Don’t be afraid of the “A” Word
Accountability is a much needed and often overlooked part of building civility in our companies, and communities. Asking three important questions can help move in the right direction.
Conducting Workplace Investigations with Remote Employees
Workplace investigations are always challenging, but remote workers create an interesting new challenge. But one that can be overcome.
Employee Relations Case Management as a “new normal” HR Tool
As business owners and HR professionals struggle to determine the new normal for their company and employees, we will collectively be leaning toward more automation like employee relations case management tools and online resources to get our day-to-day work done. Many, or even most, companies have implemented some form [READ MORE ...]
Employee Complaints: Employees Want To Be Heard. What’s Your Plan?
Race, age and sex discrimination • Wrongful termination • Retaliation • ADA accommodation violation • OSHA violations These are just a few of the employee complaints that are increasing due to actions employers have and are taking since the COVID-19 Pandemic began. Let’s face it, we had to act [READ MORE ...]
Solving the Loneliness Factor for Remote Workers
Ideas for helping your employees deal with loneliness due to COVID-19 forced remote working.
Balancing Empathy and Accountability for Remote Workers at Home
Written by Hannah Kirkland Maintaining a supportive environment while still encouraging employees to be productive is a tough balancing act. Requiring employees to work from home with family staying home as well, adds a new element to the balancing act. However, there are a handful of ways that you [READ MORE ...]
The Best Way to Avoid EEOC Claims
When a letter comes in the mail with a return address of the EEOC, I think we can all agree that it’s not likely to be good news. But there are a few changes that can be done to reduce or avoid EEOC claims all together. The EEOC harassment [READ MORE ...]
Can’t We Have Consistency, Compliance AND Compassion?
An article posted yesterday in the SHRM HR Daily Newsletter, took a stand that in HR matters, “Consistency Might Not Be Worth the Cost.” Although I understand that no two situations are exactly the same, and careful consideration of all the factors should drive reasonable outcomes, taking out the [READ MORE ...]
Do you know how your employees feel after an HR investigation?
This is a question we ask often, and it tends to take people by surprise. Why? Because they are not sure. After 25+ years of conducting HR investigations, I understand the reasons why we don’t continue to talk with employees after an investigation is complete. It’s better to let [READ MORE ...]
5 Reasons We Don’t Need HR Investigation Software
There are several reasons why HR professionals say they don’t need an HR investigation software, but there are a few that I hear time and time again. You may even find yourself using one or more of the reasons below. And that’s understandable with all the new technologies entering [READ MORE ...]
HR Offense -vs- Defense. What’s Your Plan?
It still surprises me when I hear that employees have brought forth a complaint to HR or a company executive, and no investigation was conducted. Although the numbers are reducing over time, some organizations still believe that there is less liability in simply doing nothing. Then, if a claim [READ MORE ...]
The 5 Best Reasons to Conduct HR Investigations May Surprise You
If you haven’t already read “The 5 Worst Reasons for Not Conducting HR Investigations”, you may want to start there. Sure, it’s fun to get a chuckle over other people’s excuses, until we realize how often investigations are being avoided. But investigations don’t have to be scary, chaotic or [READ MORE ...]
The 5 Worst Reasons for Not Conducting HR Investigations.
If you ask a CEO or HR professional if they conduct HR investigations, they will say “of course”. But when you dig in a bit further, all too often there is an “unless” statement. Here are some of the worst reasons that I have heard so far this year: Of course [READ MORE ...]
Workplace Investigations Improve Company Culture. Really?
Over the last few months, I have been speaking at regional HR meetings on the topic of “Using Workplace Investigations to Drive Employee Engagement and Improve Company Culture. And although I hear some skepticism on how this could be possible, attendance has been at very high levels. When talking [READ MORE ...]
Will Your Investigator Spill The Beans? A Lesson From The White House.
Whether it’s your VP of HR, a department manager or an outside investigator, can you be sure your workplace investigator won’t jeopardize the investigation by sharing too much information? We all believe that our people know better than to share the details of an investigation with anyone who does [READ MORE ...]
When HR Does Something Good “Just Because”.
In work, as in life, it is often the little things that matter. Let’s face it, life isn’t perfect. And although we all try not to bring our personal lives into the workplace, there are times when it just can’t be helped. As HR professionals, we are often aware [READ MORE ...]
5 Common Misnomers Re: Employer Retaliation
We all know that the laws enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) make it illegal to fire, demote, harass, or otherwise retaliate against either job applicants or employees based upon the individual doing any of the following: filing a charge of discrimination, complaining to their employer about discrimination on the job, or [READ MORE ...]
How Do You “Deal With It”?
In the February edition of the SHRM HR Magazine, (Yes, I know it’s March but I am a bit behind on my reading. Aren’t we all?), I read an article about dealing with difficult employees that I found to be quite interesting. I know that this topic isn’t new, but [READ MORE ...]
Will There Be Over 90,000 Discrimination Charges Filed In 2017?
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently released the 2016 statistics for discrimination and harassment cases filed for the year, showing an increase for the second consecutive year. Discrimination charges were filed in 91,503 cases (29% being sex based claims). The interesting point here is that the agency [READ MORE ...]
Complainant or Complainer? 5 ways to find out.
In every organization, there are those employees who are very comfortable coming into the HR office and sharing every detail of what is going on with the other employees. These are often referred to as “serial complainers” who revel in drama and like to make every incident or interaction [READ MORE ...]