Heather Bussing Discusses the Role of HR in Ethics and Investigations

One of the last things we might think about when it comes to ethics is efficiency. There’s no rule that says organizations can’t accomplish both. In this episode, Jakub Ficner from Case IQ talks about the framework organizations can use to be ethical and efficient at the same time. It starts with creating guidelines and using technology to monitor risk.

HR needs to create a safe environment for employees to feel comfortable reporting concerns. But employees also need to understand HR’s role in both protecting the company and maintaining confidentiality. In this episode, we discuss the role of HR in facilitating workplace investigations to ensure that the process maintains legal integrity.

Organizations create codes of conduct and ethics training. And employees agree with them. But then concerns still arise. In this episode, we discuss the connection between ethics, compliance, and the business. We also talk about how building ethics into the investigatory process, will bring more credibility to investigations and help organizations get to the truth with fairness and respect.

Ethics isn’t a one and done activity. If organizations really want an ethical culture, ethics should be a part of everything - recruiting, onboarding, training, performance, and even offboarding. This Season 3 wrap-up episode talks about how organizations need to shift from discussing ethics in a reactive way to creating a speak up culture.

Talking about ethics does not mean the organization has an ethics problem. In fact, talking about ethics could be exactly the reason that the organization doesn’t have an ethics problem. In this episode, we discuss why organizations resist ethics training and the components of a successful ethics training program – and it starts with being realistic.

Workplace ethics isn’t just a HR policy or program. It’s something that needs to be communicated and demonstrated throughout the organization. In this episode, we discuss the three components to unethical behavior (rationale, need, and opportunity) and why communication is the key to creating an ethical culture.

Organizations want to be fiscally responsible. Part of being fiscally responsible means paying people what they’re supposed to be paid. That means addressing the issue of pay equity. It’s a complex topic but fixing pay inequities helps the organization build trust, better performance, and improve the bottom line.

As HR professionals, we can often get so caught up in helping others manage change that we forget to take our own advice. Learn how the PDCA model (Plan – Do – Check – Act) can help individuals and organizations manage change more effectively so we can focus on the right things.

HR is often referred to as a change agent. But that doesn’t mean we have to supply all the answers. In this episode, we talk about how questions can be our best friend during organizational change efforts and the importance of building relationships with the management team.

Candidates and employees want to work for organizations that share their social values. For organizations, that means doing more than talking about diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice (DEIBJ). It means creating impact. In this episode, we discuss how organizations need to act with intention to have an impact with their employees.