The Recipe for an Effective Anti-Harassment Policy
By Emeizmi Mandagi
When creating and implementing a harassment policy, ask yourself: why are we doing this? The answer seems obvious, but if it’s avoiding a lawsuit, or so folks know what not to do, that’s not enough. In 2020, the answer to this question should focus on building inclusive culture for all employees. Your anti-harassment policy doesn’t just tell people what not to do, it sends the signal that your workplace takes harassment and discrimination seriously, and will make sure that values of inclusion in the workplace are protected.
In putting together an anti-harassment policy here are some important criteria to include:
Ensure that all protected categories for your jurisdiction are included, not just sexual harassment;
Outline what’s prohibited by giving examples;
Detail the obligations of managers and supervisors; and
Make the reporting process for harassment clear and easy to navigate. This means giving employees multiple avenues to report harassment.
These are only the basic building blocks of a company’s harassment prevention policies. Even with an anti-harassment policy that includes these key components, there are still a few pieces of the puzzle missing. A robust workplace culture training program should go hand-in-hand with anti-harassment policies. Such a program should have workshops on inclusive culture that address how to prevent harassment, discrimination, and retaliation as well as skills-building tools on emotional intelligence, psychological safety and communication, so that staff and managers can articulate when there are problems, and work towards solutions together.
A great starting point is asking what respect in the workplace looks like to the employees at your organization and why it should be important. Inclusive culture workshops should emphasize that respect is a necessary cornerstone of a culture that doesn’t tolerate harassment, because when respect is built into the workplace culture, harassment occurs at much lower rates.
Inclusive culture workshops should also discuss addressing and preventing discrimination and retaliation towards employees who report workplace harassment, including microaggressions. When it comes to showing a commitment to creating a safe and inclusive workplace, seeing is believing. These policies won’t mean much if employees see that these rules are applied arbitrarily. Star employees shouldn’t get a pass for bad behavior. When employees see partial enforcement, they lose trust in the reporting process and will be much less inclined to report any harassment they may experience or witness in the workplace. Companies also need to clearly demonstrate that it does not tolerate retaliation of any kind to those who report harassment. All complaints need to be properly and thoroughly investigated, and prompt corrective action must be taken if there is a finding of sexual harassment.
Trainings that focus on cultivating emotional intelligence among employees are also a critical component of a robust workplace culture training program. Workshops on emotional intelligence should emphasize the importance of maintaining awareness of the impact words and actions have on one’s interpersonal relationships, learning to manage thoughts and emotions, using empathy to recognize and acknowledge the emotions of others, and demonstrating the strength to apologize when doing harm to others. Practicing emotional intelligence goes a long way in ensuring that progress towards inclusivity begins at an individual level and permeates throughout the organization. By practicing emotional intelligence on a daily basis, employees will ensure that progress towards an inclusive workplace continues long after inclusive workplace trainings reach an end.
In working towards a more respectful and inclusive culture, psychological safety is also a necessary component that ensures everyone feels included and safe to learn, contribute, and challenge the status quo. When psychological safety is present in the workplace, individuals will have the opportunity to express their ideas, questions, and concerns and feel unafraid to make mistakes due to a shared understanding among their colleagues that people will not be punished or humiliated for their ideas or mistakes. Respectful workplaces exhibit psychological safety, and allow individuals to take risks, engage in difficult conversations, and bring their authentic selves to work. Hand-in-hand, emotional intelligence and psychological safety ensure that individuals feel safe enough to communicate when they experience harm or when they do harm to someone else, and resolve conflict in a positive manner through communication grounded in mutual respect. This allows employees to have the opportunity to experience growth and learn from their mistakes, rather than simply report wrongdoings to HR.
Inclusive culture workshops must also feature training that teaches bystanders how to recognize and intervene in situations involving workplace harassment. While culture change within an organization can be an uphill battle, bystander intervention training is a powerful tool that demonstrates that every individual is responsible for creating the workplace culture each day through every interaction.
How does your organization’s anti-harassment policy and workplace culture training program hold up to these standards? Does it fall short of where it needs to be? Building an inclusive culture takes time and commitment, but will deliver for your employees and your business in the long run.
