The responsibilities of HR departments continue to grow while resources, staffing, and technology continue to decline. According to Forbes, there should typically be 1.4 HR staff for every 100 employees, meaning time and resources, particularly for misconduct management, are limited. This can lead to delays in investigations and timely resolutions, which can increase an organization’s risk for costly litigation, reputational damage, and a decline in employee productivity and morale.
In order to mitigate these risks, while also removing the burden from overworked HR departments, it is important for employers to leverage third-party full-service solutions like Work Shield. Work Shield’s solution helps streamline misconduct management, remove any potential bias, and ultimately resolve workplace culture issues. By partnering with Work Shield, HR departments can foster positive and open workplaces comprised of integrity and trust.
Here’s an overview of how Work Shield can benefit any HR department, including supporting HR professionals in implementing misconduct solutions, providing a safe and secure resource for reporting misconduct, and promoting ethical and compliant workplace cultures.
Streamlined Reporting Process
Employees often feel reluctant to walk into a human resources management department to report misconduct due to fear or retaliation. With Work Shield’s user-friendly misconduct management solution, employers can mitigate this hurdle by offering 24/7 access to multiple safe and secure reporting channels. Work Shield also provides the option to report incidents anonymously, via mobile, online, or call center, eliminating the need for in-person reporting and providing them with a safe space to report incidents.
Utilizing Work Shield’s blend of humans and technology, workplace reporting of the future is now here. The misconduct management solution’s centralized process is of benefit to all involved parties. With a thorough third-party investigation, employers can have peace of mind in knowing that problems are being investigated without bias and handled promptly and effectively.
Comprehensive Unbiased Third-Party Investigations
In many organizations, HR department employees have professional relationships with their colleagues, which can present challenges with internal reporting and create a fear of retaliation. Through Work Shield, reported incidents are thoroughly investigated by professionally trained Work Shield investigators, removing any potential for bias throughout the investigation and saving time and resources for the HR department. Employees can feel confident that their voices will be heard, while employers have peace of mind that harassment and discrimination incidents will be properly investigated and resolved.
Data-Driven Insights and Analytics
Making informed decisions, especially in an HR department, can often be challenging. With Work Shield’s misconduct management solution, HR departments and organizational leadership can review and analyze trends, identify trouble spots, and anticipate future needs to improve HR functions and organizational performance. Implementing Work Shield helps support HR teams, removing the burden and risk of internal investigations and providing them with the necessary tools and data to make smart business decisions and better the organization.
Success Stories
Partnering with Work Shield, HR departments can create safe workplace cultures comprised of integrity and trust. Based on the experiences of our client partners with Work Shield’s solution, here are some examples:
- Bystanders Become Upstanders: Statistics often highlight the “bystander effect” in workplace harassment and discrimination incidents. However, employees using Work Shield’s platform felt empowered to speak up when witnessing misconduct because they had a safe, impartial way to report without fear of retaliation. This transformation from bystanders to upstanders not only supported the victims but also encouraged others to step up and speak out on their behalf.
- Deescalate Toxic Behavior: Employees reported harassment that occurred during a remote online meeting to Work Shield to resolve. In a subsequent meeting, employees felt confident to address similar misconduct as it happened, preventing further escalation. Empowering employees to use their voices in real-time ensures they are heard and helps protect the organization’s culture.
- Proactively Address Toxicity to Improve Culture: One client’s incident data revealed a higher number of reports from a specific location. The organization proactively addressed this by meeting with management and employees at that location and provided targeted prevention training. This proactive approach demonstrated the employer’s commitment to addressing concerns, thereby strengthening the trust and integrity between the organization and its employees.
Implementing Work Shield helps support HR teams, removing the burden and risk of internal investigations and providing them with the necessary tools and data to make informed decisions and better their organizations.
