I attended the “HR Leaders Summit Canada” conference last week, and participated in a panel where we discussed how human resources can lead organizations for “clarity, capacity, and care.” My co-panelists (Mark Edgar, Rawan El-Komos, and Momina Javaid, moderated by Donna Gray) had much insight and excellent ideas for HR professionals.
While we are probably best known for conducting and supporting investigations and providing investigation training, our firm’s passion is elevating workplace culture overall. One of the ways we do that is by facilitating Respectful Workplace Training (RWT) – while often narrowly viewed as harassment and discrimination training, RWT more broadly refers to any “training that will provide [workers] with information intended to help foster a respectful workplace.”
Most Canadian jurisdictions require employers to have policies that address issues like workplace harassment, discrimination, and violence. In our investigation practice, we read many of these “respect at work” policies, and the overwhelming majority of them are clearly written to specifically comply with legislative requirements.
I was waiting in a security line at the airport last week when someone brushed past the woman and child behind me to jump the line. I was struck by the rudeness (and boldness) of this act of incivility and so I discretely pointed it out to the offender. They responded by raising their voice, denying the act, and telling me to mind my own business in a fit of profanity. Whew! That took the initial incivility to a whole other level!
