There are few things as uncomfortable, toxic, destructive, or even at a less aggressive level just cringe-worthy as sexual harassment. It is an HR nightmare.
From the corporation or business’ point of view, the legal repercussions can become all-consuming and create havoc in the business’ culture. From the employee’s point of view, sexual harassment can be debilitating at work while affecting the rest of life. I have worked with numerous companies, organizations, and individuals who have been affected by it.
Employee well-being and organizational culture are dramatically affected by this one issue. The Me-Too movement was a very public reaction. As always, responses when politicized can miss the point, create unintended consequences, or unjustly accuse.
How do you effectively respond to this challenge without intensifying the tension, continuing to miss problematic issues, or unjustly accusing?
Is there a way to get on the front end, to be productively proactive?
How do you encourage candid, unhindered, rugged interaction while adequately creating a safe work environment? How do you allow for the imperfections of normal interaction without opening up your company to unsafe interactions?
The 10 Commandments broach the issue simply as “do not commit adultery.” Jesus gives a more definitive description of what is involved in this initial command.
Sexuality is one of the most personal and intimate realities of human existence. Like the effect of music, it can be difficult to define what makes it so soulishly powerful. But there is no question; sexual violence exceeds most any other kind of physical violence and goes way beyond the physical.
Are there principles or guidelines that can help address this issue?
As with most of the 10 Commandments of Business, the original challenge demarcates what is the fundamental law or principle that is defining business, and the expanded details of what is involved are defined in subsequent biblical passages.
These defining and supporting passages clarify principles for sexual safety in workplace culture.
- Sexual guardrails in business are not a secondary issue.
It’s true there are numerous issues that rise to public prominence over the years and subsequent generations. While many or most may have value, with time they trend or fade in importance.
If you run after every trending issue, you will exhaust yourself.
The seventh command makes it clear this is not a trending issue. This is a fundamental issue.
Win this, and you will solidify your company’s culture. Ignore this, and it will bite you.
- Sexual harassment is a progression not just an act
Instead of focusing only on what is acceptable interaction and what is sexual harassment, companies offering relational counseling that is individual, group, or online are culturally transforming.
Suppressing sexual harassment can be like attempting to push a slippery beach ball under water. It squirts away and goes exploding out of the water somewhere else. Confronting and dealing with personal internal tensions, past wounding, and negative relational experiences deflates the balloon instead of just trying to push it down.
There are a number of very qualified organizations that will partner with companies in supporting their employees like Marketplace Chaplains. These provide ongoing support and can be more cost-effective than counseling alone.
Investing in your employee health is the best insurance and productivity catalyst you can find.
- Marriage supports the work environment. Adultery tears it down.
While your company is likely not a counseling center, investing in the stability of the psychological and spiritual health of your people has few equals.
This principle is not declaring the value of being married versus single. The issue is no matter what your marital status, how you live within that status matters.
The powerful thing about these Commandments of Business is they work no matter what your belief is. You don’t have to have a relationship with Jesus Christ to benefit from them. The intrinsic laws of business will accelerate or sabotage your business depending on how you respond.
Unless you are an overtly faith-based organization, you will likely have limited company-wide assumption or guidelines regarding external sexual practices. However, there are many legitimate moral or conduct clauses that can prohibit conduct unbecoming to the company and its reputation and interests.
The value of having moral or conduct clauses in an employee’s or executive’s contract is it gives both standing to address overtly destructive actions, inspire productive counseling pursuit by the employee, and mitigate against explosive harassment escalations.
- People are not segmented.
You can attempt to maintain a healthy separation between your work and personal environments, but you cannot separate the work you from the personal you.
You go wherever you go.
This is true with every employee. Whatever they are winning or losing in their personal life affects their public and business life. How visibly it affects it may vary, but it is absolutely, universally affecting.
- Create positive, non-intimidating opportunities for personal health
Instead of ignoring or wringing your hands over the effects of the distorted sexualization of everything, recognize this is a strength or weakness of every employee. Actively address psychological and spiritual health which are the foundations of positive sexual health.
Address it positively. Advocate for your employees. Create non-intimidating, spiritual development opportunities. Again, workplace chaplains or relationships with quality counseling centers are great ways of establishing a culture of health.
Train executives to recognize personal struggles or emotional trauma.
Release managers and executives from the need to solve these issues on their own.
Advise managers to encourage their people to take advantage of company provided psychological and spiritual health opportunities and to be willing to personally participate themselves.
- Don’t ignore problematic sexual issues just because they are dicey
There are few things more complex, risky, and uncomfortable. For this very reason, ignoring them is the riskiest move. As a counterbalance, wisdom mitigates against becoming trigger-happy, the cultural version of a micro-manager.
Simple questions like, “Tell me about how the conversation you just had with Jill went.”
Open-ended questions are the best way to initiate productive conversations – especially when they are not accusatory. Create the best environment for a non-defensive, transparent response. Start with a simple clarifying question. Only proceed from clarifying questions to teaching moments to correction to punitive action if the situation necessitates.
Continually provide off-ramps along the way for available opportunities for personal health.
Timeliness adds to the value. The conversation or incident is fresher, and therefore, the facts are more available and accurate. People tend to give their most honest answer immediately following an incident.
- Always keep notes
Because of the intensity of the subject matter, always keep notes of your interactions. Record these notes as immediately as possible after your conversation. Timeliness of conversations and timeliness of notes are both paramount. Date (even timestamp) your conversation and your notes.
Determining what should become a part of the employee’s official records or just your own records is a determination you can make as an executive or company.