Which action should the HR director take to effectively address the employee’s reason for reporting the issue anonymously?

The HR director and the CEO of an e-commerce company with 330 employees each receive a similar email from an unrecognizable address. The letter is from an anonymous discontented employee. In the letter, the employees accuses the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the company of financial fraudulent practices including using accounting loopholes to hide hundreds of thousands of dollars of bad debt, while simultaneously inflating the company’s earnings.

The anonymous email also accuses the CFO of intimidation, retaliation, and virulently attacking senior managers in front of junior colleagues. The email further states that the employee has taken great effort to remain anonymous because of a fear of retaliation, which may lead to termination for spurious reasons. The email states that HR is improperly chummy with the CFO and has never been able to conduct an independent workplace investigation free of prejudice.

Which action should the HR director take to effectively address the employee’s reason for reporting the issue anonymously?
A . Share reports with employees via email, detailing workplace investigations that HR has conducted through the aid of employees who reported unethical practices and received executive-level commendation.
B . Communicate at the next employee townhall meeting about the company’s policies, procedures and options that encourage and safeguard employees who report workplace issues and unethical concerns.
C . Send an email to all employees stating the impartial role of HR in workplace investigations and confirm that all whistleblowers can safely report issues to HR without fear of retaliation.
D . Ask the CEO to share at the next townhall meeting the options employees have to report unethical concerns by using sanitized case studies to demonstrate and clarify the types of misconduct that the
company would expect to be reported.

View Answer

Answer: B

Explanation:

The company’s options, policies, and procedures for reporting ethical and workplace concerns should be continuously communicated and reinforced. Note that a townhall meeting affords employees the opportunity to ask questions and clarify opinions.

Emails are not an effective way to encourage feedback from employees on issues that involve employee hesitancy to be identified with a workplace complaint. Clarifying the types of misconduct that should be reported does not encourage employees to report workplace issues.