My blog is a little late this month as I have been involved in some grievance investigations for more than one client.
It seems that there are some very unhappy people in the workplace at the moment and, in some ways, it is not difficult to see why. The national economic situation is still in the doldrums and people are feeling the pinch. Various conflicts around the world cause anxiety and worse. Businesses and Charities are having to tighten their belts and count every penny, which can have a knock-on effect on their workforce.
In addition, social media can make us feel unhappy with our lot as we see friends and connections seemingly living the good life and having more fun and more success than we are.
This results, in some cases, with niggles at work turning into full blown grievances and positions can quickly become polarised, especially if we are not getting the answer we want. And sometimes we don’t even know what that answer is.
The Grievance Procedure
By law in the UK, organisations have to have a Grievance Procedure and a formal process for people to raise anything which concerns them in the workplace. But how helpful is this? Does raising a grievance really resolve the situation?
In my experience, it depends on the procedure itself and the managers who are dealing with the complaints.
Essentially, a grievance is a cry for help of some kind. It takes guts to raise a grievance and so by the time someone has got to that stage, the issue of concern is clearly causing a big enough problem for them to want to raise it formally and to get a considered answer.
On that basis, the very least that the employer can do is to listen properly to the issue raised (even if it appears on the surface to have no basis) and to understand why it has been raised. That can lead to a more productive process, where some consensus can be reached between the parties, even if not all (or any) of the issues raised prove to have any merit. The very least that the employee who raised the issue should achieve is a thought-through answer, with reasons why a particular course of action is not possible or not helpful. Even if the employee’s desired outcomes cannot be met, they will feel better about the process if they feel their concerns have been heard and reasons given for any negative response.
Does the process work?
The process about dealing with grievances hasn’t really changed much for some years, and so I often see Grievance Procedures and processes which haven’t been revised for a long time – sometimes running to years – and they just churn out the same old process – there will be a formal meeting with your manager who will hear your concerns and then give you an outcome. If you don’t agree with the outcome you can raise an appeal.
But this doesn’t begin to address the problems.
What does your Grievance Procedure look like?
In my view, the most important part of the grievance process is the informal stage, where a concern can be safely raised and discussed with a manager. So many problems can be resolved at this stage, if the manager is willing to listen and to try to reach an agreement with the employee that works. Yet many Grievance Procedures don’t even have an informal stage.
Another hugely important part of the process is the investigation. This can be done by the manager, or by a colleague nominated by the manager, or by an external person. It doesn’t really matter who does the investigation, as long as it is thorough, interviews all parties, looks at all the evidence and assesses whether or not there is even a case for a formal process, or if it can be managed informally. If there does need to be a formal process, then the investigator can recommend outcomes (although the manager doesn’t have to go with those recommendations) and can even make suggestions about actions which might help to resolve the situation.
The grievance procedure should never be a case of trying to prove who is right or who is wrong, or who is to blame for the situation. It should be about trying to reach a mutually agreeable outcome. The investigation should look at all of the evidence and all of the potential outcomes, hear what outcomes the employee is trying to achieve and then wrap all of that into a report to guide the manager in making their response.
The formal process is the last resort and can come down to making a difficult decision which won’t please the employee or resolve the situation. So the whole process should be geared at avoiding the formal stages and reaching a resolution earlier in the process.
Have your managers been trained in how to deal with grievances and get satisfactory solutions?
Managers are often faced with dealing with a grievance, just because they are a manager. They have often not had any training in negotiating, communications or listening skills. They often end up trying to deal with a grievance by making a decision about the rights and wrongs of the situation, not really looking at the causes, or what the employee is really trying to gain. Over the years, raising a grievance has become a threat or a weapon against “management” and we really need to move away from that to a point where we can reach consensus.
Have a look at my blog from last year for more information about grievances, complaints and whistleblowing and the differences between them.
If you think your Grievance Procedure needs a review, or your managers need some training in handling grievances, then please contact us. We can also undertake investigations for you – without any bias or preconceived ideas. And we will always try to help you find solutions that work.
