Compliance – Page 31

Harassment is a costly business. The actual cost of a harassment lawsuit could include wage loss, emotional distress, civil penalties, and attorneys’ fees. The actual monetary hit a company can take is not small. In theory, it could put a business under. But there is a much, much larger risk that employers need to understand – the loss of reputation. The loss of reputation falls into two distinct yet related categories: loss of customers and loss of employees and candidates.

Loss of customers (or vendors, suppliers, etc.) is not insignificant. Signet Jewelers lost significant revenue when women turned away from its jewelry stores after harassment and discrimination issues came to light. When Uber placed a surcharge on riders headed to airports to protest immigration issues and followed closely by Susan Fowler’s blog post outlining the rampant gender discrimination and harassment at the ride hailer, Uber suffered mightily. It lost revenue, over a quarter of a million users, and become under close scrutiny around the world.

A loss of customers does not just affect large companies. Small and medium-sized companies who are embroiled in scandal can get shuttered too. For example, a Charlotte, North Carolina eye doctor surrendered his medical license and filed bankruptcy after sexual harassment allegations came to light. A tech startup (in the HR-space no less) can’t raise funds or keep valuable customers after its CEO resigned in disgrace following harassment allegations. This idea that harassment allegations can’t happen here is a myth unless you actively and obsessively build a respectful workplace.

Keeping and finding talent is also a challenge for a company with a reputation problem. Uber employees were looking for the exits after Ms. Fowler’s blog post. Employee turnover is high when a bully or harasser is able to stay with a company as inappropriate comments or conduct is a sign of a bad corporate culture. Recruiters have to work harder, explain more, and actively try to “sell” your culture rather than let your culture speak for itself.

These days with review sites like Glassdoor and Indeed as well as social media, candidates can also get a good sense of a company culture well before an interview. Take this Glassdoor review. The review states that this employee is “sexually harassed on a daily basis.” Or this review that states that the owner “encourages a hateful and discriminatory environment[.]” Or even this review on Indeed that simply says, “Do NOT Apply if you are female.” By a Glassdoor survey, 70% of candidates read reviews before interviewing with a company. Will the reviews you get effect who wants to apply and/or interview with you?

Today, the Weinstein Company is likely to declare bankruptcy. The Weinstein Company is not the first company to seek bankruptcy protection after an explosive sexual scandal. American Apparel, Bikram yoga, Le Cirque, and neighborhood Mexican restaurants have all entered into bankruptcy following allegations of sexual harassment. It can happen to any company who does not take the risks of sexual harassment seriously. But these are just the financial risks. The long-term effect of a bad reputation will linger on these companies and their products and services. So, if you’re concerned about harassment in your workplace, do something about it now. While not all small and medium-sized businesses will make the front page when harassment allegations surface, customers, suppliers, candidates, and employees will learn about it. Don’t let it fester and get bigger and even more toxic and damaging.

Photo by Daniel von Appen on Unsplash

Who here provides sexual harassment training for managers and employees? Who here thinks their training prevents sexual harassment in their workplace? Who here is confident that their managers know what to do to prevent harassment? Who here is confident that sexual harassment could never happen in your workplace because you have a policy and you’ve trained?

Let’s be honest. No one is confident that your workplace is 100% harassment-free simply because you have a policy and have provided training. (Heck, if that’s how training and policies worked, we’d never have poor performance or discipline issues.) We know that harassment can happen in spite of our policies and trainings. We even read articles that suggest harassment training can have a negative effect the workplace. So, should we stop training? No. Absolutely not.

Don’t lose hope in training. Lose hope in bad training. Here’s what makes training good:

It’s live. A live training invites conversation. Conversation invites questions. We want people to ask us questions. It is a rare video that actually sparks conversation afterward, so if you are going to video, make sure you check in with folks after they’ve watched it or that the video includes a live (studio) audience.

It’s couched in respect. We know that harassment has a lot to do with power dynamics in the workplace and/or a lack of respect. The training should reflect that. I joke that harassment violates a lot of the rules we learned in Kindergarten – keep your hands to yourself, treat each other nicely, say sorry – and to a large extent that’s true. If we treated everyone with respect, harassment wouldn’t be a problem. Spend some time talking about respect and what that means for your workplace. Hint: This is the civility piece the EEOC wants.

It’s customized to the workplace. Managers and employees need to see themselves in the scenarios posed by the training. It is important that the training be relatable enough that it makes people feel uncomfortable. We learn in the uncomfortable. A manufacturing facility needs a factory line example. Software companies need software development examples. A bank needs banking examples. A retail establishment has an employee-customer example. I can’t stress enough how important this is. For hospitality clients, I’m using this video.

We play a game from my favorite podcast where the audience or I can stop the video at any point and talk about what we saw. This video is so great because it has a gradual increase in severity until the big incident. It sparks a lot of conversation – great conversation.

The trainer asks questions. What would you do if you saw this? Would you step in? Do you have to? What does the company want you to do? What if this happened to you? These are the kinds of bystander questions that the EEOC wants to see in harassment training. Even if the audience is hesitant to raise their hands, they are answering in their heads and waiting to see what someone else might say. I’m happy with answering in your head because you’re answering. If the audience can see themselves in the scenario and are asked what they would do, they’ll remember that feeling when they’re actually in a situation.

Acknowledge the fear. There is a lot of fear about harassment. Men are afraid to compliment a female co-worker on her dress. Companies are banning hugging. A good trainer will tackle this fear head-on, explaining there’s a difference between “you look nice today” and “hey baby, that dress hugs you in all the right ways.” Spending time talking about the fear and how to handle it can make people feel more comfortable with their own conduct and be more willing to talk to each other.

Folks learn who to talk to. We don’t need the audience to remember the ins and outs of harassment law – we only need them to remember what is problematic and who to talk to. They need to know that HR is here to listen to them and if they’re uncomfortable with reporting the situation to HR, they can talk to any manager. So, HR (and a member of upper management) should be there so the trainer can point to them. “These are the people who will drop everything if you walk into their office with a concern about harassment.” Employees and managers need to know they are not alone with this, and the organization really, really wants to hear from them.

Training cannot be the only thing an organization does to prevent harassment. It takes a culture where employees trust managers and feel comfortable talking about these issues without fear of losing their jobs. That takes much more than training. But, training is an important piece of this.

I am doing a great deal of harassment training these days in response to #MeToo and #TimesUp. While I wish these movements did not have to exist, I’m happy organizations are spending the time and resources to do the training. Consider it for yours.

Tag: Compliance

Beyond Legal Risk

Photo by Daniel von Appen on Unsplash

What’s the Problem with Training?

Photo by Jonas Jacobsson on Unsplash