Q: An employee gave me 15 pages of typed complaints about a co-worker. I get a headache reading it. What is the best way to approach an overall problem with another employee? Do I have to investigate every single issue?
A: Here are some good steps to take to ensure that your time is spent wisely:
- Take a big picture look. Are any of the following issues present in the complaint?
- Harassment or discrimination (While employees often use these “hot button” words, the terms are not meant to apply to a co-worker “being mean”; rather, it means an employee has been harassed or discriminated against due to a protected class.)
- Threats or violence
- Serious violations of policy (theft, falsifying documents, clocking in for another person)
- Illegal activity
If “big issues” are present, it makes sense to investigate those first, potentially suspending the person who is under investigation while you do so.
- If, instead, you have received a list of smaller issues, it is best to address the overall problem, not each individual statement.
- If the concerns are nit-picky and really demonstrate faults of communication on both sides, this is a difficult situation. Your employee expects you to investigate and take action. They will be unhappy if you appear to not take their concerns seriously. Tread cautiously; make sure each employee is made aware of their part in the issue.
Your options at that point include facilitating a conversation about the importance of working together respectfully and professionally, within the company values. Ask the two employees to talk with each other about their concerns and come up with ways to change their styles a little on each side to get along better. (They don’t have to like each other, but they do have to work together.)
Or, if the first step does not work and they are unable to resolve their own differences, then potentially look at coaching, training, or assessments to promote better team communication.
- If the concerns are minor, but it appears they may be valid, thereby creating an overall negative work environment for the employee lodging the complaint, it is best to address the concerns in the form of an investigation of the underlying problem. Here is a process to follow:
- Reword the 15-page complaint into a two- or three-line summary of the concern.
- Review any past complaints about the worker. Is there previous evidence of this issue?
- Revisit the summary and your next steps with the complaining employee. Make sure both employees know that they should avoid entering into discussions about the investigation. The complaining employee should know that if retaliation by the other person occurs, it should be immediately brought to your attention.
- Review the overall concern with the employee being accused of poor treatment and give some specific examples of instances (preferably witnessed by others). Let the “defendant” talk, get them to write a statement, and then discuss privacy of investigation and retaliation.
- Identify items in the complaint that have witnesses and see if the witnesses corroborate the concerns or give a picture of the overall tone of communication.
- If you are unable to corroborate the statements and the employees do not agree on what occurred in the incidents you are investigating, it is important to document the discussion and let both employees know that you were unable to corroborate the concerns.
- If you corroborate the concerns, consider that employees who treat other employees poorly are often doing that to many co-workers, but other people simply are staying quiet. If there is sufficient reason, do a formal corrective action and performance improvement plan with the employee related to their behavior and communication style. Include any training, coaching or assessments appropriate.
Don’t hesitate to contact Catapult for advice, review of documentation, coaching, assessments, or other tools that you require to support the process.
Written by a Catapult Advisor.
