If you work in HR, you will have experienced that sinking feeling whenever you hear that an employee wants to invoke a grievance or disciplinary procedure.
It’s no wonder. These are some of the most toxic, damaging and destructive policies in our organisations. They are taking their toll, not just on the people who have the abject misfortune to encounter one of the processes but also on the HR and employee relations (ER) professionals who must administer these pernicious and harmful policies.
The HR processes we are all so familiar with are designed around a model of justice called retributive justice. They are not concerned about resolving an issue or garnering positive working relationships. They are escalatory processes which ultimately end in blame and punishment (add shame and destruction for good measure). They are reductive and they infantilise our workforces. This poor behaviour is then used to justify the application of even more retribution.
What a mess. This is not compassionate or progressive HR.
We cannot describe our organisations on LinkedIn, in job adverts and in award nominations as being compassionate, caring nor kind when we drag our employees and managers to the gates of hell when things go wrong, when they disagree, when they make a mistake or when they speak truth to power.
Read more: Don't ignore these subtle signs of a toxic workplace
These HR processes, which were designed for resolving workplace issues, are paradoxically making matters much, much worse. A low-level disagreement turns into a full-blown office meltdown as soon as a grievance procedure is invoked. A simple misunderstanding is turned into a complete relationship breakdown as soon as a bullying procedure is invoked. A minor error is turned into a career-defining threat as soon as a disciplinary procedure is invoked.
Of course, many seasoned HR and ER professionals can see this and steer parties away from the process.
This is somewhat ironic as the processes are designed to resolve issues. What does it say to our employees and managers when HR, who themselves are the custodians of these process, say: ‘Don’t use the process we have designed to safeguard our workforce, as we know it will make matters worse’?
Retributive justice creeps into the culture of our organisations and the climate of our teams. It steals the goodwill that has built up, makes off with the trust that has been earned and appropriates the camaraderie that glues teams together.
The stakes are high. The impact of these broken HR systems is great, and the costs are eye watering. Never has there been a time when it has been more imperative to move away from retribution and towards restorative approaches to resolving conflict of all kinds.
A better way forward
In my book Transformational Culture (Kogan Page, 2021), I introduce the concept of 'transformative justice'. Transformative justice is a new model of justice which offers a robust and ethical rules-based system where issues can be resolved quickly and effectively, and where tangible results can be delivered, whilst maintaining the all-important need for regulatory and legal compliance.
This model of justice blends procedural justice (which is concerned with employee rights and the need for due process), and natural justice (which is concerned with fairness and reasonableness) with restorative justice (which is concerned with reducing harm, promoting dialogue and restoring relationships).
It delivers a system of rules, behaviours and processes which keep people safe, build trust and promote accountability. It holds people to account in a direct and powerful way, holding a mirror up and requiring us to ask ourselves some tough questions about the choices that we make and the impact of our actions on others.
The first task for people and culture professionals (HR) who want to make this important shift towards transformative justice is to ensure that all their people policies and employee relations processes are restorative, rather than retributive, in nature, and that they focus on protecting relationships and delivering robust outcomes, which build trust and accountability.
Read more: How to have positive conflict at work
Integrating the learning from the application of workplace justice processes will also ensure that this approach becomes the driver of continuous improvement in the business, feeding into everything from industrial relations and employee engagement to team performance and increased productivity.
It’s time for a radical change in the way we deliver justice in organisations. Justice is a defining feature of an effective people and culture function. It’s time for HR to walk the talk.
If not now, when?
David Liddle is founder of People and Culture Consulting
