Who has the responsibility for keeping a workplace free of sexual harassment? I suppose that the answer to that is already completely obvious to everyone. The employers are the ones who are responsible for this. Thus, if you are an employer, you need to find a way to do this and thus keep the workplace safe and healthy.
While everyone knows that this is a responsibility that rests on employers, the truth is that not all employers actually know how to prevent sexual harassment in their specific company. If they choose to ignore things and hope that the problem won’t happen, or that it will go away all on its own if it is already happening, then they risk a lot. For starters, their employees will keep leaving. And then, they also open themselves up to lawsuits.
If you’re an employer, I am sure that you don’t want to risk it like that, meaning that you will have to put a lot of effort into preventing sexual harassment at work. Everyone hopes that this is an issue that nobody in their firm will need to face, but the truth is that we cannot always be absolutely sure that the problem is non-existent. And, of course, we shouldn’t just assume that there are no harassment problems in our firms and be done with it.
Instead, as employers, you need to be completely sure that your workers feel safe and that no harassment is going on. That basically means that you need to direct your efforts toward preventing harassment in your particular workplace. The only question is how you can actually do that. And, there are definitely more answers to that question.
How To Prevent It
As mentioned, there are more answers to the question of how to prevent harassment at work. On top of that, you shouldn’t rely on solely one of those answers and forget about the rest of them. To put it differently, you should use a lot of different prevention methods if you really want to get the best results, and I am absolutely certain that you do.
Here is a good read that can help you realize what should be done: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-body-blog/201801/solution-stopping-sexual-harassment
First things first, you should never ignore any complaints that have been made against someone in your company. Even if you feel that there is not enough ground for complaints, those need to be properly addressed. And, naturally, you need to create a completely healthy environment for the person that has filed the complaint, so as to ensure that your staff will feel comfortable enough to come to you with any issues that they have had.
It is not enough, though, for you to simply take note of the complaint and let everyone know that you have received it and went through it. Additionally, you will also need to take necessary action after the complaint has been made. The action that you’ll take will, of course, depend on the seriousness of the complaint. But, the point is that you will need to take some kind of action.
In addition to all of that, you should also communicate freely with your workers and let them know that they can play a part in harassment prevention as well. Sure, you are the one who is ultimately responsible for the prevention, but the simple fact is that individuals can also do some important things that will contribute to a safer workplace. What’s more, if the individuals working in your organization aren’t exactly keen on doing anything, then the problem will probably persist despite your efforts to eliminate it. This useful source will give you even more important info on the prevention process.
Can Training Help?
Since you now know that individuals play an enormous role in harassment prevention in your firm, you’re probably wondering how you can make them a part of the solution. When you first started wondering about that, you have probably found out that there is training that you can conduct with the goal of raising everyone’s awareness of the issue and helping them realize what they should do about it. So, you are now trying to decide if those training can actually be of any help whatsoever because you don’t want to waste your time on anything that isn’t useful.
Let me cut right to the chase and immediately tell you that the training is undeniably useful. They can raise your workers’ awareness of the problem, help them recognize harassment when they see it, as well as teach them how to react should they find themselves in such an unpleasant situation. Furthermore, it teaches them not to be mere bystanders, but to actually react when they notice certain things. Apart from all of that, the training are also required by the laws in your state, meaning that you should certainly conduct them.
