Web firm acts as third party

Using Web sites to limit or take the personal interactions out of workplace conflict and incident reporting could be advantageous to some employees – especially those who don’t feel comfortable approaching their human resources representative.
But limiting that interaction is also taking a step away from a basic reason why we have human resource professionals: they’re someone in the office who employees feel comfortable talking to, said David L. Goldman, president of the Human Resource Management Association of Rhode Island.
“The ‘human’ part of human resources is truly a blessing and a curse,” said Goldman, a human resources generalist at Lifespan. “There has yet to be invented a system that truly takes into account what an employee is feeling as they go through a problem, whether they’re the cause or the victim.”
That hasn’t stopped some companies from trying to improve the handling of workplace issues.
Newport Scientific Research LLC, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based technology firm, announced in late April a Web-based program that they say will streamline human resource management for businesses both large and small.
Through a series of yes-or-no questions, Newport Scientific’s program – The Glass House Report, www.theglasshousereport.com – is intended to allow employees to file a claim in writing through a third party.
“What we like to think is that this program will level the playing field,” said Jeff Crandell, director of product development for Newport Scientific. “Every employee in the company, from the janitor to the CEO will have a chance to deal with any issues in the workplace quickly, so that hopefully things won’t get out of hand.”
The reporting system starts with an employee logging into the system using biometric identification – their fingerprint, with a proprietary scanner supplied by Newport Scientific. Once they are logged in, they are asked a series of questions, including: “Did you experience or witness any racial discrimination?” and “Did experience or witness any violence or threats?”
A “yes” answer on any of the questions will lead to a short-answer prompt. The written response is then flagged and a notice is sent to the subscribing company’s designated human resources manager, who also logs into the system with a fingerprint scan. Once they’re logged in, they can see the response and take action, Crandell said.
He said Newport Scientific, which is now in talks with “several large organizations” as potential clients for the Web site, is recommending that employees be required to fill out the survey on a regular basis, maybe even weekly.
“What that does is it establishes an audit trail of either issues or non-issues,” Crandell said, allowing administrators to see when a problem started. “It’s really hard to go back and reconstruct history, unless you’ve been prompting people on a regular basis to fill out a report.”
Goldman said he hasn’t before seen the level of automation that The Glass House Report offers. In the past there have been attempts to create out-of-company resources over the phone, although few Rhode Island companies have used such methods, he said. With its step-by-step questioning, The Glass House Report is “cold and calculating,” Goldman said.
Similar programs do have potential in the human resources business, if they eventually evolve to in-house Web-based channels that are similar but more personal, he said. “I don’t advocate that,” he said, “but I do understand there are people who have a fear of telling another human being about a problem but they wish someone would know.”
But hiring an outside company for reporting likely isn’t a positive step for the profession, he said. Sitting down with an employee during conflict-resolution is important, “as opposed to saying, ‘Your ticket number is …,’” Goldman said. “If they themselves were the ones harassed, would they want to wait for a report by e-mail?”
In his role at Lifespan, he and his colleagues have earned a “certain level of credibility and professionalism” that’s not the same as “filling out a form on a Web site and asking someone halfway around the world what’s happening in your own department.”
But Crandell said it might be a necessary and logical step for some companies, including those that require a lot of travel. “There are all sorts of opportunities for shenanigans to happen when people are on the road,” he said. “What if you could report it right then and there, 24 hours a day?”
A Web site like The Glass House Report also has potential as a way to trim legal expenses, he said.
“Something isn’t working now because of the huge cost of these cases,” Crandell said, citing an estimated 43,800 workplace incidents relating to violence every day in the United States. “The problem is huge, in the many billions and billions of dollars [every year]. Even if you settle out of court, it’s usually a very expensive proposition.” &#8226