Mitigating Legal Risk by Addressing Employee Relations Inconsistency:
I have recently noticed a trend across client meetings: HR organizations are beginning to realize the risk that they are exposing themselves to by not taking a consistent approach to resolving Employee Relations (ER) issues. Some of the causes that I have seen for this inconsistency are listed below:
- Decentralized ER groups: Healthcare organizations purchasing and rolling up multiple hospitals then allowing them to continue handling their own ER issues.
- Large corporations with multiple locations and remote HR Management using disparate methods of handling ER issues.
- ER Advisors use different processes and/or policies to resolve issues.
- HR organizations not having a Knowledge Management Database to organize and reuse HR policies and solutions.
- HR organizations not utilizing a Case Management system to track and accurately report on ER issues, which creates blind spots in HR trends.
These are just a few of the scenarios I see causing inconsistency in ER. There are many more. With the median award for employee-related claims in 2009 being $326,624, and the number of EEOC charges in 2010 being 99,922, can companies continue to let these inconsistencies go unaddressed?
Our solution Dovetail Support Suite for HR is a centralized Case Management system including a shared HR Help Desk, shared Knowledge Management database, and an Employee Self Service portal.
Our product suite allows all HR Advisors to resolve issues from one Knowledgebase and track all issues and interactions in the same Case Management system. This centralized concept vastly improves consistency and allows companies to organize and track HR solutions in an accessible, reusable format as opposed to relying on subject matter experts, who may not always be available. Since all the data is captured in one system, reporting is extremely accurate and readily available. Identifying recurring ER issues and heading them off quickly is a huge advantage alone. Combine that with the overall efficiency gains – an average of 20-30% seen in the first year – and you have significant, noticeable improvement in ER groups.
In an environment where controlling cost is King, implementing an HR Case Management solution is a logical and responsible way to make contributions to the bottom line.
