I am aware of a situation in which an employee of a consultancy was released because one of his several clients requested that he be removed from his account. The bases of the request were listed as “unprofessional behaviors” and “communications issues”, but no one ever contacted the client to determine the specific nature of the complaints. So, essentially, this particular individual was released based upon one person’s comments, without any substantive evidence or even research into the complaint.
I am also aware of a situation within the same consultancy where an employee was investigated in relation to a “hostile workplace environment” action, and the result was that no evidence of any kind was found to substantiate the claim. Months later, when a close personal friend of the employee that filed that action herself filed a similar one against the same manager, this manager was released without any investigation having been completed under the “where there’s smoke there’s fire” school of HR management.
Obviously, in this second situation, it becomes apparent that any to individuals colluding to smear the reputation and livelihood of a manager they don’t like can succeed in doing so, without any need for substantiating their claims.
The justice that we all enjoy and expect as American citizens is reserved for the courtrooms, but is not necessarily to be expected in the workplace. The applicable federal and state labor laws that might address the scenarios presented above err on the side of the rights of the employer, not the persecuted employee.
Now personally, I am as much in favor of a free and open marketplace for talent as the next guy. I believe in an employer’s right to choose who does and does not work for them. But I also think that it is as much in the interest of the employer as the employee to administer these rights in a manner that is fair and just for everyone. In the situations described above, we cannot expect these to be isolated incidents; it is most certain that if these things happened to the employees referenced, that they also happened to others. Over time, such shoddy HR management practices may very well result in this employer losing many gifted, talented, hard-working employees to a form of political correctness not normally considered.
As Americans, we take our freedoms, liberties and rights for granted, and we expect fair play in all aspects of our lives, when in fact, they are probably only guaranteed in our justice system. As far as justice in our workplaces, we may be naive to expect it there too.
I am also aware of a situation within the same consultancy where an employee was investigated in relation to a “hostile workplace environment” action, and the result was that no evidence of any kind was found to substantiate the claim. Months later, when a close personal friend of the employee that filed that action herself filed a similar one against the same manager, this manager was released without any investigation having been completed under the “where there’s smoke there’s fire” school of HR management.
Obviously, in this second situation, it becomes apparent that any to individuals colluding to smear the reputation and livelihood of a manager they don’t like can succeed in doing so, without any need for substantiating their claims.
The justice that we all enjoy and expect as American citizens is reserved for the courtrooms, but is not necessarily to be expected in the workplace. The applicable federal and state labor laws that might address the scenarios presented above err on the side of the rights of the employer, not the persecuted employee.
Now personally, I am as much in favor of a free and open marketplace for talent as the next guy. I believe in an employer’s right to choose who does and does not work for them. But I also think that it is as much in the interest of the employer as the employee to administer these rights in a manner that is fair and just for everyone. In the situations described above, we cannot expect these to be isolated incidents; it is most certain that if these things happened to the employees referenced, that they also happened to others. Over time, such shoddy HR management practices may very well result in this employer losing many gifted, talented, hard-working employees to a form of political correctness not normally considered.
As Americans, we take our freedoms, liberties and rights for granted, and we expect fair play in all aspects of our lives, when in fact, they are probably only guaranteed in our justice system. As far as justice in our workplaces, we may be naive to expect it there too.
No comments:
Post a Comment