What Can You Do When the Person Harassing Your Employee Doesn't Work for Your Company? Nine Things You Should Do, and One You Must Do.
By Audrey Roofeh
It's one thing to address harassment within your organization, but what can you do when it's coming from someone outside of your organization?
First, remember your obligation: when an employee informs management that they believe they are experiencing harassment, whether from a fellow employee or someone who is not an employee but whom they interact with because of work (e.g., a customer, contractor, vendor, agent, coalition partner or many others), the business must investigate and determine whether harassment has occurred. Once there is a finding of harassment, the business is obligated to take immediate and appropriate corrective action to stop the harassing conduct.
What can you do from there?
Ensure everyone is heard and feels safe. Leaders should acknowledge that the behavior is wrong and harmful. Employees should feel safe coming to you or their manager with information about what's happening. If they're coming to you or their manager, this information should be acted on by working with the people who are experiencing the harassment.
Understand the nature of the problem and how deep it goes. Are people physically unsafe? Are they treated disrespectfully? Are they experiencing both? This information is critical because the response will differ depending on the experience.
What are the outcomes that staff want? Here is where we can talk about some of the options for tactical responses after staff express what they'd like to see happen (while acknowledging that what they'd like may not be possible, but something more than empathy is definitely possible).
From there, map out where the problems happen, and what the desired outcome is when harassment happens. If possible, come together as a group with the folks who experience the harassment and the leadership to find solutions. Here are some options you can take into consideration:
Debriefing as an organization when people experience harassment. Leaders should make space for this to be addressed. It should not go unaddressed, and folks should not feel they have to hide this experience.
Provide support. Ensure that sure people know about and can access the tools available to them to manage this experience (e.g., EAP, availability of mental health days, etc.)
Make addressing and preventing harassment part of the plan when staff meet with vendors or consultants. Based on experience, where might they encounter inappropriate behavior? Discuss where they might encounter the harm and strategies for diminishing that harm. If they're meeting with someone known to behave badly, plan to meet the individual in teams or pairs and identify safe physical spaces to meet.
Ensure individuals feel empowered to speak/act when inappropriate things happen. Leadership should let teams know they have their employees' back if they want to speak up in the moment, tweet about it afterwards, or anything in between. (Reminder: if leadership witnesses inappropriate behavior in the moment, take action then and there to say it's inappropriate.)
Be flexible about options to make people feel safe. If someone can't do their job without going to a specific place, but visiting that place means facing harassment, identify options that let people spend less time in harm's way while also getting the job done.
Express firmly and loudly that the behavior is inappropriate. It may not stop the problem immediately, but calling out the behavior to the individuals and institutions that are allowing it to occur is the right thing to do. Individuals who experience harassment may also feel comforted to see that their employer has their back, even if their employer can't stop the behavior.
These are some of the shorter term options when individuals experience harassment from outside their employer. But most importantly, sit down with your colleague(s) who are experiencing harassment and ask them, what do you need to feel safe and heard at work? Based on their response, adjust your plan of action accordingly.
Interested in more tips and resources on diversity and inclusion in the workplace and harassment prevention? Sign up for our monthly newsletter.
