Case Management, Reimagined: CMS Energy’s Human-First Approach with HR Acuity
The Challenge
CMS Energy has long been committed to ethics and integrity. Although the organization had a case management platform and established processes in place, leadership recognized an opportunity to improve cross-functional coordination and improve operational efficiency.
Most importantly, the team needed a solution that aligned with its signature restorative approach to managing concerns.
Explore How HR Acuity Supported CMS Energy in Driving a 43% Increase in Anonymous Reporting
At-a-Glance
HR Acuity provides CMS Energy with:
- A secure, centralized case management system for clear, comprehensive documentation
- Configurable workflows with built-in reminders that support accountability and timely action
- Robust benchmarking tools inform risk assessments and analysis
- Analytics powered by historical data, with customizable dashboards to support insight-driven leadership
“Employees began to see a system that worked for them – one that was not only more efficient, but also more transparent and caring.”
The Solution
CMS Energy partnered with HR Acuity to unify its concern management into one intuitive platform. HR Acuity provides a centralized hub for incident reporting and analytics — enabling CMS Energy to drive consistency while supporting a thoughtful, people-centric way of working.
“With HR Acuity we brought consistency to our issue reviews, ensuring they are handled efficiently and fairly,” says Christina DuVall, Executive Director, Ethics and Compliance and IG.
The organization also implemented HR Acuity’s anonymous reporting hotline, Speakfully, which integrates effortlessly into the platform, boosting CMS Energy’s speak-up culture and prioritizing aftercare with empathetic, structured follow up.
“I think that HR Acuity is setting us up for the ability to take this to where we want it to go.”
The Impact
Faster Resolutions, Stronger Trust
With HR Acuity in place, CMS Energy reduced the time reviewers needed to capture and retain pertinent information regarding employee concerns, which reduced waste for reviewers and ensured a more defensible process. Speakfully provided a mechanism for employees to be better linked to their concern and have more control when seeking updates, asking questions and receiving additional support.
“Employees began to see a system that worked for them – one that was not only more efficient, but also more transparent and caring,” shares DuVall. “This wasn’t just about managing cases — it was about fostering a culture of trust and respect.”
CMS Energy employees felt comfortable bringing concerns forward with the implementation of Speakfully, as revealed by a 43% rise in anonymous reporting.
Benchmarking and Analytics to Fuel Impact
HR Acuity’s analytics and benchmarking tools gave CMS Energy new visibility into trends across departments.
DuVall especially values the benchmarking feature, which helps the organization compare itself to similar companies in size and industry. “This tool was the first tool I’ve seen that does benchmarking seamlessly and gave me confidence I was doing an apples-to-apples comparison,” DuVall shares.
With HR Acuity, CMS Energy can proactively address risks using the platform’s robust analytics. It even leverages data from HR Acuity to power a live heatmap. “You want to be confident that your reporting is accurate,” says DuVall. “I feel that HR Acuity helped us improve that confidence.”
Scalable Systems, Aligned with the Team’s Needs
CMS Energy’s team values flexibility, and HR Acuity meets their evolving needs without heavy IT reliance. Teams can configure workflows, add fields and build tailored reports — all while storing and tracking documentation in a central hub.
Before HR Acuity, the team spent considerable time chasing paperwork. Now, documentation is stored in one secure, accessible platform. “Issue reviews have lots of documents—it took a lot of time. Moving to HR Acuity was a huge time savings,” says DuVall.
Creating an Environment Where People Feel Safe to Speak Up
With the support of HR Acuity’s Speakfully anonymous reporting hotline, CMS Energy transformed a process that was once impersonal into something more approachable and comfortable for employees.
“The ability to move away from something that was very sterile, impersonal and didn’t offer integrated reporting — that was a huge benefit for us,” says DuVall.
Supporting a Human Approach to Issue Reviews
CMS Energy’s issue review process is called CARA — Compassionate, Accountable, Restorative Action. This framework treats coworker concerns as opportunities to rebuild trust and repair harm. It emphasizes both accountability and empathy, reflecting CMS Energy’s commitment to a human-first, values-driven approach to addressing risk issues.
“HR Acuity was the first tool that really embraced that language and approach,” says DuVall. “It’s more employee centric, which aligns to our values.”
More Than a Tool—A Strategic Partner
For CMS Energy, HR Acuity offers more than a solution – it’s a partner in redefining what ethical leadership looks like in the workplace.
“HR Acuity is a partner, which is unique in the experiences that I’ve had with case management tools,” shares DuVall. “We’re taking a very progressive approach to handling coworker concerns. We really need a partner that’s going to work with us as we push the envelope of what’s possible in addressing risk issues. I think that HR Acuity is setting us up for the ability to take this to where we want it to go.”
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