Do you have HR processes in place? Join us on this episode of the Innovation with Compliance Podcast with Deb Muller, the CEO and Founder of HR Acuity, and we’re chatting about how human resources related technology and processes can help mitigate risks and create a safer workplace for everyone.

No rhyme or reason
Deb noticed that most of the investigations being done within HR in an organization had no rhyme or reason. There were no processes as to how they should be done. Talking to clients, she recognized the need to incorporate technology and consistency into the investigation lifecycle, because someone can just walk in the door with something to tell you and upend your entire day — not to mention pose an incredible amount of risk for the organization.
Having a system
Human resources are your most expensive resources, yet most companies don’t think about it when they think about risk or compliance. What happens when someone makes an allegation?  A proper compliance process will make sure you get to the right result, stop the behavior, and mitigate the risk.
What HR Acuity’s system allows you to do is identify if you’ve had similar issues in the past, spot the trends in behavior, and get ahold of them before they lead to something else. You can nip situations in the bud, and the data allows you to get smarter about your people and figure out how you’re going to train them.
Interpreting data
What’s great about the data is that you can see the outliers. Once you know your norm or your benchmark, you’ll be able to spot the spikes and dips — things that are unexpected. You might now know what that actually tells you, but what that does is it gives you the information to go and ask the questions and find out what’s going on. What changed? What’s different? Did something happen internally? Externally?
10 Ways Technology Can Impact Your Employee Relations Strategy
This blog entry goes through all the different things you can get from technology. Many clients rely on the data to see if they’re at risk for class action suits, for example, where legal can just check the data as a “single source of truth,” go through historical information, and see if there’s anything they need to get on top of before it becomes a bigger issue.
It’s not the issue, it’s how you handle it
If a process exists that people see and believe in, they are going to be more accepting of the outcome. We hear that 75% of people don’t come forward, and Deb believes it’s not because they don’t know how to come forward. It’s because they don’t know what to expect when they come forward. It can be scary: Am I going to be retaliated against? Am I going to have to recount my story in front of the person? Are they not going to do anything about it at all? Will it be held against me?
One important thing about having a process in place is sending a message that you have a process in place. When someone has an issue, they’re going to feel much more comfortable coming forward, so having processes in place is so important in helping to create that safe workplace.
Resources
Deb Muller
HR Acuity
10 Ways Technology Can Impact Your Employee Relations Strategy

What does it mean to be accountable and lead with accountability? Sam Silverstein is a consultant and author whose mission is to empower people to live accountable lives, transform the way they do business, and thrive at extraordinary levels. Join us as we take a deep dive into the subject of accountability and how it can impact the way we live and work. 

Accountability vs. transparency
These are two totally different elements.
Transparency is being open and honest: admitting that you have made a mistake and saying you’re on it and fixing it. You’re not trying to hide it or pretend it didn’t happen, you’re just being human. This is critical, and transparency is an element that will help you toward a life of accountability as an individual or as a leader.
But accountability is keeping your commitment to people. We talk about it a lot but many people have yet to figure out what it is. Accountability is not a way of doing, it’s a way of thinking, specifically, how we think about people. It isn’t just keeping your commitments to appointments and deadlines; it goes far deeper, like your commitment to the truth and to your values.
Accountability Index
The Accountability Index is a tool that measures an organization’s culture across 15 different indices. This gathers valuable information that ranges from engagement to an actual accountability score, and, using this data, helps an organization fine-tune their culture so they’re inspiring accountability up and down the organization.
It’s the leadership’s responsibility to be accountable first, and then create that environment that inspires accountability. In a culture like this, accountability isn’t coerced. It’s simply that people want to take it upon themselves to get the job done and do it right.
Culture
Every organization has a culture, either a culture by default, or a culture by design. Most organizations have cultures by default. When leadership takes the time to decide that this is what our culture is going to be, and creates an environment that values people and allows people to feel like they’re a part of the conversation and the solution, then that is a culture that inspires them to want to do their best. That’s the real power of accountability.
The Accountability Movement, The Accountability Roundtable, and The Accountability Community Project
The Accountability Movement is about trying to get people on board with wanting to live a more accountable life individually, as well as being part of a more accountable world.
The Accountability Roundtable is when, for example, clients who have already gotten on board with accountability invite leaders from different segments of the community, and, with Sam, talk about accountability over breakfast or lunch, discussing what it can do for their organizations and how it can impact the community.
The Accountability Community Project is where they work with civic leaders in the community. This is when they roll up their sleeves and make an investment in time and energy resources, helping them put these principles into action to build a more accountable community.
Resources for Sam Silverstein
LinkedIn
Website
YouTube