Dive Brief:
- Most employees (85%) in a new HR Acuity survey said they know how and where to report workplace issues, but a significant number (39%) have little confidence that issues will be appropriately addressed, and almost half worry about being retaliated against for reporting issues. The 2019 Employee Experience Survey polled more than 1,321 workers on how they handled workplace harassment and misconduct two years since the #MeToo movement took hold.
- Most respondents said they experienced or witnessed inappropriate, illegal or unethical behavior, and 64% of them reported it. But employees were more likely to report misconduct to their manager than to HR; hotlines were shown to be the least effective method for reporting misconduct, with just 6% of respondents favoring this process. As for follow-up, only half of reports were investigated; and although women and men reported complaints at similar rates, men’s complaints were investigated more often.
- Survey results showed that trust in HR rose when misconduct was reported and investigated. Respondents were 26% more likely to recommend reporting to HR when an investigation was actually conducted, and 43% more likely to recommend HR if the problem was resolved. Employees that reported issues that were not investigated were far less likely to recommend HR to colleagues — 41% less likely, in fact.