An unfortunate truth in business is that no matter how solid your Orlando HR Solutions are and no matter how well-trained your HR staff is, you’re still likely to receive an employee complaint of some sort eventually. Learning how to handle employee complaints and grievances is one of the critical parts of fostering positive employer-employee relationships and maintaining a company’s values and reputation, so the last thing you want to do when you receive a complaint is to go about it the wrong way.
The next time a complaint hits your HR desk, here are the moves you should avoid.
Don’t Downplay Employee Concerns or Dismiss Their Complaints
When an employee comes to their employer with a concern, it’s imperative that the concern be taken seriously. Ignoring or downplaying complaints can harm employee relations and morale and even drag down the company’s reputation. Furthermore, it could, in some cases, even go against the company’s stated mission, goals, and values. Worse, dismissing one employee’s concerns could discourage other employees from speaking up when they have a complaint, creating a fearful atmosphere that may be counterproductive and lead to an unhealthy environment for employees. Dismissive attitudes toward employee complaints could take the form of:
- Ignoring the complaint altogether
- Laughing off concerns or making jokes about the concerns
- Making assumptions about the complaint or the employee themselves
Avoid Retaliatory Actions and Take a Balanced Approach
Companies that jump to retaliatory actions against employees not only risk alienating individual employees who filed complaints but may be leaving themselves vulnerable to legal action as well. Retaliating against an employee for filing a complaint is never an appropriate action, and it’s important to emphasize fair and balanced approaches instead. Examples of inappropriate actions could include:
- Firing the employee who filed the complaint
- Threatening or talking down to the employee
- Discussing the complaint with anyone other than directly relevant personnel, such as human resources staff
Understand the Employee’s Point of View and Seek a Tempered Solution
If your company does not make an effort to understand an employee’s point of view when they file a complaint, addressing the issue in a sensitive way and arriving at a balanced solution will be difficult. Rather than jumping to conclusions or making assumptions about the employee, make sure to ask follow-up questions if needed, be sensitive to the employee’s concerns, and seek to find a tempered yet effective solution that will avoid further harm.
Handling employee complaints competently and carefully is the hallmark of a well-run business. Even with high-quality Orlando HR Solutions in place, there are still several common pitfalls that your business should avoid when a complaint comes in. Avoid these moves, and you can help improve your business’s human resource services.
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