Need to know:
- Workplaces can be a hotbed for sexual harassment, with almost two in three young women experiencing it at work. Despite the “Me too” movement, problems remain widespread.
- It’s essential for HRs to get to grips with this sensitive issue. Getting the basics – such as a current policy which all staff are familiar with – in place is the first step.
- There are also wider cultural steps employers should take to make sure that the balance of power in the workplace is equal.
After finishing her Oxford degree, Emma* secured a hard-won training contract to get her through law school. But when she started at her law firm, she was surprised by the boozy, laddish culture and the ways – both subtle and overt – in which women were treated with less respect than men.The only women who worked in the firm’s corporate department were PAs, and some men used the uncomfortable linguistic shorthand, “I’ll ask the girls to do that,” whenever a secretarial job was needed.Another – “Amazing”, says Emma – woman returned from maternity leave. Emma overheard a partner saying, “She showed she wasn’t committed when she got pregnant”. That partner was a father of two.However, the final straw was a boozy, staff-only drinks event. Emma was talking to a senior colleague, expressing her excitement about her new job. He reached around and groped her. Stunned and floored, she gaped for a moment and then left.A universal problemStamping out sexual harassment in the workplace is a difficult job, but one that employers and HR teams must confront. The unfortunate reality is that many of the victims of sexual harassment who joined the viral “Me too” movement by posting the hashtag on their social media page in autumn 2017 have experienced one or more of those moments at work.From an ill-judged remark to full-blown sexual assault, workplaces can be a hotbed for sexual harassment. Almost two in three young women have experienced sexual harassment at work, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) found in an August 2016 survey, Still just a bit of banter?Most women did not report sexual harassment. One in five confided in a friend or colleague in the workplace, and only three percent reported the incident to HR.Since the TUC’s report was published, two seismic events have happened to change the conversation on sexual inequality and harassment: the “Me too” movement and the Harvey Weinstein scandal. However, the author of the TUC’s report, Scarlet Harris, is not convinced that enough has changed in the workplace.“‘Me too’, Weinstein, Time’s Up – what has changed is a public understanding about the scale of the problem and also perhaps women are feeling more able to speak up than before. However, I am not sure how much this is translating into speaking up in the workplace,” says Harris.Time’s upWhat can employers do to make a stand against sexual harassment? The first step is to get the basics right. As Claire McCartney, co-director of inclusive talent at the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) says: “Employers should establish a robust framework and policies to counter any potential harassment or discrimination against women or men, including unconscious bias, and these policies need to cover every aspect of employment including recruitment and selection, training, and promotion.”Establishing a clear process for raising a complaint and communicating it to all staff is key, adds McCartney. Everyone should know who they should talk to if they need to raise a complaint, while line managers should be trained and confident in implementing the policy and addressing concerns.Keeping a sexual harassment policy current, and using plain English rather than legalese, are two ways of making it more likely to be read, says Sandra Wallace, head of law firm DLA Piper’s UK employment and benefits group. However, she warns that: “Having a policy in itself is neither legally or culturally enough, in my view. If you are not careful, it will sit in a drawer.”Wallace adds: “You have to show that has been brought to everyone’s attention, that you have trained people on what it means – which doesn’t have to be heavy duty, it can be online training or induction training on bringing it to life. It has to sit against messaging from the top about how important this is, how people are expected to be respectful.”Consider the benefits on offer and how they could help people in stressful situations, adds Tali Shlomo, people engagement director at the Chartered Insurance Institute. “How quickly can an employer put counselling on tap? Before you have gone through internal formalities, think about offering counselling to anyone who is going through a difficult experience.”In confidenceWhat happens when an employee wants to keep information confidential? Lucy Lewis, partner at law firm Lewis Silkin, explains that confidentiality can be difficult. If an employee speaks to a manager or HR, the knowledge they have is then generally deemed to be held by the company. If they find out something serious has happened but do not take action, they can be held liable if the behaviour is repeated. “As a general rule, it is better not to agree to confidentiality. For example, if an employee asks to speak in confidence, it is preferable to explain that it is not possible to guarantee confidence before you know what will be said, but you can confirm that you won’t do anything without speaking to the employee first,” concludes Lewis. Offering a third-party whistleblowing helpline can help if employers are concerned that, without one, complaints might go unreported. A third-party helpline can help to reassure employees that their concerns will be treated anonymously. Helplines can also steer victims towards other resources. Cultural shiftAfter she was assaulted at the drinks party, trainee lawyer Emma felt in a very vulnerable position: months away from finishing her training contract with the law firm, she could have found herself jobless if they had not made her an offer.Understandably reluctant to rock the boat, she didn’t make an official complaint. “They wouldn’t have upheld it – it would have been impossible to prove – and I would have damaged my reputation at the firm.”However, she started job-hunting and was able to leave the firm soon after the incident. Before going, she spoke to a trusted manager and explained what had happened. “I said, just contact me when he next does it and I will corroborate it.”An imbalance of power, exacerbated by a hard-drinking culture, lay behind her experience, she thinks.Happily, her new firm is very different. “There is a real culture of respecting women. At my old firm, no women progressed; there were only a handful of female partners.”Culture is everything, experts agree. So how can HRs improve a toxic culture? “One of the things that came out very clearly in our research is that sexual harassment is a very isolating experience – it is humiliating and degrading, and you don’t want to share it. We produced some workplace posters which said, ‘You are not alone’. By making it a collective problem, we could have a stronger voice on it,” says the TUC’s Harris.It’s also really important that everyone participates in training, from the lowest to the very highest ranks of an organisation, adds Harris. “That way, there is a common understanding of what sexual harassment is. I think a lot of people aren’t necessarily aware of how widespread it is because they are not seeing it and they are not understanding the impact.”Cynicism can arise from employees who have never witnessed or experienced sexual harassment. “I think you need to get employees to put themselves in the place of the victim and think about how they would feel in that situation,” suggests McCartney.Lewis adds: “One of the most effective tools for getting cynical employees on board is for employees within the business to share their experiences of things that have happened to them on an anonymous basis … For companies that don’t feel comfortable about that approach, it can be useful to provide the statistics showing the percentages of women and men across the workplace (and their sector) who have been suffered sexual harassment (as well as the percentage of people who have not reported harassment).”So often, sexual harassment stems from unbalanced power dynamics. Creating a balanced workplace where women are given the same opportunities to progress will also help stamp out sexual harassment. Find out how investment management firm Charles Stanley managed to change its culture (see box).*Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect identities. How Charles Stanley transformed its working cultureFinancial services is a traditionally male-dominated sector, and the industry’s gender pay gap statistics show there is still a lot of work to do to make it a more equal place. However, Charles Stanley has made a concerted effort to change, explains Kate Griffiths-Lambeth, the investment management company’s head of HR. Their work has culminated in Griffiths-Lambeth and Charles Stanley’s chief executive, Paul Abberley, winning a 2017 Business Culture Award for leadership (see picture).“We have been on one hell of a journey over the past two and a half years,” she says. When she joined in late 2015, Griffiths-Lambeth was the first woman appointed to the executive committee in Charles Stanley’s history (the company was founded in 1792). There are now two women on the executive committee. Meanwhile, the company has signed up to the Women in Finance Charter and 50% of its non-executive directors are now female.The company conducted its first ever employee engagement survey when Griffiths-Lambeth joined. “The results gave us the main topics to then orchestrate change,” she says.It prompted Charles Stanley to hold a diversity-focused conference, to which all employees were invited. Senior people were amazed at the comments some employees made. One felt the company was patriarchal; another did not feel it was supportive of diversity.“We decided to establish a diversity and inclusion group,” says Griffiths-Lambeth. The group has introduced company-wide mentoring, invited in women business leaders to address the company, and set up smaller, more informal focus groups. Some of the latter are hosted by external facilitators to establish a safe environment and encourage staff to voice their concerns confidentially.Creating a positive culture is also at the forefront of Griffiths-Lambeth’s mind. “There is no point berating unless it is really grim; it’s much better to celebrate and educate,” she believes.Accordingly, Charles Stanley has offered talented staff stretch promotions. One colleague originally worked in HR and was promoted to work in the private client division. Charles Stanley are now financing her part-time MBA and she is being mentored by Griffiths-Lambeth and the CEO.Griffiths-Lambeth is also working hard to change old-fashioned perceptions about female asset managers. “We have done a fabulous feature with Country Life on one of our really good female fund managers, showcasing how talented she is. My advice is to showcase the people who are exemplifying what you want to be as an organisation.”