New “Voice of the Workplace” Pulse from NCHRA and Waggl Points to Concerns about Workplace Safety in Light of Mass Shootings and Other Types of Violent Behavior
SAN FRANCISCO, and SAUSALITO, Calif. (PRWEB) June 20, 2018 -- The Next Concept Human Resource Association (NCHRA), and Waggl, the leading platform for real-time feedback powered by employee voice, today released their newest “Voice of the Workplace” pulse on the subject of workplace safety.
Using Waggl’s crowdsourced listening platform, thousands of HR professionals from organizations of all sizes were invited to participate in the pulse from April 9-May 18, 2018. Of respondents, 61% agreed with the following statement: “In light of recent events regarding mass shootings and other types of violent behavior in public settings, I am concerned about whether my organization can ensure a safe workplace environment.” In mid-size corporations with 5,000-20,000 employees, 85% of participants expressed concern, in comparison with only 38% at large corporations with more than 20,000 employees.
In aggregate, 61% of respondents reported that their organizations were reviewing policies regarding workplace safety. At non-profit organizations, 78% of respondents reported that they were reviewing policies.
“Workplace safety has become a greater concern in recent months, given high-profile incidents such as the shooting at YouTube,” said Greg Morton, CEO, NCHRA. “Safety policies used to focus on fire drills and accident prevention, but we now find ourselves in a climate where HR needs to look more carefully at security practices and procedures, including access to buildings and protocols for lock-downs. Many organizations are also looking to invest more heavily in mental health and wellness programs in order to prevent incidents in the workplace.”
HR West and Waggl also posed the open-ended question, “What, in your opinion, is the single most important thing employers can do to make the workplace safe from gun violence and other types of violent behavior?” Crowdsourced responses were distilled into a ranked list. Here are the top four responses:
1. “Make sure employees have adequate access to mental health needs, education on how to spot a distressed individual and what they can do, protocols for lockdowns, etc. in other words; look at both root cause and safety systems.”
2. “Promote, and train to support a culture of openness and peaceful conflict resolution and zero tolerance violence policy.”
3. “Have plans in place and make sure everyone is aligned via training and ongoing communication.”
4. “Continuing education on workplace safety, assessments of behavior, wellness programs with outside consulting from licensed psychologists.”
Waggl helps organizations to create an open and transparent flow of communication with a real-time listening platform that elevates employee voice and encourages engagement. Waggl enables fast, frequent, focused conversation on virtually any topic, and encourages peaceful conflict resolution by building consensus and alignment within an organization.
“From the responses to this pulse, it’s clear that ongoing communication and alignment is critical to workplace safety,” said Kate Benediktsson, Chief Marketing Officer, Waggl. “In order to create the kind of healthy culture that handles conflict constructively, organizations need to make the workplace more human and demonstrate to employees that they are valued. The best way to do that is to give attention to their thoughts and opinions on a regular basis.”
For additional information, please visit Waggl at and NCHRA.
About NCHRA
Next Concept HR Association (NCHRA) is the second-largest HR association in the country and has been advancing organizations through human resources since 1960. Delivering over 100 programs annually, the association is dedicated to connecting human resources professionals with practice resources, leading-edge training, legal and legislative developments, quality service providers, and each other—forming career-long networks and partnerships. For more information visit http://www.nchra.org.
About Waggl
Waggl creates radically better employee engagement, powered by employee voice. High performance is driven by engaged people, not measurement and numbers alone. Waggl’s software platform boosts human connection and enables informed decision-making, rapid alignment, and immediate action. Waggl delivers actionable insights to leaders, ensures that employee voices are heard, and encourages employee engagement through meaningful inclusion and participation in a transparent dialogue.
With a highly seasoned management team and advisors including esteemed executives from Glassdoor, SuccessFactors, and Coupa, Waggl has built a customer-first culture that values strong relationships and ongoing innovation. The company’s solutions are continually evolving in response to input from its global customer base, which includes industry leaders such as City Electric Supply, UCHealth, BD, and Juniper Networks, among others. For more information, please visit: http://www.waggl.com/.
Rebecca West, Helium Communications, http://heliumcommunications.net, +1 415.260.6094, [email protected]
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