{"id":4413,"date":"2019-04-01T11:43:56","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T15:43:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthadvocate.com\/site\/?p=4413"},"modified":"2020-01-14T17:01:54","modified_gmt":"2020-01-14T22:01:54","slug":"understanding-and-addressing-harassment-in-the-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthadvocate.com\/site\/article\/understanding-and-addressing-harassment-in-the-workplace","title":{"rendered":"Understanding and Addressing Harassment in the Workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Matt Verdecchia | The TriStater<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harassment can\nhave a detrimental effect in the workplace, yet identifying what exactly\ncomprises harassment and distinguishing it from unprofessional disrespect can\ncreate a challenge for organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is important\nto remember that we work in the environment we create and tolerate. Every\nemployee has the right to work in a respectful workplace. Every employee\ntherefore has the responsibility to help create and maintain that culture. This\napplies at every level of the organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While easy to\nunderstand, this concept can sometimes be tough to put into practice. It is\nmuch easier to look away from inappropriate, disrespectful and potentially\nharassing behavior, rub a rabbit\u2019s foot, and pray it goes away. With this\napproach, we do not have to get past our own barriers and can avoid confronting\nthis behavior, setting an appropriate example, enforcing policies, and looking\nlike the \u201cbad guy, party pooper, goodie two-shoe leader,\u201d etc. However, by\ndoing so, we enable the behavior, we give it legs, essentially giving the\nperpetrator unspoken permission to continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This all may\nsound a tad harsh, but in today\u2019s busy environment, it is often easier to\nignore inappropriate behavior than to supportively confront and correct it.\nWhile you may disagree on this point, what remains important is reducing risk\nfor your organization. Your organization may employ managers and supervisors\nwho do not want to deal with this issue, or have never been trained and do not\nknow how to deal with this issue – either way they will be held accountable for\naddressing potential incidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although\nharassing behavior is obviously a major issue, for organizations, another\nsignificant problem is how leadership chooses to deal (or not deal) with the\npresenting behavior, person, department, or even corporate culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The culture of\nan organization can have a major impact on tolerance and treatment of\nharassment and other similar behaviors. Keep in mind that not everything\nsomeone does or says to someone else is \u201charassment.\u201d In fact, it likely isn\u2019t.\nHowever, it may be disrespectful. There is no law that states \u201cI have to\nrespect you.\u201d This behavior may constitute bullying, and there is also no law\nthat states \u201cI cannot bully you.\u201d Although neither disrespect nor bullying are\ntechnically harassment or illegal, this does not mean these behaviors should be\ncondoned or considered appropriate in your company\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This reinforces\nthe importance of having policies and procedures in place to maintain a safe,\nproductive work environment, including a code of conduct or ethics policy to\nhelp manage behavior and productivity. So even though the behavior is not\nillegal, it likely goes against company policy and is therefore subject to\ndiscipline. Managers, supervisors, and others in leadership roles are\nresponsible for managing employee behavior and performance, including creating,\nmaintaining and reinforcing the company culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within the\nworkplace, diversity and our differences contribute positively to the company\nculture. However, these same differences can also impact individual employee\nbehavior. Even if the behavior is not considered harassment (i.e., against\nprotected classes), it is important to remember that people have different\nlevels of tolerance or perspective on what is appropriate or \u201creasonable,\u201d and\nfinding a consensus can be difficult. I believe in flexibility – a willingness\nto bend, stretch, and lean. It is in most people\u2019s power to choose to acclimate\nto an organizational environment\/culture. We hire not only for skills but for\ncultural adaptability. When incidents arise, it is possible to professionally\naddress these issues and behaviors. If they persist, we have policy to assist\nand guide us as to a reasonable course of action.\n\nBut when it comes to\nharassment – that stepping over the line between disrespectful, out-of-bounds\nbehavior and into the realm of illegal harassment – we must be fair, objective,\nconsistent, prompt, and \u201creasonable\u201d in the enforcement of the policy,\nregardless of who the offending person is and what position they hold.\nAppropriately addressing these incidents in a timely manner will have a\npositive impact on company culture while mitigating risk for the organization.\nRemember: a respectful work environment is a safer work environment.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Harassment can have a detrimental effect in the workplace, yet identifying what exactly comprises harassment and distinguishing it from unprofessional disrespect can create a challenge for organizations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":1118,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[52,103,46,102],"class_list":["post-4413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-eap","tag-harassment","tag-health-advocate","tag-matt-verdecchia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nUnderstanding and Addressing Harassment in the Workplace | Health Advocate<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Harassment can have a detrimental effect in the 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