Over the last couple of years, a significant number of employees have experienced some form of harassment at work, including Sexual Harassment. This was evidenced by the #MeToo movement sweeping social media for a large part of 2019 too. With time it is being increasingly proven that doing only the traditional mandatory sexual harassment training does not suffice – rather, it’s up to the Senior Leaders of an organization to champion the cause with a top down approach through various innovative methods.
Eminent Leadership Gurus and Industry Experts have indicated that both large and small organizations will hone their focus on sexual harassment in 2019+ as they recognize that they’re likely sitting on undetermined business and financial risks, besides reputational risks related to this issue. “For the sake of business viability and continuity, it will demand their attention as they seek to protect the organization’s stakeholders and brand”, says a leading CEO.
Learning leaders can help create champions, who are more purposeful and willing to stand up and say harassment is not tolerated. In response to a 2018 survey of a multipart series exploring sexual harassment prevention at the workplace, Jill Ihsanullah, Senior Vice President of consulting at Linkage Inc, said: “It’s not just about finding the toxic leaders and weeding out people in the organization who are having a negative impact, but it’s finding out what we can do for all leaders and employees in the organization so people are more empowered and more willing and courageous about standing up.”
We all thereby agree that changing the culture to prevent harassment must start at the top.
Do feel free to contact us at info@bcpassociates.com to find out how we can partner with you in the journey of going beyond compliance for POSH.
