‘Have a process’: How HR professionals can better respond to employee concerns and complaints

Employees are getting more and more comfortable with speaking up about what they want and what they don’t want — and those desires can sometimes challenge HR departments.

Whether a company’s employees are openly debating compensation, spotlighting problematic workplace behavior or debating vaccine mandates, the answer to most HR challenges remains the same. And according to Gregory Hare, employment attorney at Ogletree Deakins, the answer is to build a process.

“When the ball is hit to you, know what to do,” he said, speaking at the Society of Human Resources 2021 annual conference. “And make sure that not only you know what should be done, but every person on your management team knows what should be done.”

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From scandals as massive as the USA Gymnastics sexual assault allegations to more localized challenges like navigating COVID-vaccinated employees’ discomfort around unvaccinated colleagues, some of the biggest HR missteps are simply due to a lack of attention and a lack of empathy. The key is to be proactive and do as much work as possible in HR departments before there’s even a challenge to face. This means reviewing and updating policies and training managers on legal compliance, de-escalating conflicts and active listening.

That way, when a problem does come up, frontline managers already know that the first step is to acknowledge the complaint or issue at hand and promise to look into it, and then make good on that promise. As obvious as it may seem, it’s one of the hardest things for HR professionals to get right, according to Hare.

“Every supervisor should be able to say that, but they don't do that because they usually take it as a personal attack,” he said.

The next step is to ensure that frontline managers are elevating the issue to the right person and not attempting to solve the problem themselves. Instead, HR, the general counsel’s office or the compliance office should be engaged.

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In order to successfully navigate the current workforce, HR professionals are going to have to tread the line between under-reacting and overreacting in order to create spaces where employees feel heard but also understand and adhere to company policies.

“When in doubt, know what the rules are and know what the employee's rights are,” Hare said. “At the end of the day, your job is to make sure that your company does things the right way.”