HR Must Bring Sexual Harassment Policies Out Of The Past
Yet another powerful media figure has been accused of sexual harassment.
Les Moonves, chief executive of CBS, is facing allegations from at least six women accusing the network head of unwanted kissing and groping, often during professional meetings. The claims span the 1980s to the mid-2000s, and highlight issues inherent in the way sexual harassment policies have been shaped over recent decades.
Consider Moonves’s statement in response to the allegations: “Those were mistakes, and I regret them immensely… But I always understood and respected… that ‘no’ means ‘no.'”
Such a statement twists the concept of sexual consent. What was once a rallying cry for women – “no means no” – these days is warped into excusing harassment. By this logic, it doesn’t matter whether consent was not given; the focus, rather, is on whether a victim ever implicitly said “no.”
This mentality underscores the failure of policies and procedures instituted in the 1980s and 1990s. The approaches used then focused on hiding the problem rather than expunging it, or solving the systemic shortcomings that allowed sexual harassment in the first place – shortcomings still prevalent in today’s workplace.
More recently, it would seem change is coming. In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein charges that surfaced last year, sexual harassment has become a central focus across media and business.
Movements like ‘#MeToo’ and ‘Time’s Up’ are front and center, demanding changes to workplace culture. Companies are being held increasingly accountable for sexual harassment claims and paying out more settlements than ever before.
It feels like we are on the verge of a national reckoning. In fact, as a wave of women run for elective office, 2018 is being hailed the “year of the woman.”
Sound familiar? That’s because you’ve heard it before.
A similar movement was born in the wake of Anita Hill’s 1991 Congressional testimony alleging sexual harassment against her former boss, Clarence Thomas, then-nominee for the US Supreme Court.
Hill’s allegations sparked a national conversation which in turn led to companies paying multimillion-dollar harassment settlements and promising to change their culture. There was also a significant increase in the number of women running for office, prompting media to dub 1992 as the “Year of the woman.”
Today, as the Weinstein-triggered fervor that carried the ‘#MeToo’ and ‘Time’s Up’ movements fades, many are asking whether workplaces are really changing.
Although a company’s HR department is there to help with such situations, employees can be reluctant to approach their representatives. After all, HR exists to protect the company from liability, not to help an employee get justice.
Consider that, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) Task Force report, three-quarters of people who felt harassed or discriminated against did not bother reporting it internally.
In response, many companies have been reworking the structures already in place to deal with such matters. Last year, for instance, Microsoft ended forced confidential arbitration for employees who make sexual harassment claims. And Facebook made its sexual harassment policy public to ensure it stayed true to those benchmarks.
Meanwhile, many companies and organizations are following Uber’s lead in hiring law firms and other external consultants to audit reporting procedures or to set up whistleblower hotlines.
The #MeToo movement has even taken on a renewed impetus in China – a country traditionally socially conservative and where sexual harassment is considered a taboo issue.
Crucially, modern media – and especially social media – has given this movement newfound power. Accountability is expected with force, and new platforms ensure visibility.
‘#MeToo’ and ‘Time’s Up’ have inspired new social attitudes and approaches, pushing public demand for change. Indeed, studies have found that these social movements have boosted employee confidence to report sexual harassment.
As companies seek to change from the inside, they must find ways to make the transition to a workplace free of sexual harassment in a healthy way. While audits (e.g. Uber) and policy changes (e.g. Microsoft) are important, they aren’t enough; it is vital to transform company culture, and especially a company’s corporate culture.
Consequently, the role of HR departments becomes central in this process – from hiring, to reporting of incidents, to training and other inclusion initiatives. Critically, it is HR’s responsibility to empower employees to speak up and engage in discussions regarding sexual harassment.
The best way to achieve systemic change is to avoid rules-based policies and to focus instead on company culture and on education. Only then can businesses begin to achieve lasting change.
