The organisational harm, economic cost and workforce waste of unnecessary disciplinary investigations

Cooper, Andrew; Rogers, Julie; Phillips, Ceri; Neal, Adrian; Wu, Ning; McIntosh, Bryan

doi:10.12968/bjhc.2024.0024

British Journal of Healthcare Management

2024

DOI: 10.12968/bjhc.2024.0024

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The organisational harm, economic cost and workforce waste of unnecessary disciplinary investigations

Andrew Cooper,

Julie Rogers,

Ceri Phillips

et al.

Abstract: Andrew Cooper and colleagues highlight the harm, cost and waste that can be caused by unnecessary and poorly managed employee investigations and highlights areas that need to be addressed to improve this area of human resources practice.

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The last resort: reducing avoidable employee harm by improving the application of the disciplinary policy and process

Cooper,

Teoh,

Madine

et al. 2024

Front. Psychol.

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IntroductionThere is growing evidence within the healthcare sector that employee investigations can harm individuals involved in the process, an organization’s culture and the delivery of its services.MethodsThis paper details an intervention developed by an NHS Wales organization to reduce the number of its employee investigations through an organization-wide focus that promoted a ‘last resort’ approach and introduced the concept of ‘avoidable employee harm’. A range of associated improvement initiatives were developed to support behavior change among those responsible for determining whether an employee investigation should be initiated.ResultsOver a 13-month period, organizational records showed an annual reduction of 71% in investigation cases post-intervention, resulting in an estimated 3,308 sickness days averted annually and total estimated annual savings of £738,133 (based on direct savings and costs averted). This indicates that the organization has started to embrace the “last resort” approach to using employee investigations to address work place issues. The programme was supported with training for those responsible for commissioning and leading the organization’s employee investigations. Analysis of survey data from those who attended training workshops to support the programme indicated that participants showed an increased awareness of the employee investigation process post-workshop and an understanding of the concept of avoidable employee harm.DiscussionThe programme is congruent with the Healthy Healthcare concept, as the study illustrates how its practices and processes have a beneficial impact on staff, as well as potentially on patients. This study highlights wider issues for consideration, including the: (1) the role of Human Resources (HR), (2) taking a multi-disciplinary approach, (3) culture and practice, (4) the responsibility of the wider HR profession.

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The last resort: reducing avoidable employee harm by improving the application of the disciplinary policy and process

Cooper,

Teoh,

Madine

et al. 2024

Front. Psychol.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

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The organisational harm, economic cost and workforce waste of unnecessary disciplinary investigations

Abstract: Andrew Cooper and colleagues highlight the harm, cost and waste that can be caused by unnecessary and poorly managed employee investigations and highlights areas that need to be addressed to improve this area of human resources practice.

Cited by 1 publication

References 13 publications

The last resort: reducing avoidable employee harm by improving the application of the disciplinary policy and process

The last resort: reducing avoidable employee harm by improving the application of the disciplinary policy and process

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