Many employees come to us after HR has done an investigation. Regardless of how the investigation went, regardless of whether they were the one reporting or the one accused, the employee is unhappy. They feel unsupported, unheard, and (this may surprise you but) both sides feel suspected. In this video (below), Rebecca Gwozdziewycz, who has decades of experience in HR and I talk about when investigations are necessary and other options for handling reports in the workplace. At Eris, we always believe IMPACT training does more to resolve reports of problems at work than investigations do. Regardless of whether you need to conduct an investigation, IMPACT training can actually repair the work

Many of our clients come to us worried that "things might not be bad enough" YET at work to invest in getting help. What happens when we focus on things "not being bad enough" is that we almost look forward to things getting worse, so that we can finally give ourselves permission to make a change. This can become dangerous in situations where things do get worse, and we don't have the tools to protect ourselves. Instead, we help our clients shift to thinking about work getting better, rather than waiting for things to get worse. We do this with a concept I like to call the Abundance Spectrum. In the Abundance Spectrum, we start by setting an impossible goal in our careers. We refocus on imag

Last year, Grant County District Attorney Jim Carpenter, accessed a citizen’s personal cell phone records without consent, warrant, or suspicion of a crime. Our client is an Oregon business owner, personal trainer, and all-around badass human (see below) who is standing up for herself and others who have experienced abuse of power from law enforcement. Full complaint can be seen here. In Oregon, it is illegal for law enforcement to search your phone without any suspicion of a crime. For white people who think we aren't or can't be impacted by the abuse of power that happens to people of color, we have to remember that we have seen this kind of abuse in the communities of color for decades. I

Employees often come to us and let us know that they reported abusive behavior at work to HR . . . And they never heard back. Or, HR responded, and targeted the employee with an investigation. The employees who talk to us often feel afraid - both because of the abuse they're experiencing and because they feel betrayed by their employer. That's where we step in. In this video, Rebecca G., who supports our clients through IMPACT training, and I talk about this experience and how we've seen our clients turn a situation around. Watch! And, share your experience. If you know someone going through this, tell them to reach out right away. Text and audio file available here.

Often what happens when we experience conflict is we don't want to talk about it. We don't want to make waves or think that it's bad enough to do anything about it (yet). But, that typically makes things worse. It can lead to long-term physical impacts or other people experiencing the same thing. And, it makes talking about the unacceptable behavior worse than the behavior itself (which just isn't true). In this video, Rebecca (an HR expert) and I talk about the importance of knowing when to report, how to honor yourself, how to separate the behavior that is happening from the person, and how to make a bad or uncomfortable situation turn out better for everyone (including yourself or someone