tongue‑in‑cheek jokes about extreme torture methods, he proposes a humane, proactive strategy: when hiring a new employee, ask them how they would like to be disciplined if performance issues arise, and record that preference in an HR file. Later, if a problem occurs, the manager delivers the disciplinary action using the employee’s chosen method—whether a private meeting, an off‑site conversation, or an email—thereby preserving dignity and keeping the employee satisfied. The segment balances comedic exaggeration with a clear, actionable recommendation, while also noting legal and ethical limits on actual physical punishment.
Chapters
Welcome to Honor Roll. And now, here's your host, Mike McCallowicz. Hey, kiddos. Welcome back to Honor Roll. I appreciate you being here. I'm your host, Mike Michalowicz, and I am the author of those great little books, Toilet Paper Entrepreneur and the Pumpkin Plan. I got a good tip for you today. First, I want to start off with our sponsors. So thank you to Skype, thank you to Hermenda's group, thank you to Amex, thank you to XDigital, and thank you to our newest sponsor, Nextiva. Now, there was a reason I was throwing things at you over there. Why? Because I want to teach you how to discipline employees. Now, I think you're asking to yourself, you know, could I take my employee, hang upside down, hit him with chains and stuff like that in a torture room? The answer, unfortunately, is yes, of course you can if you're in Pakistan. Now, I presume you're not watching the video from Pakistan known for their employee torture. Oh, no. But you probably are watching from a country that prohibits that. There's another way, just for you. And this is the technique. Ask them in advance to disciplining them how they want to be disciplined. Now, this isn't after to make this egregious mistake or error that you need to fix. This is when you first bring them on board. You say, hey, welcome to our company. And by the way, if we ever have challenges that we face together, what's the best way to notify you of a challenge? They tell you you're staged for it. You write it in your HR folder, and then the next time the issue comes up, you present the challenge, the discipline, to them the way they want it. Some people want to be pulled into a private room in your office. Others want to go off site. Some would like to get by email first, find out how they prefer it most. And the rest is toast or gross or drossed, which is not even a word. It's someone's name. Now, while you can't torture people, you can use enhanced interrogation techniques like this. It's it.
