My Two Cents On Harassment
As we traveled for the holidays I had a lot of thoughts about what to write next. Eight and a half hours in the car provides lots of brainstorming time!
One theme comes up time and time again. When I turn on the tv, stroll through social media, and listen to the radio I hear stories about harassment, specifically sexual harassment.
What do you think about when you hear the names Bill Cosby, Matt Lauer, Harvey Weinstein, and Al Franken? Good things? Bad things? How about career-ending things?
People use their titles, positions, salaries, and celebrity status to coerce and/or force others to do things, sexual things, illegal things, and things that are highly inappropriate for the workplace. This isn’t new. It’s been going on for a long time; for men and women in all industries, positions, and income levels.
So why does it happen? The answer is a tough one to hear…
BECAUSE
- THEY THINK THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH IT
- THEY THINK THEY WON’T GET CAUGHT
- THEY PREY ON PEOPLE THAT THEY KNOW CAN’T OR WON’T SAY “NO” BECAUSE THEIR PERSONALITY, PARADIGMS, OR POSITION MAKE THEM WEAK
- THEIR DESIRE FOR THE “ACTION” OUTWEIGHS THEIR DESIRE TO BE A PROFESSIONAL
- THE DESIRE FOR THE “ACTION” OVERRIDES THE NEED TO BE A FAITHFUL SPOUSE OR PARTNER
- THEY BELIEVE THEIR EMPLOYER WILL DEFEND THEIR ACTIONS BECAUSE OF THEIR POSITION, SALARY, OR CELEBRITY STATUS
And since I’m on a roll, here are a few more thoughts. Bullying someone, unwelcome touching, consensual relationships gone bad, and jokes (sexual, racial, age, etc) could all be considered harassment too. It’s really tricky and what was ok one day with someone might not be ok the next.
So can you avoid harassment-related issues in your workplace? Maybe.
Having a harassment policy and doing harassment training regularly is very important. It can set an expectation with all employees, contractors, consultants, and suppliers about what should or should not be happening in your workplace.
Tell employees if they have a problem who it should be reported to and what happens with a complaint. Employees need to know that complaints will be taken seriously and fully investigated. If you don’t have an in-house human resources department who else should handle a complaint like this? A designated member of leadership? An employee assistance program? An independent consultant like KLO (yes!)? Have a plan and be prepared to act.
Harassment not taken seriously can cause a lot of problems, first and foremost for the victim of the harassment. If the claims are true and you don’t act, you could be subjecting your employee(s) to repeat abuse. You may also subject your organization to legal or criminal matters for not investigating and taking action. I will also mention this opens the doors for others to do it as you have inherently communicated that the risk for punishment is low.
We cannot allow complacency when it comes to harassment. It should never be something that is tolerated or expected because of industry or environment. And as you have seen in the media, individuals that conduct themselves in such a way should be subjected to appropriate disciplinary action including termination of employment.
So all of this can help, but it will likely not make it all go away. As with the names noted above, sometimes things happen with the least likely people and when it does we need to be ready.