Case Study
Restorative Human Resources: Creating Options in a Diverse Workplace
The Women’s Resource Society reached out to Just Outcomes with an interest in increasing the alignment between their stated organizational values and their approach to Human Resources (HR), including the redress of conflict and harmful circumstances. They sought an approach that was informed by the diverse voices on their staff and management, that was overtly “values-forward,” and that would meet the needs of their highly skilled and unique staff. Just Outcomes was invited to lead a diverse staff team from across the organization, in a process of developing “Restorative HR.”
The Society let us know from the outset that their Board made decisions by consensus, their staff of 1400 spoke 35+ languages and was racially diverse, and that many of their team were hired after experiencing various barriers such as homelessness and addiction. In this context, the standard approach of investigation and suspension within HR and conflict resolution approaches was simply not working, and they needed to find a pathway forward that centered trust, empowerment and relationship. This was an ideal fit with restorative approaches in the workplace.
Over a several-month period, our team worked to support an internal committee, which named itself the Restorative HR Collaborative (“RHR Collab”) that was representative of all facets of the organization’s leadership and staff. After a period of education, relationship building, and training from Just Outcomes, committee members took on the task of providing input into a manual that was designed to shape the development and operations of a restorative HR program at their workplace. Their work included detailed descriptions of the values guiding the emerging program, approaches to conflict resolution and harm, how to get support, and elucidation of options for more serious situations. Just Outcomes provided oversight, technical expertise, draft content, editing, coordination, and facilitation along the way.
The RHR Collaborative produced a comprehensive manual with details of the various options available when harm or conflict emerge in the workplace—including when to involve formal HR processes, and when to ask for help from the RHR Collaborative itself. As of this writing, they are now determining how best to implement the new procedures within the Women’s Resource Society.