The Workplace Coach

You’ve received a complaint from an employee about someone they work with, it could be a colleague, or it might be their boss.  The complaint is lengthy, very emotional and chronicles a series of actions over a period of time that have impacted this employee in a negative way.

So now what do you do?

This is always going to be a judgement call on your part, based on your knowledge of the situation, your experience with the two parties, the seriousness of the allegations and the outcome being sought.  I know this sounds a bit subjective, but these cases are hardly ever a simple clear cut case of they did it and the rule book says this now has to happen.  There are always two or more sides to every story, and there will usually be some measure of fault on both sides.

There will also be a difference in how people interpret what has occurred. For example, an employee may feel as though they have been bullied but that does not necessarily mean that bullying, as defined by legislation, has occurred.  I have investigated many complaints of bullying and harassment that turned out to be reasonable management action carried out in a reasonable, if somewhat clumsy, way.

A manager with the best intentions may have tried to provide feedback, manage performance or help develop their team member, but due to their inexperience with having difficult or challenging conversations, they’ve messed it up and made it weird.  Now their employee feels as though they’ve been unfairly treated, and that is going to colour their perception of every meeting, email and discussion they have with that manager going forward. 

Just for fun, get three people in your team to read a random email where a manager is providing feedback to an employee. Ask them to check for tone and to think about the relationship between the sender and the recipient.  They will read the email with their own lens, and I guarantee that each will have a slightly different take on the subtext of the email.

Also, the working relationship between the two people is never immediately apparent.  On the surface, everything might be polite and respectful but there might be undermining behaviours, white-anting and gaslighting going on that is going to be difficult to prove. In the absence of documentary evidence, it might be that witness interviews become a very important part of the process.

So, back to the question, what do you do now?

Your best option is to refer the complaint to an external third-party expert. They might conduct a preliminary investigation and determine that there is no substance to the allegations, and that another avenue for resolution might be more appropriate, such as mediation or coaching.

On the other hand, if there is something to the allegations then you want someone who knows what they are doing running the process.  Should this end up in court or the Fair Work Commission (unlikely but always a possibility) the first point of challenge is always going procedural.  You really want to make sure that your decision to terminate someone’s employment doesn’t get overturned on a technicality.  

Here at The Workplace Coach we work closely with our clients, making sure that our processes align with your own organisational policies and procedures, as well as meeting all legislative requirements. Our experienced and qualified HR professionals specialise in complaints management, workplace investigations, mediation and coaching, and we love helping you to resolve these issues quickly and confidentially. 

If you have any people management challenges that you would like some help with reach out to us today for a chat. 

The Workplace Coach
+61 419 246 633
info@theworkplacecoach.com.au
Canberra, ACT

ABN 95 684 597 472