Workplace Harassment and Misconduct have a significant impact on Employee Engagement
Nicolas BEHBAHANI
Global People Analytics & HR Data Leader - People & Culture | Strategical People Analytics Design
??How organizations handle harassment and misconduct can make or break employee trust, loyalty and advocacy and how bad behavior are handled influences employee referrals to HR. Likelihood to recommend the organization increased dramatically when bad behavior was reported, investigated and resolved and employee referrals decreased sharply when issues were not reported or reported, but not investigated or resolved. Organizations risk losing valuable employees when they allow harassment and misconduct to occur in the workplace, according to a new interesting research published by HR Acuity using data from nearly 2,000?US employees across industries organizations of various sizes and employee demographics from March 3-4, 2023.
??Bad behavior should be always resolved !
Researchers noticed that when issues are unreported or mishandled, workplace culture becomes toxic, people leave and referrals plummet.
They found that that one-third of employees (31%) were likely to recommend their organization as an employer. Unsurprisingly, when exposed to harassment and misconduct, the employee referral rate dropped to 22%. And employee referrals decreased to 12% when issues were not reported, and dropped even further when reported issues were not investigated (7%)
?Employee Trust increases when bad behavior is addressed.
Researchers found also when employee issues were reported, investigated and resolved, the referral rate increased to 56%.
??This result shows the unequivocal importance and benefit of addressing harassment and misconduct.
?Most employees report harassment and misconduct to a Manager and not HR
Researchers noticed that when employees reported workplace issues, they mostly turned to managers (61%) or Human Resources (48%).
These findings mean that managers and HR teams need to be prepared with sufficient training and resources that enable them to attentively and carefully respond to reports of misconduct and harassment.
?The central role of HR in investigating and resolving bad behavior
Researchers noticed that just 31% of employees said they were likely to refer peers with similar issues to HR. This may be part of the reason many employees prefer to report issues to a manager.?
They found that 65% of employees who reported issues that were investigated and resolved said they would likely refer colleagues to HR.
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?Bad behavior accelerates employee Attrition
Researchers noticed that 30% of employees who experienced or witnessed inappropriate, unethical or illegal behaviors left the organization following the incident they experienced or observed, compared to 11% of employees who were not exposed to harassment or misconduct
?? 57% of employees cited harassment or misconduct as the reason they left, or a factor in their decision.
?Aftercare process is a Retention tool
Researchers found that post-investigation follow-up is most often left to managers only (44%).
They believed that an aftercare routine can help employees move past workplace issues and investigations, while lack of aftercare can cause unresolved emotional issues to fester and negatively impact employee engagement, productivity, morale and retention.
?? But very few organizations (5%) have a well-defined process to proactively manage aftercare, and it is most often left to managers...
?? Finally researchers recommend that it's essential that organizations adopt comprehensive and clearly communicated processes to address harassment and misconduct and these can help mitigate the negative impact on retention and reduce the likelihood of future issues.
This includes providing an avenue to report concerns anonymously, conducting thorough, consistent and compliant investigations and sharing aggregated outcomes. Organizations must also empower people leaders to address employee issues at work, given they are often on the front line of handling these tough conversations.?
Finally, an appropriate aftercare can also help re-engage employees following an investigation and help in retention.
Thank you ?? HR Acuity ?researchers team for these insightful findings:
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1 年Serious Concern Nicolas BEHBAHANI
?? Employee Relations | Experienced and results-driven HR Leader | HR Business Partner “Becoming is better than being.” - Carol Dweck
1 年Great job compiling & sharing the research. Thank you! Today’s rapidly evolving work environment, organizations must recognize the vital role of people leaders in handling tough conversations & addressing employee issues. These individuals are often on the front line, not equipped with the knowledge & experience to navigate these challenges effectively. To ensure their success, HR tools, trainings, & programs play a fundamental role in empowering and upskilling these leaders, fostering a culture of accountability and growth. And having an objective, equitable, & fair process to look into such addresss bad behavior is crucial. #psychologicalsafety #accountability
Lead consultant in HR Strategy & Value Management. Enhancing Value through Human Performance. Delivery of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Training. Lecturer and International Speaker on HRM and Value Management.
1 年There have been a number of cases of discrimination and harassment recently, in the UK, that have had a detrimental effect on an organisation’s brand; resulting in the loss of investment from sponsors and the loss of income from a reduction in market-share.??Discrimination, harassment and victimisation can also have a detrimental effect on staff and organisational development and team work which can also be detrimental to organisational growth. From a staffing point of view, the toxic culture that is results from discrimination and harassment tends to lead to a greater turnover of staff - with all the costs associated with it. Even though there has been a drop in the number of organisations, in the East Midlands (making up three counties in the UK), that have stated that they still do not have a Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy, 37% of organisations still do not have such a policy and I find this difficult to understand. Thank you for sharing Nicolas and sorry for the rant.
Assistant Professor at Temple University Japan
1 年"power harassment" is a known issue in Japan. Perhaps this helps to explain one reason why engagement is Japan is just 5% #hrm #hr #employeeengagement #harassment #labour
Speaker, Author, Professor, Thought Partner on Human Capability (talent, leadership, organization, HR)
1 年Nicolas BEHBAHANI Again, fascinating research. In our evolving work on employee experience (starting with book Why of Work), we had a simple typology that focused on believe (meaning), become (learn and grow), and belong (relationships), but realized we missed something: be safe (physically and psychologically). This research confirms the importance of psychological safety by having a fair process for dealing with bad behavior. Thanks for sharing.