An open note to our clients and followers,

I have been ASTONISHED at how much attention our recent blog article on toxic managers has attracted.

I’m YOUR BOSS! Toxic manager and your margins

We have had many questions about how risk can be mitigated and how we conduct ‘culture assessments’ so as to proactively minimize liability to our clients.

The biggest take away I have from all the fuss over our article is that title company employees are being hurt and bullied in ways owners have no idea about. It’s more common than most people imagine. Ticking litigation time bombs are everywhere and as an owner, I can assure you that time is not your friend in dealing with this. Harm continues on a daily basis.

More on our culture assessments later, but for now I wanted to share one of the comments I received from our friend and colleague, Los Angeles attorney, Sheldon Rubin (Law Offices of Rubin & Eagan):

“A procedure should be considered so that complaints, involving employees, managers or officers of the business organization, may as an alternative, be forwarded to a Committee of 3-5 employees instead of the HR Department. It is not infrequent that employees with justifiable or otherwise bona fide complaints may not want to process a complaint through HR. There may be circumstances when HR will be biased or fearful of processing a complaint involving a senior manager. This is often seen when a senior manager is creating a hostile work environment. This could be complemented by a “suggestion box” accepting anonymous complaints which are opened by the Committee. This procedure may not be suitable for every entity, but certainly needs to be considered by all entities. A risk management firm with substantial experience in the subject industry, e.g. ProsperitasForward in the title insurance industry, should be consulted to determine suitability and to implement the process.”

Howard