I’m new to investigations and employee discipline and also relatively new to this company. My concern is that I’m on my fourth investigation within one year about racial slurs and comments. The company size is less than 100 employees. Each incident has been in a different department, so it’s not isolated to one work group. I’m starting to think it’s not just a few bad apples but an entire culture and leadership over many years that has allowed employees (including managers) to speak the way they do with no investigations and repercussions. Is this number of incidents around racism in the timeframe normal for a company of this size? I’m wondering if I should change specialties or change companies. I don’t know if I have the resiliency to stick around for a culture change that could take years.
To read my answer, click here: How Can I Change a Company’s Racist Culture?
Great, solid information!
A great approach is to have a meeting with those in authority to find out if the company is serious about creating positivity in the workplace. It will give the HR personnel the real company’s perceptive. But also in trying to create a positive workplace environment, HR can not be overly biased to the other extreme either in only expecting only one side to change. If the company agrees to proceed with the needed changes, that doesn’t make give anyone the excuse to find fault for minor problems that can be worked out using the plan of action put into place. (in other words, the evaluation of the complaints will follow strict guidelines for both sides).
Yes, if the minds in power are not going to follow through despite the meeting, then look for a job where you feel your efforts fit more into the culture setting.
Yeah, I agree with MariaRose that you should conduct a meeting with higher authorities to discuss the same point.