Another one of the challenging activities that HR has to deal with are grievances.
We tread a fine line sometimes in HR. We have all heard someone suggest that they will ‘go to HR’ over something that they are not happy about at work. Sometimes, that is appropriate. Sometimes it is not, and the person that they should be dealing with is their line manager. It is critical to define the role of HR in a grievance hearing. This role should usually be about advice on policy or employment law, how to structure the meeting, even note taking. But not decision making.
There is a lot that can be said about grievances. We can summarise it in one sentence. Keep people away from the formal process wherever you can.
There is a legal requirement to have a grievance procedure. It is important that employees have a structure through which they can raise issues within employment. However, in practical terms they can present challenges.
The fundamental problem is that the processes we are legally required to follow might keep us out of trouble in the employment tribunal, but they can be damaging to the overall employment relationship. The actual issue can become lost in the procedure itself. We get out the policy and start ticking the boxes, and it becomes all too easy to lose sight of the person and the problem behind it. Even when the issue is potentially serious, it immediately forces the recipient, be it company or line manager, into a defensive place. Positions become very fixed very fast. Instead of focusing on the issue, looking at whether something is genuinely wrong within the workplace, or why the employee feels that this is their best course of action, it becomes all too easy to become focus on getting through a process or trying to make it look like the company hasn’t done anything wrong.
Some grievance procedures are also far too long and have far too many stages. Two stages are all you really need to be legally compliant. We have seen procedures that have eight or more. Once you have gone through that many procedural steps, putting a working relationship back together again is a huge struggle.
So wherever possible get people to talk to each other informally to sort issues out. Use mediation where appropriate. Mediation has its limitations, but it is focused on not only resolving the presenting issue but also the future of the relationship between the parties. This just doesn’t exist in a grievance procedure. A formal process requires a grievance to be upheld, or not. Someone has to win and someone has to lose. Mediation is about both people coming out feeling like they have been heard.
Recommendations for dealing with grievances:
• Tell people their rights around raising a grievance. But don’t recommend it.
• Consider mediation where appropriate – not just after a grievance has been heard but instead of it.
• Look at the root causes of your grievances – not the issue writing on paper but ask what it is telling you about your culture, your line manager capability and how people are feeling.
• Train your line managers in handling conflict so that they can stop issues landing in the grievance procedure at all.
• Follow the ACAS code – always.
Role of Human Resource In Organization. Human Resource Management.Practical guide to Human Resource. Human Resource Definition.Human Resource certification.Human Resource employment
Role of Human Resource In Organization. Human Resource Management.Practical guide to Human Resource. Human Resource Definition.Human Resource certification.Human Resource employment
Role of Human Resource In Organization. Human Resource Management.Practical guide to Human Resource. Human Resource Definition.Human Resource certification.Human Resource employment
Role of Human Resource In Organization. Human Resource Management.Practical guide to Human Resource. Human Resource Definition.Human Resource certification.Human Resource employment
Role of Human Resource In Organization. Human Resource Management.Practical guide to Human Resource. Human Resource Definition.Human Resource certification.Human Resource employment
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