Page 115 - An Indispensible Resource for Being a Credible Activist

before they are presented to employees to ensure they are sound and free of rater-bias
and attribution error.

I recommend actively preventing rater-bias companywide by ensuring that all those who
supervise others have sufficient competencies in communication, investigative problem
solving, conflict resolution, collaboration, evaluation, reality-testing, and supervisory
skills. I recommend that training be provided regularly and when necessary and that
supervisors be coached on these skills in their annual performance evaluations. HR can
provide internal low-cost training in all of these areas to supervisors. However, if per-
formance evaluation and multi-rater feedback were to rate staff on these skills, they
would be practiced and used more than they currently are; there needs to be accounta-
bility for using these skills and improving them.
I recommend that all performance evaluations be based on each employee’s job descrip-
tion as well as on a universally enforced behavioral code of conduct. I recommend that
management and other supervisory positions also be rated on necessary core competen-
cies such as constructive conflict resolution skills, collaborative skills, communication
skills, project management skills, harassment awareness, policy awareness, performance
management skills, ethics, reality testing, prevention of rater-bias, and prevention of
attribution errors. I recommend using a 360-feedback format so that all (Company)
employees rate all other (Company) employees with whom they have contact. Multi-
rater feedback provides robust results that are more accurate than feedback from only an
employee’s supervisor. Therefore, multi-rater feedback can prevent disparate treatment
due to rater-bias and attribution errors that are driven by personal relationships and
other conflicts of interest.
I recommend that (Company) create an ethical code of conduct regarding interactions
with others, behavior, and rational, policy-based decision-making for all staff. I would be
happy to research options for this and present what I find.

COMPLIANCE ISSUES

It is in (Company)’s best interests to take all EEO and ADA complaints seriously and have
mandatory regular trainings on these issues. If one of our supervisors were to engage in
unacceptable behavior, we can say that we have trained them and we can then respond
as necessary according to our policies and the incident. If we fail to train employees reg-
ularly, we are then responsible as an organization and as individuals with compliance
responsibilities for not having prevented their harassing, discriminatory, and/or retalia-
tory behavior. Each of us can personally be named in lawsuits brought by employees
alleging noncompliance with our shared legal responsibility to prevent harassment, dis-
crimination, and retaliation. Most directors’ and officers’ liability policies will not cover
sexual harassment lawsuits and other lawsuits if any of us is found to have been negligent
in following our own policies.
It has been my experience that I am regarded negatively when I attempt to raise these
topics and be persuasive on them. I hope to advocate for more compliance-related tech-

98 The H R Toolkit