Proactively dealing with misconduct
The news that jobs vacancies have hit a record high in the UK (1.1m in Sept 2021) has placed even greater pressure on employers to find ways to develop and retain their existing staff.
One way of decreasing staff turnover is to put in place robust measures to manage misconduct. This is doubly important as the cost of recruiting staff is significantly higher than finding ways to build employee loyalty and engagement.
Minimising staff lost due to misconduct runs alongside losing staff due to disengagement and resentment as a result of poor practices in the workplace. If rules appear to be inequitable or lax, it can seriously undermine employee trust and efforts to create a positive workplace culture.
These are just some of the advantages of proactively dealing with misconduct, but what steps are involved in good practice on this thorny HR issue?
The four Ps of misconduct management
The four core principles of reducing and managing misconduct incidents in the workplace are:
- Priorities
- Policies
- Practices
- Processes
Priorities
Each organisation needs a framework for what it classes as misconduct. Some behaviours such as theft or endangering others are universal, but adopting a sweeping set of misconduct rules is not always in your best interests.
The modern emphasis on emotionally intelligent leadership is significant here. For instance, would establishing a better understanding of your team’s emotional and mental health – and creating a more inclusive and equitable workplace – change what misconduct looks like, or how often it occurs?
If so, your management team should focus on conflict resolution skills, and ways to diffuse worker stress, rather than resorting to immediate disciplinary sanctions being imposed.
Policies
Your company-focused framework for misconduct underpins clear policies issued to your staff. This is a vital step in proactively dealing with misconduct, so it’s recommended you don’t simply rely on them reading an employee handbook or checking the latest info on your company intranet.
Talk employees through your misconduct policies to remind them of your expectations, and the consequences of breaching disciplinary procedures. Consider asking them to read and sign a code of conduct that’s been created in partnership with them.
Practices
The information you disseminate throughout your workforce must include the systems you have created to practically detect, report and deal with incidents deemed as misconduct in your organisation.
Organisations need to demonstrate a commitment to good employee relations and constructive improvements, without creating a ‘blame and shame’ culture.
Therefore, it is also important to follow good practices on managing employee complaints and grievances as well as managing conduct and capability.
Processes
This tip on proactively managing misconduct refers specifically to the way you intend to assess accusations and incidents, including the roles and responsibilities of anyone involved in triaging these issues, investigating them and delivering outcomes.
You must follow these processes in an accountable way, to stay legally compliant, fulfil your duty of care as an employer and support your decision-makers, as well as your other employees.
Leadership and managing misconduct
There are other ways your organisation’s leaders can minimise incidents of misconduct, and deal with them in a progressive and positive manner. These include:
- Leading by example, with ethical behaviour
- Being accessible and a good listener, to nip issues in the bud
- Supporting an inclusive and equitable workplace
- Providing constructive support to redirect staff at risk of misconduct
- Showing zero tolerance to misconduct throughout the organisation
Treating every case on its merits v consistency
This aspect of being proactive in managing misconduct pivots on emotionally intelligent leadership and having a responsive HR function.
Fortunately, incidents of serious misconduct are uncommon. Many of the situations employers faces are far less clear cut. This is why your framework and good practices are so invaluable.
It is crucial that these are applied equally and consistently. For example, if someone is regularly late and absent in one department and gets away with it, others may follow this bad example. If another department is stricter on such issues and reports individual misconduct, it can create resentment that there are ‘different rules for different people.”
However, there are going to be times when a rigid and clinical approach to misconduct is not appropriate. For example, if someone misses a disciplinary meeting due to stress or anxiety, can they be censored in the same way as someone who was being defiant or disinterested?
Having the HR skills to treat individual cases on their own merits, and knowing when the company lines need to be drawn, often demands the assistance of a neutral but knowledgeable third party – an outsourced HR provider.
Bring in HR Experts
There are many advantages to subcontracting HR functions to external experts. Among them is the help they provide in managing misconduct in your organisation, in a far more equitable, responsive and intuitive way.
BluSkyHR can certainly fulfil these business aims, including helping to develop your company code of conduct and the framework and practices for different breaches. This is alongside assisting in communicating your stance to employees, and creating a nurturing culture to minimise misconduct risk.
If an incident does happen, we help you to deliver a measured, accountable and effective response.
It all adds up to protecting the trust employees have in your organisation, helping to retain your staff, and instilling an awareness of your expectations and limits.
For a free 15 minute call, contact us.