One of the most challenging aspects for employers attempting to deal with workplace bullying or misconduct is getting to the truth of allegations, especially in circumstances where the apparent victim’s version of events contradicts that of the alleged bully. Most of the time, this disparity can be put down to differences of opinion or misinterpretation […]
Across all Australian workplaces the phenomenon of bullying is without doubt a front-and-centre topic. And as a result, overt instances of bullying in the workplace now tend to be more readily identified than ever before. One challenging idea for all concerned however is this; is it possible that management action that is entirely reasonable could […]
Managers within volunteer organisations are renowned for their ability to run operations with incredibly limited resources. Working with both paid staff and volunteers, there is a sense of needing ‘all hands on deck’ within busy community and charity groups. We explore today some of the hidden dangers of unconscious bias and nepotism that can arise […]
Workers compensation is one of those central issues that necessarily impacts upon the thinking and planning of Australian employers. To use the old phrase – “accidents happen.” And indeed, it is this inevitability that leads to the simple, no-fault basis of most Australian statutory workers’ compensation schemes. Yet workers compensation is a variable beast, and […]
Fraud is enormously detrimental to Australian organisations, with KPMG putting the average cost of each case in 2015 at $1.4 million. There can be a number of reasons why an employee commits fraud, such as personal financial pressures, personality traits, rationalisation, and opportunity. Since it’s fairly impossible to control other people’s personalities, thoughts and […]
Sometimes when we investigate issues of misconduct and/or corruption in workplaces, we find ourselves asking – why didn’t anybody notice this earlier? Yet more often than not the answer to this question will be that people at least partially knew, but for a number of reasons they felt unable to act. Those reasons tend to […]
We understand that for busy employers, time and energy are definitely limited resources. Regularly spread thin by the demands of customers, suppliers and employees, it can certainly be difficult to notice the finer goings-on of the everyday workplace. For this reason, human resource issues such as depression and other mental illnesses in […]
By Andrew Hedges Can workplace corruption be halted? Is there a way to stop workplace corruption from mushrooming or thriving? It obviously has to trickle from the top down, so managers and supervisors need to be made aware of their role in changing the culture. If there is a real desire to tackle workplace […]
By Andrew Hedges WORKPLACE CORRUPTION AND SOCIAL IDENTITY If you’re new to an organisation and you’re given a company credit card for work-related expenses such as taking clients out to lunch or for travel purposes, your social identity can be tied in to how the workplace culture “interprets” that company credit card. This ties in […]
Procedural fairness (or ‘natural justice’ as it is otherwise known) has ancient origins, dating back to the Greek philosopher, Plato and Roman philosopher, Seneca.1 It applies in situations where there is a decision to be made which could have an adverse outcome on the rights, interests or legitimate expectations of a person. Historically […]