Leading For Clarity, Capacity, And Care: A Call To Reinforce Respect

I attended the "HR Leaders Summit Canada" conference last week, and participated in a panel where we discussed how human resources can lead organizations for "clarity, capacity, and care." My co-panelists (Mark Edgar, Rawan El-Komos, and Momina Javaid, moderated by Donna Gray) had much insight and excellent ideas for HR professionals. My perspective was a little different, since I'm not an HR leader. However, our work often involves things that organizations put in place to care for their employees, most significantly creating cultures of respect in the workplace.

There is much research which supports the harmful effects of disrespect on people at work. So, it seems obvious that one element of caring for employees is to ensure they can work in a respectful work environment. This then ensures that they have the capacity to conduct their work with utmost clarity. In my investigation practice, I certainly saw this firsthand, with complainants on the receiving end of all kinds of disrespectful behaviour discussing the negative impacts on them and their work.

What is striking today is how often we're hearing people say that harassment and other complaints in their organizations are on the rise. This isn't surprising. People often act out at work when they are struggling. And consider how much people are struggling today – with financial uncertainty, fear of job loss due to layoffs or AI, negative impact of global events, etc. They bring all of this to work, and when it becomes overwhelming, it's sometimes hard to be their best professional selves.

You would think the solution is for organizations to just level-up their supports for a respectful workplace (policy reviews, surveys and culture reviews, training, etc.). Think of all of the investments that organizations made to support their people during the difficult pandemic times. The challenge today is that the pandemic is over, and many organizations are facing different types of threats and challenges, which means that HR is competing for the resources necessary to support their people through these difficult times.

If the budgets are there, this is absolutely the time to invest in respectful workplace initiatives. Policy reviews can ensure that policies are serving the employee population properly. Tailored, meaningful training can ensure that employees are reminded of what is expected of them, and where they can go for help. It also signals to employees that the organization remains committed to respect at work, even during difficult times. The objective is to build people's confidence in the organization so they will report disrespect. It is then necessary to ensure that problems brought to the organization's attention are addressed appropriately. Although sometimes needed, investigations often don't solve underlying workplace problems, and so investing in workplace restoration or other means of restoring culture can also go a long way towards supporting employees at this time.

But as we heard at the HR Leaders Summit, the budgets often aren't there right now. If resources are limited, where can organizations get the best "bang for their buck" in supporting their culture? Here are some ideas:

1. Consider specialized training for leaders

Maybe there aren't funds to conduct organization-wide training right now, but what about specialized training for leaders? This type of training can remind leaders of their role to model good behaviour, give them tools to help them identify problematic behaviour when it occurs (or when they hear about it), and hopefully address many of these issues informally with skills/tools that can be taught.

2. Ensure workplace investigators are properly trained

Also consider whether people doing workplace investigations have been adequately trained. People who attend our training after conducting investigations for years repeatedly tell us how they can't believe how much they learned. The law relating to investigations is also constantly evolving, and so even training received before may need to be updated. As an example, we sometimes hear from folks in our training sessions that they just find that a complaint is inconclusive if they're not sure how to make a decision in an investigation. They assume this is low-risk because the respondent doesn't receive any discipline. However, this fails to consider the severe impact on a complainant who may have legitimately experienced some problematic behaviour, found the courage to complain about it, only to be told that the investigator couldn't make a decision.

3. Replace lost DEI initiatives with other ways to re-affirm the importance of
   respect at work

Whether it's because of funding reductions, or pressure to pull DEI-related initiatives coming from south of the border, organizations can still find ways to signal the importance of maintaining a respectful workplace. This can be as simple as a senior leader reinforcing the organization's commitment at a town hall; commending/rewarding/drawing attention to people who model respectful behaviour at work; scheduling a lunch-and-learn on a respect-related topic. There is no end to the possible ways to remind employees of the importance of respect when times are tough. And of course, the most important and powerful message to employees is holding those who behave disrespectfully to account.

Today, there are many things fighting for our individual and organizational attention – and resources. What has not changed is the importance to people of working in a respectful environment, and the positive impact this can have on the bottom line. Consider how your organization could invest more in reinforcing respect at work right now.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.