In this blog I will conclude this series by discussing an overview of implementing complaint processes, how to monitor your organisation and how effective performance management and great leadership reduces your risk of complaints.
Complaint Processes
I recommend having two types of complaint processes. If you are a small business without a HR director I would also recommend a board member (with the assistance of external HR support) be a contact officer.
The Informal Process
In my experience when people understand when and how to use the informal process and it is activated in a fast, proactive and effective manner this significantly lessens serious issues and reduces formal complaints. It also creates a positive, open and respectful culture and environment.
The informal process is designed to “nip behaviour in the bud” before it becomes a problem. It is not to determine whether harassment, discrimination or bullying has occurred or not. It is simply designed to highlight offensive behaviour and for that person’s personal boundaries to be respected. In order for this process to work exceptionally well, the company culture needs to be seen as respectful, inclusive, open and supportive. As a basic overview, all employees are trained on how to deal with issues informally, whether raising the issue or the recipient of the process.
An example of the informal process in a nutshell is encouraging staff to immediately highlight to the other person that they found whatever they said or did inappropriate or offensive and to please not do it again. The perpetrator is then expected to apologise for any upset caused and to refrain from such behaviour in future.
The Formal Process
This process is quite complex and I cannot detail it appropriately in a blog. However, here is an basic overview to enable you to understand the process.
The formal process is instigated either because the matter is serious enough to make a formal complaint or where the informal process has failed. In some cases, employees choose to use the formal complaint process as a first stop and this should be respected. Please be aware they as a manager YOU DO NOT need to have a formal complaint if you witnessed highly inappropriate behaviour. You are required to act under the law regardless!
It is your responsibility to ensure a safe and appropriate environment for your employees. You may feel this is unfair as you employ adults and adults need to manage their own behaviour! I can’t agree with you more! Training goes a long way to putting the responsibility squarely in the hands of the employee. However, the law is designed as always for the lowest common denominator and being in business that employs people, this comes with some parental type supervision requirements by law.
As this process is not part of criminal law, the onus of the investigation is to determine (based on a full investigation of the facts), the probability of those facts as to whether the accusation occurred. This can be a very complex process and emotional process, affecting whole teams and sometimes departments. This process needs to be conducted with an objective stance and with someone who has had many years of investigative interviewing. The outcome of the process determines the most appropriate action to be taken.
The process needs to be designed to gain a clear understanding of the complaint, the behaviour, who was involved and any witnesses. Sometimes as in the DJ case the investigation needs to be broadened to identify if the behaviour has occurred previously. This goes to assist the determination of whether harassment/bullying was likely to have occurred.
Monitoring and Evaluation the policy and organisational behaviour
Having a policy is all very well and good, but if you don’t assess the policy and how it is working, then you too could end up with the DJ style case against you. The key thing about the DJ suit is that the company failed to live up to, and enforce their policy properly.
The five best ways to know if your policy is working and being managed well –
1. Observe behaviour in the office and outside the office. Do not ignore inappropriate behaviour. Ensure any inappropriate behaviour is dealt with quickly.
2. A big clue and one that is often ignored by senior managers is high sickness levels and turnover in a team. More often than not, exit interviews will highlight leadership issues with the manager and often people will reveal that they have been bullied/harassed but choose to leave as they don’t believe anything will be done about it. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard this in my 22 years of HR!
3. Conducting relevant leadership 360 degree feedback helps the manager and the coach correct perceptions of behaviour or inappropriate behaviour quickly before a problem occurs. Managers often get into bullying behaviours simply because they don’t have the right skill sets or tools to help them deal with problems effectively. The behaviours in a Leadership Assessment are geared towards high performance, best practice leadership standards and hence enables very individualised training and coaching.
4. Conduct an Employee Engagement Survey once a year which specifically asks questions related to the matter as part of the overall survey.
5. Ensure that you have an effective Performance Management process in place and that all managers are facilitating the process correctly and effectively. This also nips problems in the bud quickly whilst ensuring high performance and growth!
I hope that this has been useful. Please see below for a special offer if you do not have your own HR Professional, we can assist you to get an appropriate and effective process implemented in your business without fuss and excessive costs!
Until next time – When I’ll discuss Toxic Employees (who hasn’t come across one of those) and what you can do about it!
MY PERFORMANCE COACH - HR SERVICE
My Performance Coach is delighted to assist you with implementing your strategy. We will assist you to develop an appropriate policy for your business and conduct training. Contact us to discuss your specific needs. As a special offer, we are offering Readers of this Blog a 20% discount on Training. Acceptable Behaviour training starts from $69 per person (min participant requirement). Costs include training, handouts and an online test. We can also assist you in investigating and managing complaints.
My Performance Coach specialises in assisting small to medium enterprises with their Human Resource and HR issues We ensure you have effective protection whilst ensuring we use pragmatic and straightforward processes. My Performance Coach provides strategic Human Resource service enabling businesses to build a strong, integrated HR strategy giving you a clear competitive advantage over their competitors. We also offer Coaching and training service for Executives/Managers to ensure your business is able to easily and proactively manage their human resources effectively!
This article is intended to provide commentary and general information. It should not be relied upon as comprehensive or legal advice. Formal legal advice may be necessary in particular transactions or on matters of interest arising from this article. My Performance Coach is not responsible for the results of any actions taken on the basis of information in this article, nor for any error or omission in this article.
