Human Resources can be a very lonely profession. HR teams regularly face situations where they are tasked with a delicate balance of maintaining confidentiality, avoiding bias, and ensuring that complex issues are handled swiftly.
When dealing with highly sensitive matters like harassment or discrimination complaints the stakes are even higher. Employees come forward because they trust HR to investigate and find the right solutions, and when they do and don’t hear about the process they may misconstrue silence as inaction. That is devastating to workplace culture.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, but there are several approaches to consider based on your organizational culture, values, risk tolerance, and legal advice.
In this how-to guide, you will learn:
- How to find the right mix of transparency and confidentiality for your workplace
- The unforeseen impact of staying silent
- Three strategies for building effective transparency
- How one University is taking radical steps towards transparency
“I complained to HR and nothing happened….” This refrain isn’t simply a PR problem for HR. It can cause real damage to both companies and their employees.”
– Elizabeth Owens Bille, SVP, Workplace Culture at EVERFI
