HR FOCUS
have instilled a sense of confidence and a culture of trust within your workplace, it is now time to draw up some detailed grievance procedures. Having your staff understand what the processes are will make them feel comfortable should an issue arise.
DRAW UP CLEAR GRIEVANCE POLICIES
AND PROCEDURES This is where responsibilities and expectations come into play. Employers are expected to provide support for staff, and encourage back-and-forth communication. On the other hand, staff should know that they can raise issues, and should do so if an incident occurs.
Of course, the implementation of policies is not quite enough. Employers need to be following up these policies by speaking to staff. How has this worked? Do you think this has had a positive, or negative effect on productivity?
Staff satisfaction translates well into other areas of a business – productivity is proven to be 12% higher when staff are happy, motivated and well-adjusted. This also improves reputations, as it gives you the opportunity to present the business as a strong advocate of employee happiness and satisfaction.
DEAL WITH SUCH
CALLS EXTERNALLY As we mentioned earlier, coming forward with a grievance or an issue can be off-putting for many people, due to the stigma that surrounds whistleblowers of all kinds, and the fear that there will be bias against them.
This is particularly true for small businesses, where the culture is tighter and everyone knows everyone. For example, someone who has an issue to raise about their manager may feel uncomfortable proceeding straight to a Director who is close with the staff member in question. People may feel that sides will be taken, and that the complaint will not be dealt with fairly and objectively.
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It can be difficult to get around such issues, especially for SMEs, or those that need to report on someone higher up than themselves. For example, if there were a chain of shops and a junior member of staff saw the highest manager stealing stock, they will need an anonymous place to report this because they obviously couldn’t report it to the manager. While there is an element of anonymity, whistleblowing lines are more about staff having a way to easily report to senior managers who they wouldn’t normally have a direct line of contact to.
“EMPLOYERS SHOULD LEAD BY EXAMPLE, AND ENSURE THAT STAFF CAN TRUST THEM 100%.”
Employers need to understand the delicate situation that arises and the difficult position employees feel they have been placed in when raising an issue either about the workplace or a colleague. They may feel like their job is under threat or that they will be side-lined by their colleagues if the word gets out, or they may have no option if they work in a small team where the person they wish to report is their own manager.
An anonymous line run outside your business shows that you care about your staff enough for them to have a place where they can voice their concerns to a trained individual, without the worry of a potential backlash or damage to their career.
USE TECHNOLOGY TO
YOUR ADVANTAGE Understandably, introducing extensive support plans can take a long time, and so can its maintenance. For such reasons, you should be incorporating some kind of online system with which employees can report grievances or issues. This can be as simple as firing an email over to your manager or HR representative. Alternatively, you can set up a system whereby multiple members of staff can have their say, anonymously or not. Either way, processes like this can be a huge time-saver.
Employees want their voices heard, and the more you allow this the happier they’ll be. This may be a little difficult if the matter at hand is of a sensitive nature, but the same rules still apply. With some simple strategies you can encourage a positive, transparent ‘speak up’ culture – in the long-run, your employees will thank you for it.
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