subject: Reputational Risks In Your Organization - Part 3 [print this page] Human Resources Human Resources
The Human Resources division of any organization is tasked with administering and enforcing a myriad of policies and protocols. Employees are provided with their first understanding of the organizational culture by means of their interaction with HR.
Some common problem areas include:
Dysfunctional hiring, supervisory and termination practices.
Hiring employees is a tricky business in today's environment. When incidents of fraud or criminal behavior come to light, often the individual was hired without having gone through background, credit or criminal screening.
Lack of grievance procedures for issues other than waste, fraud and abuse.
Employees often go to the media to expose workplace conditions or wrongful supervisory allegations because they do not have an effective system within the organization to file grievances for issues other than waste, fraud and abuse. Many of the grievances that find their way to the media could have been resolved quietly within the organization had there been an effective grievance system in place.
Employees are free to talk to the media.
When employees are on the job, there needs to be an absolute rule that all media inquiries are referred to the Designated Spokesperson. Employees either do not realize or do not care that at the moment they are on camera, they become the face of the organization. Who acts as the face of the organization is management's call - not the employees.
Sexual harassment and other forms of fraternization are ignored.
One wonders if CBS's entertainment division has a policy on sexual harassment or fraternization. Even if they do, clearly their high profile employees like David Letterman appear to be exempt from accountability. Only time will tell if this scandal will have a lasting effect on ratings. However, companies, nonprofits and academic institutions cannot afford to have events of this nature tarnish their reputations.
Work Comp Claims continue to increase in frequency and severity.
If the premium for your Work Comp policy rises every year, it might be because of the experience modification, or the annual record of claims for injuries or workplace-related illnesses. Workplace safety and possible investigation by regulatory agencies such as OSHA can trigger a reputational crisis.
Travel and other reimbursable claims that appear to be inflated or inaccurate. Extensive incidences of fraud generally begin with small things such as inflated travel claims or requests for reimbursement that are not documented with receipts. Although this may appear to be trivial, it is the thin edge of the wedge. Once a person tests the system in this manner and determines that there are no consequences, the scope of the fraud expands.
Employees are issued company credit cards for travel and other work-related expenses.
The San Francisco Chronicle headline read, San Francisco Schools Head Uses District Credit as Own SF Chronicle, October 4, 2009. The City's School Board President used her district-issued credit card to charge over $15,000 for personal use. In today's business world this sum can be dismissed as small change. In this instance, however, the city's School Board had recently cut school budgets dramatically. This new instance of seemingly hypocritical behavior on the part of the head of the school board further aggravated parents and teachers and yet again put this troubled school system in a negative spotlight.
Checklist for the grievance policy:
Name
Are you a (check one)
* Visitor
* Customer
* Employee
* Member of the public/neighborhood
* Other
Nature of the complaint:
Names of staff members involved:
Names of any other individuals involved:
Were there injuries? If so, describe the injuries?
Was there property damage or theft? Describe the property, give the value of the property and describe damage if applicable.
Checklist to investigate a grievance complaint:
Chief Investigator name and title
Assisting in the investigation Give names/titles
Date of the Report:
Date that complaint was received:
Date that investigation commenced:
Date that investigation concluded:
Law Enforcement contacted? Yes______ No_______
Summary of the complaint maximum of 250 words - approx
