Says workers have 'fear-based mentality' if they raise their voice to complain
Workplace misconduct is costing organisations more than many realise, according to one expert.
Misconduct—whether in the form of overt harassment or subtle microaggressions—is fuelling anxiety, eroding morale, and driving up turnover and legal risk, says Jared Pope, CEO of Work Shield.
If there's misconduct happening to one worker, or other workers witness it, employees begin to question: “Does our company really care about us? Do they see me? Do they hear me?” he tells Canadian HR Reporter.
“All of a sudden, that mentality of ‘We have a great culture,’ starts eroding,” says Pope. Then, workers start to ask, “Why am I here?” and “Am I going to give my best effort?”
For those experiencing misconduct, the effects are particularly damaging. Speaking from the perspective of an affected employee, Pope explains: “I become anxious, with anxiety, resentment, contempt, eventually pissed off, and I'm just either going to leave or I'm just going to end up suing the company, because I feel like no one heard me.”
These experiences leave a mark on workers. Previously, one worker filed a human rights complaint nearly 20 years after alleged harassment, according to a report.
And the consequences for companies are significant.
“You start seeing lower productivity levels,” says Pope. “You start seeing higher turnover.”
Pope says misconduct can include everything from discrimination, bullying, and retaliation, to offhand comments that accumulate into a toxic culture. He cites examples ranging from political hostility following U.S. elections to cross-border friction. In the U.S., he notes, “we saw some uptick in issues when they tried to make the statement of, ‘Canada is going to be the 51st state.’”
Investigating workplace misconduct
Pope believes the legacy model — where employees report issues to their manager, supervisor or HR — no longer works.
That’s because these authorities “generally try to either sweep it under the rug or have an internal person go look into it,” he says.
“That has created, over the last 50 years, this fear-based mentality of, ‘If I raise my voice, I may lose my job, I may be ridiculed, I may not get the next promotion,’” he says.
Even anonymous hotlines haven’t solved the problem.
“If I go report to the hotline, where does it go? It goes right back to the manager, supervisor, HR — which is what caused the issue in the first place.”
Instead, Pope advocates for third-party investigations that remove the fear of retaliation and introduce objectivity.
“They [do] not necessarily have what we call ‘skin in the game’,” he says.
“They're there to actually go find out if what the [complainant is] saying is true. And if it's true, why did it happen and what caused it to happen, and how do we resolve it?
“That includes talking to witnesses, talking to the accused, talking to the complainant. And when you have that best practice of making sure there's a third party there — whether it's anonymous or not anonymous on the reporting side — then you actually can learn more about what's happening on a day-to-day basis within the culture or the organisation.”
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