Why data is the key to workplace safety

Technology isn't just capable of making the workplace a more efficient place, but a safer one, too. 

Fifty-two percent of employees have experienced or witnessed inappropriate, unethical or illegal behavior at work, including bullying, sexual harassment and racism, according to HR software company HRAcuity, yet only around half of employees report such behavior. The right use of data and tech, however, could improve some of those numbers. 

"A lot of companies are still stuck in the Stone Age and just using a hotline," says Jared Pope, CEO and founder of Work Shield, a workplace reporting and investigation platform. "Those companies are missing instances of misconduct because they're not understanding what's actually happening." 

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Sixty-one percent of employees who do report will most often turn to managers, according to HRAcuity, with 48% relying on human resources. Of those who didn't report, 40% said it was because they had little faith in their organization to handle the complaint and 46% said they feared retaliation.

And while 74% of employees involved in a workplace investigation felt they were treated with dignity and respect and received timely responses, another 39% said communication was poor and 42% didn't understand what to expect during the process. This can lead to high turnover rates and lowered employee morale and safety, which indicates the need for a new system, according to Pope. 

"To truly understand what's going on within a culture you have to have more than a hotline or a standard reporting tool," he says. "It's about having a complete system with a clear path to resolution so that employees can feel confident enough to raise their voice and trust that something will come of it." 

Investing in services that can leverage data can facilitate that outcome. Using people analytics can ensure that HR teams are keeping track of not only employee sentiment, but reporting and resolution rates in general. Having a tech-backed platform also keeps the process relatively unbiased, meaning that employees don't have to worry about the information getting back to a specific actor. Employee data can also be used as a preventative measure by revealing the kind of misconduct employees are reporting or worried about so that organizations can tailor their training accordingly. 

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"Employers owe it to themselves to have the technology in place to be able to track and manage the data and analytics for three reasons," Pope says. "One, for their profit. It costs money to hire and train new employees. Two, for their culture. No one cares if you have a ping-pong table, they care if they're safe. And three, because knowledge is power. There's too many companies today that choose to go about a situation and just put their head in the sand and not listen to the voices on a day to day basis."

Employers don't only owe this kind of technology and accountability to themselves, but to their workforce, too. Work and life have become inextricably intertwined over the last few years, meaning that it's up to organizations to ensure that their workplace experience isn't taking a toll on their health and well-being.

"It's our obligation as leaders to provide an environment where they can produce — and it comes down to safety," Pope says. "There's a reason why you can't harass people or discriminate against people in the workplace and why there are rules set up to allow that individual to bring their best self to work. The moment you don't allow that to happen is the moment a company dies."