How to Minimize Employment Claims in the Workplace

Workforce Management
March 15th, 2011

In a 2010 survey of federal employees, only 45 percent said they were satisfied with the policies and practices of their department or agency’s senior leaders, while 55.7 percent said their leaders maintain high standards of honesty and integrity.
This approval rating, mediocre at best, reveals a troubling lack of trust and confidence in the day-to-day behavior and practices of senior leaders.
By contrast, a far higher percentage—66.5 percent—said they had trust and confidence in their supervisors.
Why this worrying lack of trust in senior leaders?
This situation is familiar to human resources leaders, compliance officers, general counsels and Equal Employment Opportunity directors everywhere, whether they work in government or the private sector. So how can we as HR, EEO or diversity leaders bridge this gap?
In a word, it starts and ends with leaders. As we have discussed in a previous post, “The 97 Percent Problem: Why Meritless Claims Matter,” the tone is set squarely at the top of the organization, where senior leaders need to make it clear that improper conduct is unacceptable, regardless of whether it’s illegal or not.
But leaders need to do more than merely set the tone; they must act, communicate, get involved and get help when troublesome situations arise and improper behavior comes to light that put the organization at risk for generating legal claims, damaging employee morale and reducing productivity.

Full Story: http://workforce.com/wpmu/ethical/2011/03/15/how-to-minimize-employment-claims-in-the-workplace/