Employee grievances can be an unpleasant experience for both employee and employer. Having a strong grievance management approach isn’t only a question of ethics and compliance, it’s a strategic necessity for minimising workplace disruptions and encouraging long-term success. In an ideal world, you would prevent employee grievances from occurring in the first place but putting this into practice can be complicated.

This is largely because it takes a very healthy workplace environment to mitigate employee grievances from occurring versus dealing with them after they arise. Accomplishing that requires several different systems, teams and policies to work cohesively towards building a supportive employee culture. However, there are common themes in organisations with fewer grievance cases that you can utilise to strengthen your workplace.

This is not to say that all employee grievances can be prevented, or should be. In some cases, the handling of a particular employee grievance can actually benefit the wider organisation by showcasing that concerns are taken seriously and providing opportunities for improvement in your resolution process. However, in most cases, excessive grievances are a time, money and resource drain that can shift focus from your core operations and reduce efficiency. In fact, the annual cost of formal grievances for workplaces in the UK alone is estimated to be USD 465 million.

An understanding of employee satisfaction (or lack thereof) is necessary if you want to prevent employee grievances from occurring. Knowing what makes employees unhappy will help you predict when dissatisfaction turns into a grievance. Feelings of discontent in the workplace can arise from an immeasurable amount of factors including interpersonal conflicts, perceived unfair treatment, unclear job responsibilities, insufficient compensation, or experiences of harassment and discrimination. 

Whilst some grievances may seem minor in isolation, they can accumulate and create a toxic work environment if not addressed promptly. This accumulation of unresolved issues can lead to decreased employee morale and higher rates of formal grievances as smaller issues snowball into more serious complaints that could have been addressed earlier.

It’s for this reason that proactive and effective employee grievance management is essential for maintaining a positive and productive workplace. An employee who feels heard and valued is less likely to harbour resentment or engage in behaviour that sparks conflict. A supportive environment will also assist in cases where employee dissatisfaction may be unrelated to work entirely, rooted instead in their personal life issues and experiences that are impacting their workplace behaviour and performance. 

Ways to Mitigate the Occurrence of Employee Grievances

Open Communication

Open communication in a workplace doesn’t mean sharing all information with employees or not taking boundaries seriously. It’s about making sure employees feel safe and are encouraged to speak up about their concerns without fear of retaliation. 

Most workers feel a sense of distance between themselves and management or HR which can make it harder for them to share their input or be proactive about an activity they see as outside their job scope, even if it will benefit the organisation. This is only amplified when it comes to sharing concerns about sensitive issues like workplace harassment, discrimination or unfair treatment. They may fear they won’t be taken seriously or that their workplace relationships, reputation and job security will be damaged. 

Strong open communication is instrumental in alleviating these fears. By actively establishing regular communication channels, such as one-on-one meetings, feedback sessions, and town hall discussions, you show employees that their voices are important and their concerns will be given the attention they warrant. This reduces employee grievances by encouraging them to speak up earlier if they are struggling with something and also helps employers gain a better understanding of what the workplace needs to enhance satisfaction.

Anonymous Reporting Channels

As stated above, regular communication channels are a necessity in providing employees with opportunities to provide feedback and make suggestions. However, in a lot of cases involving an actual employee greivance, many workers will hesitate to share these concerns openly. This is especially true if the dispute involves a co-worker or someone in a position of greater authority. Anonymous reporting channels provide a more comfortable option in these scenarios, where the employee can report misconduct, grievances or unsafe practices more openly under the safety of anonymity. How you establish anonymous reporting or feedback channels will depend on the size and nature of your organisation but some common approaches include:

  • Online Platforms: 

Using online platforms designed specifically for the purpose of anonymous reporting has grown in popularity as more work functions become digitised. They promise a secure and user-friendly method of reporting employee grievances by including features such as encrypted communication and follow-up notifications to keep workers informed. They also have features to support employers in handling complaints as they arise such as report status tracking, automated responses and statistics analysis. 

  • Hotlines: 

Hotlines provide a direct option for employees to speak to an actual person about their concerns verbally without having to put their concerns down in writing. Speaking to a real human can be less scary than a formal submission. Additionally, if an employee is unsure about the gravity of their concern, a hotline can help clarify the situation for them and offer guidance on what options they can pursue. 

If you decide to use a hotline, it can be managed internally within the company itself or via third-party services that can sometimes offer more confidentiality. Polonious offers both a hotline solution and an online portal, backed up by our leading case management solution, for anyone looking to implement a robust reporting channel for their employees.

  • Suggestion Boxes

Whilst these can be physical, they’re more often digital variations of the original concept. Working much the same way, the online suggestion boxes can be integrated into the organisation’s internal system and offer a simple and accessible method of sharing feedback or concerns anonymously. They are generally popular for concerns or input of a less serious nature such as suggestions for improving workplace conditions or concerns about certain work policies.

Remember that anonymous reporting means little if it isn’t combined with a commitment to timely action for the valid issues raised. Poor monitoring of the reports that arrive can not only delay action on serious concerns but also increase frustration, having the opposite of the intended effect on employee morale. Hence, upon receiving a report, its arrival should be acknowledged in some way (for example, via status updates on the reporting system) so the employee knows that further action is forthcoming. Updates should be provided regularly until the conclusion of the case, whether the report prompts an investigation or not.

Backing up your reporting channels with rigorous and efficient case management will ensure that you’re living up to your employees’ expectations when they submit a complaint and give them a perception of procedural fairness even if it doesn’t turn out the way they’d hoped.

employee grievance

Clear Policies

At the core of a strong employee grievance management system, are well-crafted policies designed to handle issues of all types with clear processes. Employers should have policies regarding the entire process of grievance handling, all the way from the first communication of the concern to the final resolution. They should detail not only what steps must be taken, but who must take them, within what timeframes and the communications required at each stage. Policies should also be easily accessible to all employees, for example via policy handbooks or the company’s intranet. Accessibility ensures that employees are aware of their rights and the procedures available to them if they need to raise a concern.

Additionally, for employee grievances that involve interpersonal conflicts, consider incorporating mediation into your policies. Mediation is a process where a neutral third party facilitates a discussion between the conflicting parties to help them reach a mutually acceptable resolution.

Document Everything

Accurate and thorough documentation is essential in managing employee grievances. Why? Strong documentation helps showcase transparency, provides a clear account of the situation and is vital in legal contexts. This also means that every step should also have relevant guidelines about the way it can be documented, for example, a meeting or interview will not have the same documentation requirements as a case report.

A rigorous case management workflow will help you ensure not only that all steps are followed the way they should be, but it will also make it easier to record and organise evidence gathered at each step on the way. These reports can also come in handy if you want to analyse patterns and trends in employee grievances arising in your specific workplace. By reviewing these records, organisations can identify recurring issues and implement preventive measures to address the root causes of grievances proactively.

To conclude, implementing these strategies not only addresses individual grievances but also contributes to a resilient and adaptive workplace culture. Investing in a robust employee grievance management process is not only for the sake of employees, it benefits the organisation as a whole by improving work culture, productivity and innovation.  

How Polonious Can Help

If you’re looking to strengthen your employee grievance management system and ensure that your organisation is equipped to handle employee concerns effectively, consider Polonious’s advanced case management system. Take the next step by requesting a free demo here and unlock the tools you need to streamline the entire grievance process.