How to address workplace harassment

Harassment in the Workplace

To eliminate the risk of sexual harassment the organisation needs a holistic approach. Sexual harassment exists on a continuum of behaviors, ranging from gender bias incivility to legally actionable assault. Addressing all these behaviors collectively is crucial because sexual harassment is more likely to occur in organizations where "less severe" offenses are common.

Examples of "less severe" workplace harassment are:

• Offensive comments or jokes
• Bullying or aggressive actions
• Inappropriate staring
• Isolating or mocking someone because of their gender identity

There's no universal solution for putting an end to inappropriate gender-related behaviors; effective programs must address the unique characteristics of each workplace's culture. The vital first step is to gain an accurate understanding of your organization's culture by asking your employees through a carefully designed survey.

Addressing harassment

The Report of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) identified core principles that have consistently proven effective in preventing and addressing harassment:

1. Committed and engaged leadership
2. Consistent and demonstrated accountability
3. Strong and comprehensive harassment policies
4. Trusted and accessible complaint procedures

Senior leaders should regularly evaluate the effectiveness of their harassment prevention strategies by reviewing preventive measures, complaint data, and corrective actions with appropriate personnel. They must ensure that any concerns about the harassment policy, complaint system, or training are properly addressed. Necessary updates to policies and procedures should be implemented and communicated to employees.

Draw Up Your Survey

To further enhance these efforts, leaders could conduct regular anonymous employee surveys and collaborate with researchers to assess and improve their strategies. Inform your employees that you're undertaking an effort to understand how fair, courteous, and safe their workplace is. The goal is to encourage engaged and completely candid answers to the survey. To ensure anonymity, the survey should be administered by a third party, not your HR department. Employees need to believe that management prioritizes an unbiased and harassment-free workplace and is sincere in its commitment to this objective.

Whether you start with the provided assessment or create your own questions, tailor your survey to your organization's culture and climate. Avoid questions that could identify participants, such as those about title, age, tenure, responsibilities, and location. Do not ask about marital status, sexual preference, children, or prior involvement in sexual misconduct investigations.

Evaluate

A harassment survey requires simple tabulation rather than complex statistical analysis. The goal is to determine if employees believe there are gender-related problems and identify those issues. The survey is a tool to highlight the need for new policies and practices to eliminate inappropriate behavior and protect employees against sexual harassment. Your results might indicate the need for further steps, such as focus groups, personal interviews, or roundtable discussions. The real work begins once you have a clear picture of your organization's climate.

This article is inspired by the following resources:

A.S. Kramer and A.B. Harris, "How Do Your Workers Feel About Harassment?"

Preventing and Resolving Harassment in the Workplace – A Guide for Managers (Government of Canada)

Workplace harassment: information for workers (Government of Ontario)

Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)

Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)

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