Workplace Restoration: An Interest-Focused Approach for Work Units or Teams

Written by: Heather Swartz, a facilitator with Queen’s IRC Labour Relations programs.

Workplace Restoration is an “interest-focused” process that is forward-looking and can create win-win solutions to assist in developing ⁷or rebuilding healthy and positive work environments.

The process gives employees a voice as they identify what they value in their workplace, their concerns and fears, and any suggestions for resolving commonly identified issues.

Is a Workplace Restoration Right for Your Organization?

Things to consider:

• There is no “one size fits all” when it comes to Workplace Restoration.
• Meaningful involvement from employees, unions, and management creates buy-in to the process and ownership over the outcome of improving the workplace culture.
• The needs of each situation must be evaluated through a Workplace Assessment phase followed by the development and implementation of a custom-designed Restoration Plan.
• Solutions and strategies should be based on the information gathered and varied according to the unique circumstances of each workplace.
• Restoring the workplace is typically not a quick or easy fix, and regular check-ins on progress will assist the workplace in adjusting initiatives, as necessary.

Not surprisingly, Workplace Restoration processes are most successfully employed when implemented proactively. Leaders who pay attention to the signs will have a gut feeling that something needs to be done to improve the health of the workplace culture. A Workplace Restoration process can guard against a deteriorating work environment, leadership being inundated with numerous complaints and grievances, or challenges like employee turnover.

Workplace Investigations

Workplace Restoration can also be an effective remediation tool to engage a work unit in building a healthy and productive work environment after an investigation.

Investigations are:

• A necessary part of the system to protect employee entitlements in the workplace.
• Most often commenced by a formal complaint about an incident or event that occurred in the past.
• Confidential and formal to provide for a fair and full investigation.
• The investigator, as an independent third party, gathers evidence and makes a finding as to whether each allegation is substantiated by the evidence.
• Focuses on rights and does not address all the underlying issues that brought the complainant to make a complaint, the future workplace environment, or relationships.
• Can be lengthy and disruptive.

Consequently, restoring the damaged relationship between the complainant and respondent after an investigation can be complicated and challenging. In this “rights-focused” win/lose scenario, if the allegations are unfounded, the respondent often feels completely exonerated, while the complainant feels the process is flawed and loses faith in the complaint process. If the allegations are founded, the respondent may feel the process is defective which makes their successful reintegration, if appropriate, difficult.

Workplace Restoration Post-Investigation

A Workplace Restoration post-investigation should include a comprehensive and individualized assessment to identify the parties’ broad range of interests and needs. Based on these insights, the restoration plan might include coaching, training, mediation, and operational or structural changes.

The unintended and widespread negative impact the investigation process may have had on the work unit is often overlooked after a workplace investigation. For example:

• Colleagues who may have been directly involved as witnesses will have some sense of the people and incidents under investigation, but lack knowledge of the outcome which can create uncertainty and skepticism.
• If the larger group becomes aware of the situation, confidentiality requirements may leave them in an information vacuum which can create confusion, or erode trust in each other, leadership, or the investigation process.
• The work unit may experience anxiety and fear, decreased morale, and a loss of productivity.
• Other work relationships may be damaged if gossip or alliances occur.
• Disruption may be the result of changes to personnel, roles, processes, and workload during, or after, the investigation.

Where restoration of a larger group is required post-investigation, a Workplace Assessment is needed to not only diagnose the root causes of underlying issues but also to identify what is working well. This information-gathering phase should be future-focused and inclusive. As it is not limited to investigating a specific complaint or grievance, the customized and wide-ranging restoration strategies may include:

• Mediation between pairs or multi-party mediation
• Team building exercises
• Trust building interventions
• Resetting community norms and expectations
• Training around conflict management
• Facilitated opportunities for people to heal
• Improved communication processes
• Clarifying policies and supports
• Operational or structural changes

Incorporating Workplace Restoration as a proactive and inclusive “interest-focused“ process can help improve work environments and prevent escalation of issues to formal processes. Additionally, a restoration plan that has been informed by a Workplace Assessment can rebuild healthy and productive relationships after issues arise.