Vault Platform Blog
Declining mental health and the ethical workplace
-The abrupt life changes caused by the pandemic continue to propagate elevated stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues among the global workforce. A report released this month reveals that the risk for depression among US workers has risen an alarming 102% since February of this year and shows little sign of abating.
Pressure to ignore ethics grows under COVID
-According to the ECI, globally, more than one in every five employees feels pressure to compromise their organization’s ethics standards, policies, or the law.
The real Women’s Equality Day is still over the horizon
-Women’s Equality Day is a bit of a misnomer, historically speaking. It’s even a misnomer in the context of the present day. Equality, for all women, is still a long way off, especially when it comes to representation in the workplace.
Misconduct claims hit share prices hard
-There’s new data out showing the impact of sexual misconduct at work on a company’s share price. Companies with complaints of harassment or discrimination perform far worse than others in the same sector, according to University of Manitoba Assistant Professor of Finance Shiu-Yik Au.
4 steps to an effective speak up program
-Every organization will have misconduct at some point in some form, it’s a statistical probability and has little bearing on how ‘good’ a culture is. So a good speak up program becomes about uncovering or surfacing misconduct and resolving it before it grows and enables a toxic culture.
The role of compliance in speak up culture
-One of the many things 2020 will be noted for is an increased focus on the intersection between the functions of compliance, legal, and HR – more specifically regarding the direction of a company’s culture and whether the company and its employees act with integrity.
Diversity is like a workplace safety program
-If you had a series of accidents in your company that resulted in lawsuits and reputational damage, you would create a systemic program looking at work redesign, communications, training, metrics, rewards, and incident reporting. Diversity in business is no different and should be treated like a safety program.
Optimizing internal reporting ahead of the EU Whistleblower Directive
-In preparation for this legal requirement, employers are reviewing the adequacy and effectiveness of their internal reporting solutions. Some may also be acquiring their first-ever reporting mechanism. Given the diverse challenges of the moment and widespread unrest around inequality and ethical behavior in the workplace, employers should be considering advanced reporting solutions that protect their culture in addition to meeting regulatory requirements.
The equality agenda is being set back. What can HR do about it?
-As the dual impact of COVID-19 and systemic discrimination continues to be felt by businesses worldwide, concerns are growing that the equity and equality agenda has been set back by years.
What does an effective speak up strategy look like in advertising?
-Like many other companies, advertising giant M&C Saatchi had a whistleblowing hotline in place for employees to raise concerns about workplace misconduct. But the company’s head of HR found that it was not an effective method for getting employees to speak up, leaving the firm vulnerable to unreported risk.
