In today's workplace employees are expected
to be creative and to challenge the
status quo, and organizations need to be successful
in addressing and dealing with
some of their top performers? strong questioning
attitude. As questions continue to
rise not only in how companies are run, technical
determinations that affect safety and environmental
impact are now being questioned at higher frequency
than has been seen in the past.
The Benefit
As a result of this strong questioning attitude,
product reliability has generally improved. The
safety of the public and the impacts to the environment
continue to move in a positive direction for those
top performing companies that recognize the long-term
benefit.
The benefit of the DPO process is that it provides
a pathway for resolution of technical and operational
matters. It also gives the organization the opportunity
to resolve the issue without regulatory agency intervention.
Generally, once an issue goes outside the organization
for resolution, the relationship between the employee/
public and the employer becomes strained. The cost
to rehabilitate employee/ employer relationship
is expensive and labor intensive, and the impact
to the organization's credibility with regulators
and the public sector can be crippling.
DPO Process
The DPO process represents one methodology available
to employees who wish to
formally resolve their professional judgment that
may differ from the organization's prevailing
in-house position.
Successful DPO processes are generally designed
with executive level management involvement contributing
the necessary authority to provide prompt in-house
resolution. To add credibility to the process, an
independent expert who has had no prior involvement
is often utilized to facilitate the process. This
independent expert can either be from an internal
source or contracted from an external source.
Employers should assure that their employees understand
the process and the degree that issued determinations
are final within the organization. In regulated
industries, employees need to be made aware that
the DPO process does not prevent the employee who
isn't satisfied with the resolution from pursuing
their issue with the proper authority if he or she
believes that there is a violation of the law.
Generally, once the issue is investigated, a report
that details the findings and
assessment is shared with the employee, and an executive
will then determine
the course of action the organization will take
to resolve the issue. This process
should make full use of the organization's
Corrective Action Program or other formal means
that can document, track, and address the employee's
DPO.
At the WorkPlace Cornerstone Group we believe issues
that are resolved within an
organization, using a consistent process, provides
outcomes that not only address
the issue but very importantly are done so with
a minimal amount of impact to the
organization and the trust of its employees.
Should your organization need assistance developing
a process to address technical issues within the
workplace, our experienced staff can help. We provide
a collaborative process to meet the needs of your
organization and your people.
