Employee Misconduct

Employee misconduct is one of those catch all phrases which generally captures employees doing things they shouldn't, from misuse of assets to malingering to racial discrimination.

Despite the various disguises that employee misconduct can wear, the effects of misconduct can be felt throughout an organization, and can hit not only employee morale, but the bottom line a well.

What are some of the more common types of misconduct? Well, the list is quite extensive, however some of the most common are:

• Harassment
• Discrimination
• Misuse of company assets (such as using assets for personal use)
• Malingering (claiming to be sick/injured falsely)
• Violations of ethical practices
• Safety infractions
• Legislation and internal policy abuses
• And of course, everyone's favourites, plain old goofing off.

The effects of these activities, particularly those committed by supervisory and management positions (which are most likely to engage in most misconduct types), is to clobber morale within your ranks. Not only does it create a poison environment, it has the effect of spreading, as people see those in power getting away with poor behaviour, which in turn leads others to come to the conclusion or justification to engage in other types of misconduct, if not flat out illegal behaviour within your organization.

This can have an incredible impact on the bottom line as high employee turnover, losses and reduced productivity can grind your capabilities into the ground fairly quickly.

What is needed to effectively identify misconduct issues is to ensure the following are implemented in your organization:

• Institute an active whistleblower program which protects staff from repercussions when reporting instances of employee misconduct
• Ensure that complaints are investigated as soon as possible. if you do not have the capability in house (and most organizations do not), hire outside investigators to come in for complex cases such as harassment and malingering (particularly when unions are involved).
• Communicate the results of the investigation to staff and explain the disciplinary measures taken. Many companies balk at this for fear of coming off as the proverbial bug meanie, however this shows staff that you are committed to stamping out misconduct and that the rules apply to everyone equally....you'd be surprised at how well a firm and fair hand is viewed by staff.
• Take suggestions from staff and management on how to remedy a situation once the dust has settled. Bringing your staff into play gives them a sense of involvement in the wellbeing of your organization and gives them a stake in the future.

Blog post is courtesy Elemental Investigations: Private Investigator Edmonton, an Edmonton, Canada based private investigator agency. They can be found online at www.elementalpi.ca