Bravely- A workplace ombudsman startup!

Workplace harassment and workplace bullying are identified as the core psychological hazards. The recent cases of harassment at Uber, Tesla, and Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood producer charged on sexual misconduct have prompted HR practitioners to drive investigations into workplace complaints and frame policies and procedures to help employee resolve internal issues.

However, most reports and survey suggests employees fail to report complaints to the organization’s ombudsman team due to fear of job loss. In an attempt to solve this challenge, a US-based startup- Bravely acts as a neutral third-party for employees.

Bravely, a New-york based start-up, founded in June by Rasesh Patel, Sarah Sheehan, and  Tobey Hervey offers confidential communication guidance and conflict coaching for employees navigating issues in the workplace.

The Bravely platform connects employees with its HR staff after filtering for the type of issue, seniority of the employee, and more. For example, issues related to workplace harassment and discrimination go to a specialized group of Bravely consultants, who keep the company's policies on-hand to help break them down for employees. The service is free for employees. However,  the employer pays a fee to use the service, and the cost depends on the company size. 

Hervey in a media was quotes sharing that, “Bravely only reports back some information to employers, such as how many people are using the service and general themes and trends. He also added, "If the same person's name keeps popping up about harassment, or management issues, Bravely may notify the employer and surface the issue.”

Recently, Bravely raised $1.5 million in funding and it is reported that most of its investors are startups with 50 to 500 employees.