Our Development Philosophy

C.F.O.'s have always understood the need to balance the risks and rewards of financial management. Insurance is the primary way to minimize the downside of risk, while investments (in new products, technology, services) are used to manage the upside. We've taken the same approach to human capital management.

Because of the number of employment-related lawsuits over the past ten years, employers often focus on protecting their downside through EPL insurance, policies and procedures, and compliance training. Our Interpersonal Risk Audit gives you a quick snapshot of your existing employment liability by evaluating the effectiveness of your current compliance efforts. Unquestionably, the better "insurance" you provide your company - through effective policies, company-wide training, the utilization of professional resources, and so forth, the greater the legal protection you provide your organization.

However, for your company to excel, you've got to invest in your human capital. The most successful companies will not only use "best practices" to reduce employment-related liability, they'll use them to actively develop their human assets. An additional service our Interpersonal Risk Audit provides is an evaluation of the effectiveness of your existing management and employee development efforts.

What Information You Will Gain

The Interpersonal Risk Audit provides you with information about six key areas - hiring and interviewing, employee development, discipline and termination, employee conduct, performance management and retention, and employment liability. Each section looks at your current risks and your current investments, as assessed by the answers to the questions you've answered and variables that are specific to your company and industry. If you are a government contractor, the Interpersonal Risk Audit will also provide you with an evauation of your current affirmative action/EEO compliance efforts.

Based on these factors, we then provide you with an analysis of the effectiveness of your current interpersonal risk management strategies; this analysis is based on based on employment law research, human resources best practices, and organizational development and performance management literature, and over a decade of corporate consulting.

Under each of the six areas, you will find recommendations. Each recommendation contains 3 boxes. Based on your answers and in comparison to our research, one of the boxes will be checked, indicating one of three possibilities:

• We found your current practice to be acceptable
• We recommend you review your current practice
• We recommend you revise and/or implement a practice

We then provide you with information about related resources that can help you address these recommendations.

What Our Interpersonal Risk Audit Doesn't Do

This report is not legal advice, nor does the information provided create any kind of attorney-client relationship. In addition, the provided recommendations are not legal recommendations, nor does an acceptable rating indicate a legal endorsement. Our goal is to give you a general assessment of how your organization might reduce legal liability and increase profit. Always consult your in-house counsel or outside attorney with any specific questions.

We believe this report covers virtually every relationship aspect of employment liability; however, it does not cover all employment-related risks such as wage and hour laws or benefits issues.

How to Use It

The goal of our Interpersonal Risk Management Audit is to help you make informed decisions in balancing the risks and investments in your human capital. How much you risk (by not implementing recommended liability-reducing policies and procedures) and invest (through development, training, mentoring) in your employees will depend upon the risk culture in your organization. Our job is to provide you with the factors in employment-related liability and human capital investment so you can calculate the risks you need to avoid - and the ones you are willing to accept.

Use our Interpersonal Risk Management Audit to set priorities for training and development. Begin with the two areas you are most concerned about; for example, if you're in a high turnover industry, consider starting with the Discipline and Turnover section and implement the recommendation that seems most critical to your business needs. Because some of the questions relate to more than one interpersonal risk management category, you may see them pop up more than once. For example, background checking is a critical issue in hiring and it also pertains to employment liability. As a result, depending upon your answers to the questions, you may see this recommendation in both sections.

In addition to using our Interpersonal Risk Audit to launch your interpersonal risk management strategy, we encourage you to use it as on ongoing assessment tool. As your business changes, the economy ebbs and
flows, markets shift, and employment laws adjust, so will your interpersonal risk management needs. Come back to your IRA periodically to help you reassess your interpersonal risk management strategy - and to make sure you're protecting your downside and maximizing your opportunity for growth.