[How to Create an Internal Consultation Desk: Part 2] At Least Two People Should Be in Charge! Explaining the Characteristics of People You Should Not Choose
Hello, I am Sohei Hanawa, a lawyer and representative coordinator of the Non-Profit Organization and Compliance Study Group.
Establishing a well-functioning consultation desk is essential for creating a healthy workplace. In the previous article, I explained "where to place the consultation desk," but in this article, I will discuss the number of people in charge and key points for selecting them.
If you haven't read [Part 1] yet, I recommend reading that first.
As a review, here are the candidates for consultation desk personnel. They are mainly the following people.
(1) Risk Management Department
(2) Internal Audit Department
(3) Human Resources or General Affairs staff
(4) Outside Directors
Now, let's take a look.
Number of Internal Consultation Desk Personnel
To put it bluntly, I recommend at least two people for the internal consultation desk. Furthermore, it is better to have two people from different departments rather than two people from the same department.
However, the reason I recommend two or more people is actually not because I want them to discuss things and respond as a consultation desk.
Rather, be careful, because if the personnel hold discussions about "emergency response," it often fuels a tendency to avoid issues, and it often doesn't work out because everyone just becomes irresponsible. Therefore, I believe that consultation desk personnel should basically be a sole-responsibility system (a position where one person makes decisions independently and connects to the next response).
Since compliance violations often require a swift response, if you have time to discuss, it is better to use that time to move on to the next response.
Reason 1. The consultant can choose the desk personnel
The biggest reason I recommend two or more people is to allow the consultant to choose the "person in charge who is convenient for them". As introduced in the first part, depending on which department the consultation desk is placed in, there are pros and cons to the person in charge, so who is easy to consult with differs for each consultant. Therefore, having two or more people is desirable in order to "provide options" to the consultant and to "proceed with the response while considering safety."
Furthermore, if there are two or more people, it becomes possible to have both genders as consultation desk personnel. Regarding sexual harassment in particular, there are many situations where people feel resistance to talking to the opposite sex, so let's have both genders as consultation desk personnel.
Reason 2. Multiple people need to be present for face-to-face interviews
Furthermore, regarding face-to-face interviews (primary investigation), it is desirable to have two or more people present, which is another reason why there must be at least two consultation desk personnel.
This leads to protecting both the consultant and the person in charge if any problems arise during the interview investigation, including "he said, she said" disputes.
If you can only have one person in charge due to the size of the organization, when conducting an interview, make sure to have a person in an appropriate position you can trust (such as General Affairs or Human Resources) who has no conflict of interest sit in on the meeting.
The procedure for the primary investigation is explained in this article.
In this way, for consultation desk personnel, it is necessary to "decide on an individual, not an organization (department in charge)". In other words, the more frequently the desk personnel change, the higher the training costs.
Creating a "healthy workplace" where people want to work for a long time and do not want to leave becomes important here as well.
Choose consultation desk personnel by process of elimination
The department to set up the desk has been decided, and the number of people has been determined.
Now, the question is: who should you choose? Depending on the organization, this might be the most difficult part.
First, although it may sound paradoxical, please be careful not to appoint someone who is overly interested in harassment and eager to take the lead in handling it as an internal consultation desk representative.
It is no laughing matter, but I very often encounter cases where an executive whose name frequently comes up as a perpetrator of harassment within the organization is serving as an internal consultation desk representative.
Honestly, I sometimes suspect that they are interested in (or rather, aware of) harassment and have become a consultation desk representative to prevent themselves from being reported. I imagine many of you are thinking, 'That's the case in my organization too!'
If someone with biased views or judgment regarding harassment is serving as a representative, having a consultation desk will have the opposite effect—that is, it will send a negative message that the organization condones harassment, so please be careful.
Also, since confidentiality is particularly important in handling harassment, someone who makes you think, 'If I tell this person, everyone will know by tomorrow,' is obviously not suitable.
If you pay special attention to these two points and then consider their aptitude for the role, such as 'Can they respond quickly?' or 'Can they think and act on their own?', many organizations will naturally see who the right person is. Also, even if someone who fits the above warnings ends up as a representative, if there are two representatives, the person seeking consultation can avoid the problematic one!
If, by any chance, both representatives are like that, then drastic organizational reform is necessary. If you are
a business owner, you should feel a sense of crisis that you are on the verge of collapse and consider organizational reform with a desperate resolve, and if you are an employee, I recommend that you consider changing jobs.
However, even if someone was not a problem at the time of appointment, changes in their environment (including private life) can cause a side of them that engages in harassment to emerge. It is the same for everyone that when you are frustrated because many things are not going well for you, you may become unable to be kind to others or fail to keep up with the changes of the times. Therefore, do not just leave it to them once you have chosen them;
periodic reviews, including changing representatives, are necessary.
Consultation desk representatives should be two or more and chosen by elimination
Do you understand why I say that at least two consultation desk representatives are necessary?
The person seeking consultation can choose their representative
As a rule, multiple people should be present for interviews
Representatives should be decided by elimination based on their aptitude
Having an active internal consultation desk that is easy for people to use will make the organization a place where everyone can work with peace of mind. Just like bullying,
there is no such thing as a workplace where 'no trouble occurs'. It is important to assume that it will happen and to nip it in the bud as quickly as possible. Let's set up an internal consultation desk, which is the first step toward that.
Next time, I will talk about setting up an external consultation desk, which is recommended for organizations that do not have the capacity to set up and operate an internal one, or for organizations that want to create a more open environment. Look forward to it.