6 Steps to Communicating Harassment Policy 6 Steps to Communicating Harassment Policy | Page 2

WHAT IS HARASSMENT?
EMPLOYEES NEED HELP
UNDERSTANDING WHAT’S
OKAY AND WHAT’S NOT
Following the tsunami of sexual misconduct in the news recently, both companies and
employees are left questioning their behavior. H.R. leadership and those in the C-Suite
are evaluating how successful they’ve been at creating a no-bias culture. Employees are
left wondering if they’ve unknowingly crossed a line — or if they’ve been subjected to
behavior that crossed that line.
There’s been a sea change in the way sexual
harassment is being handled in the corporate
environment. In the past, companies tended to
handle cases pr ivately. Offenses were addressed
behind closed doors, offenders often remained
on the payroll, and victims preferred anonymity.
The company’s focus was on reducing the risk of
litigation rather than the impact on the culture.
Historically, those who reported harassment
generally found it to be a poor career move,
resulting in unexpected repercussions and being
sidelined professionally.
one accusatory
tweet can launch
a negative news
cycle or worse .
The #MeToo movement has made victims feel safer
reporting harassment. Both women a nd men are increasingly going public with claims of
misbehavior that may go back decades. Conversely, many men report newfound concern
that their behavior years ago will now be judged by new standards.
Companies are now being tried in the court of public opinion. One accusatory tweet can
launch a negative news cycle or worse. As a result, companies are much more likely to fire
those accused of sexual misconduct, suddenly and without severance.
How do you create a culture in which these things don’t happen? That ’s the question
being explored in many a C-Suite lately. There’s a new focus on prevention of future
incidents, and on helping possible victims feel more comfortable reporting.
Just because an employee checked the box that
they’ve read the policy doesn’t mean they necessarily
understand what constitutes harassment. “Surprising as
it sounds, some people seem to need a heads-up that
porn, kissing, back rubs and nudity are not appropriate
at work,” wrote Joan C. Williams and Suzanne Lebsock
in the Harvard Business Review.
Now’s a good time to evaluate your organization’s
communications around harassment policies. You
might consider the six elements of this recommended
communications strategy.
HARASSMENT POLICY COMMUNICATIONS
TELL THEM
Have leadership set the tone by telling
employees that a safe and unbiased
work environment is a priority at the
highest levels of the company. This could be an
email from the CEO, a new page on the intranet,
a town hall announcement, a video, a digital
signage campaign or all of the above.
ASK THEM
To get a baseline understanding of the
existing culture around harassment,
field an anonymous survey asking for
employee feedback on their experiences at the
company, and on their understanding of what is
and isn’t appropriate behavior.
EDUCATE THEM
Using the survey results as guidance
on the gaps in understanding, develop
an educational campaign to raise
awareness. Just posting the existing policy on
the intranet isn’t enough. You need to break it
down into conversational language and give
concrete examples and scenarios.
4
MAKE IT EASIER
You also might want to develop
a channel that makes it easier for
employees to report incidents.
Employees aren’t always comfortable going
to their managers and can be intimidated by
the process of alerting H.R. Your educational
campaign might include a call to action that lists
a specific email address or a link on the intranet
for reporting — not anonymously, but with
contact information for follow-up.
5
RESPOND
This step goes beyond the realm of
the communications department,
but there needs to be an established
process in place for responding to reports of
sexual harassment with a sense of urgency.
6
ASK AGAIN
After a reasonable interval, field the
same survey again and measure
the change in results to know how
effective the campaign has been.
Interested in improving your communications
around harassment policy? Tribe can help.