Jodie Flowerday, a Policy Advisor working in the New Zealand tertiary sector, discusses the Russell McVeagh Review from a governance and policy perspective, noting the finding that governance failings contributed to the firm’s treatment of harassment and bullying.
Over the last few months there has been much written on the issue of harassment and bullying within the legal profession. I have read the Independent review of Russell McVeagh as well as numerous opinion pieces from those in the legal profession in response to the report, with great interest.
Harassment and bullying are behaviours that pose real risks to an organisation; both strategically and operationally. The reality is that no matter your position within an organisation no‐one is sheltered from these behaviours or the consequences of them.
When these behaviours occur and are not mitigated and managed successfully, then the result can have serious consequences. For example, one consequence to an organisation may be that recruiting and retaining staff are detrimentally affected over a long period of time. This can have flow‐on affects to the achievement of the organisation’s strategic and operational goals and targets.
Having just successfully completed further study in the area of governance, one of the things that stood out to me when reading the Russell McVeagh report was the number of times the word governance occurs within the body of the report. The report itself identifies governance failings as contributing factors to the firm’s handling of harassment and bullying incidents.
So, it is important for governing bodies of organisations and those in senior management positions to identify and assess all risks and their likely impacts on the realisation of strategic and operational goals. Organisations should also have appropriate bodies within the organisation who are accountable for overseeing and reporting on risks, articulate responsibilities clearly, and have appropriate controls in place to mitigate or reduce risk impact. One way to communicate and implement controls is through policy.
Recently, I have been reviewing a number of policies (including my own organisation’s harassment policy) where the ability to speak up is central to addressing undesirable behaviour. What the polices all have in common is the need for clear and transparent communication on standards of behaviour, the way the behaviour will be handled and by whom, reporting options, and the support available to those affected by the behaviour.
Developing clear and workable policies and processes are only one part of the puzzle as the fact policies exist do not in themselves successfully address the behaviours wanting to be avoided. The implementation of a policy needs to be monitored, and assessed for effectiveness and that it is “fit for purpose”. Formal and informal feedback mechanisms on the policy and its implementation should also exist. The greater the understanding of the risk and its impacts within an organisation, the more likely the successful implementation and operation of the policy.
There are lessons to be learned here for all organisations in regards to identifying and assessing reputation risk. The effects of harassment and bullying on reputation and wider strategic and operational goals is not to be underestimated.
Jodie Flowerday has been working in various roles since 2011. She currently works in the tertiary education sector in the role of Senior Policy Advisor for a tertiary education institution. Contact Jodie at Jodie.beker@gmail.com or connect via LinkedIn