Discriminatory treatment Promote good treatment and values
The best way to deal with offensive treatment is to work preventively, as emphasised in the regulation Organisational and Social Work Environment (2015:4). This regulation from the Swedish Work Environment Authority also requires employers to have policy documents that make it clear that offensive treatment will not be tolerated and describe procedures for dealing with offensive treatment. A further requirement is that managers and supervisors must be aware of and have the conditions to work preventively with offensive treatment.
Discrimination often has devastating consequences for the individual employee, resulting in both physical and mental ill health. It also reduces the efficiency of the work group, which becomes less tolerant of stress and seeks scapegoats. As a manager, it is important to act quickly on early signs of problems.
Feelgood supports you in your preventive work, with expert knowledge and support in creating policies and guidelines, as well as in implementation. We train and mentor your managers in how to create a good working environment and how to prevent and identify offensive treatment. Keep in mind that our services are provided primarily in Swedish, in English on request.
Employers are required to investigate suspected cases of harassment and to take swift action when harassment occurs. We help you with independent investigations through consultants who are trained in recommended methods. This may involve an initial conversation with the individual who feels they have been subjected to harassment in order to provide you with recommendations on what the next steps should be. This is often sufficient as a basis for deciding on measures to be taken. Sometimes a more systematic and thorough investigation is needed to understand what has happened, and we can also help with this. Such an investigation is conducted with respect, systematicity and objectivity as our guiding principles.
It can often be difficult to assess what lies behind signs of offensive treatment and determine the best course of action. In such cases, it can be helpful for someone from outside the organisation to talk to the person who feels they are being victimised. Feelgood has consultants who are experienced in making initial assessments and providing recommendations on the next steps to take in difficult situations.
Sometimes the signs can come anonymously via employee surveys, mapping exercises or whistleblower functions. In such cases, Feelgood can help identify measures to combat offensive treatment within the organisation.
For systematic work environment efforts to be successful, the organisation must have clear policy documents and guidelines. At Feelgood, we offer expert knowledge and support in the creation of policies and guidelines, as well as support in their implementation. For policy documents and guidelines to be effective, they must be well established among managers and supervisors, who must also have the conditions necessary to apply them. We train and mentor your managers and work on attitudes, values and conflict management.
Your organisation also needs systems for mapping and monitoring the work environment, including offensive treatment. Feelgood offers tools that can help you measure and monitor the organisational and social work environment.