Retaliation in the Workplace
Organise an anti-retaliation programme that creates a workplace that detects and prevents retaliation against employees.
Challenge of Addressing Retaliation
Retaliation and its impact on employees is a serious issue for organisations yet it is often difficult to resolve. Retaliation rates are climbing and studies show 35% of employees fear retaliation from employers. This impacts corporate culture and worker productivity and may ultimately lead to monetary fines in retaliation cases.
Managers in many cases may not even realise that they are retaliating against employees. They may believe they are being impartial while employees notice even subtle changes in behaviour. Or they may see a whistleblower not as a contributing employee but as an obstacle to meeting departmental goals.
What You Need
Training
Education for your employees on your zero-tolerance approach to retaliation.
Prevention Focus
Leadership and supervisor training to address retaliation.
Report Intake
A system to capture and address every report of misconduct related to retaliation.
Code of Ethics
An engaging code of conduct that holds managers and others accountable and creates a sense of duty to do the right thing.
Speak-Up Culture
Create a culture that values and encourages employees to express their concerns, provide their feedback and ask questions.
Zero Tolerance
Zero-tolerance retaliation policies and a way to distribute and manage those policies.
Steps You Can Take to Prevent Retaliation
Step 1
Establish a Code of Conduct that clearly addresses and encourages employees to come forward to identify organisational issues.
Step 2
Establish and train supervisors on policies related to employee retaliation, and develop a formal training program for all employees addressing retaliation.
Step 3
Promote the employee hotline and online issue intake options to identify and communicate organisation and individual wrongdoing.
Step 4
Institute a formal incident management program to resolve issues and ensure that employees are protected from supervisor retaliation.