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WHAT Did Your Employee Just Say?
28 August 2024
How to proceed with caution in handling sensitive employee complaints.
There are many cliché’s surrounding the Trades and blue collar work, like the idea that technicians enjoy offensive jokes and off-hand comments. To make matters worse, today's society encourages responding boldly to even the perception
of inappropriateness or offense, even if it wasn't intended that way. While neither of these stereotypical behaviors is 100% accurate, it's true that some people tend to speak their minds boldly, while others have a tendency to take offense, so you're sure to run into "sensitive employee complaints" at your company and it can be a challenge to know who's right.
So what do you do if an employee comes to you claiming harassment, insult, threat, or offense? Here's a recommended plan to help you navigate, remain objective, stay out of legal trouble, and get to the bottom of what's truly going on.
First, you need to plan your approach. Who's involved? Who needs to be immediately notified? How much can (and should) be kept confidential? How urgently does this need to be handled? Some claims are more serious than others, and before you take any steps you may want to reach out to The Big Picture Consulting to get a sense for how to proceed. Above all, let the complaining employee know that you're taking it seriously, will be investigating, and can use their cooperation.
Once you have a general plan, it's time to gather information. You can't just go with "he said/she said" for sensitive complaints. Figure out what you want to learn, who has this info, and who's the best one to gather it. Do not make assumptions, but ask questions to understand the various perspectives. Why did the victim find this offensive? If the offender denies the accusation, why do they think they're being targeted for false claims? Follow as many trails as you can, and then DOCUMENT EVERYTHING! You can wind up in trouble if you fail to document things like the steps taken, your decision-making process, and key factors, and an employee disagrees with the outcome and drags you to court.
Okay, so you gathered a bunch of info, now what? Analyze it. Consider factors like the reliability of each source, how well sources support each other, and whether you have enough information to get a clear picture of what happened. Only then should you draw conclusions about the situation.
Finally, it's time to take action. Make sure all decision-makers have the info they need, and determine the most appropriate outcome. If needed you can consult experts (like us!) to help refine or adjust your strategy. Prepare the necessary documents and then implement your decision.
Once the immediate situation is handled, ask yourself what you can do to prevent this sort of thing from happening again. Are you inviting communication from your employees and management team, so they come to you BEFORE things escalate into major problems? Do employees believe you'll respond appropriately if they approach you? Are your policies clear, so everyone knows what's expected?
Ultimately, it comes down to representing your Brand and holding people accountable - not just with sensitive employee complaints, but all the time.
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