Let’s look at Lara, an employee at Kappa Industries.
When she comes into work one day, she sees a note on her table –
“Hey Lara. I’ve noticed you since your first day here, and you’re absolutely gorgeous. Let’s go out on a date” – Kevin
Lara feels uncomfortable but doesn’t know what to do.
She considers talking to her manager about it but is afraid of ruffling feathers. She thinks about how Kevin is the team’s top performer and she’s barely been there a few months at this job.
When she talks to Neha, her roommate, Neha says “Why are you so worried about this? He seems like a nice guy and he hasn’t said anything bad. Just take it as a compliment!”.
Like Lara, many people face different challenges in filing complaints of sexual harassment. Not knowing whom to reach out to, reluctance to label behaviour as sexual harassment, normalising inappropriate behaviour and complicated power dynamics in the workplace that come into play can deter filing a complaint.
Does an organisation have a legal responsibility here?
An organisation is legally mandated to create awareness against sexual harassment in the workplace. The Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 states that it is the duty of the employer to provide a safe working environment and create awareness among employees.
Hence, the legal responsibility of the organisation is:
- Providing a safe workplace environment
- Displaying Internal Committee details and penal consequences of sexual harassment
- Organise workshops and awareness programmes for employees about the PoSH Act 2013
The exact items to be put on an organisation’s checklist about awareness are clear. But is this enough?
Creating effective awareness
To combat these gaps, awareness of the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Policy and the Internal Committee (IC) must be created. Beyond the lack of awareness of the IC and the PoSH policy, employees may struggle with recognising and labelling behaviour as sexual harassment.
Normalising sexual harassment is a pervasive phenomenon and the taboo surrounding sexual harassment can be ingrained at an unconscious level.
As we saw with Lara and Neha, complainants may face pressure to ignore sexual harassment or see it as a compliment. The culture of normalising sexual harassment can also create pressure on complainants to “let it go” or ignore inappropriate behaviour and not “make a fuss”.
These cannot be undone or reversed with mere structural awareness.
Studies have shown that the behaviour model of training which is one of the more popular methods to conduct training is not effective. The forbidden behaviour training focuses on merely informing attendees of the behaviour that is “forbidden”. Telling people “not to sexually harass” someone is not training and can even exacerbate sexual harassment in the workplace.
So what works?
With 9+ years of experience in conducting effective employee awareness training for organisations across the world, Serein has unlocked that the key is creating a safe space for conversations about something everyone has a limited understanding of while targeting the fears that people face.
Here are some ways to structure awareness to create effective change:
Busting sexual harassment myths
Sexual harassment is a taboo. People don’t want to talk about it or confront it.
Effective training is about pushing past the discomfort to understand the impact of behaviour and navigate the very real challenges of filing complaints in the workplace.
Everyone is navigating a rapidly changing workplace but has no space to ask those uncomfortable questions– “is it sexual harassment if someone asks me personal questions that make me feel uncomfortable?” or “what kind of compliments are okay?”
An awareness training is the space to ask these questions and have an honest and clear conversation about sexual harassment in the workplace.
Impact-first approach
In the conversation of “impact versus intention”, sexual harassment at the workplace values the impact of the behaviour. “I didn’t know”, “I didn’t mean to” and “It’s just a joke” are not valid defences.
The focus on impact empowers complainants to put faith in their experience and believe that “if this made me feel sexually uncomfortable or unsafe, I should reach out to the Internal Committee”.
Zero tolerance at every level
As important as it is to prohibit behaviour and understand sexual harassment, it is equally important to create a culture of zero tolerance. This means that nobody tolerates sexual harassment- across levels of the organisation and not just when it happens to them, but also when they see it happen.
Preventing or intervening in scenarios of sexual harassment is not just the responsibility of the Internal Committee or HR, it is each employee’s responsibility, including the leadership.
Bystander intervention is an effective strategy of having people who witness sexual harassment or inappropriate scenarios intervene to reduce the harm caused. Studies have proven how equipping possible bystanders with skills regarding bystander intervention can play an essential role in impacting workplace culture as a whole.
Imbibing bystander intervention in training and empowering employees to take responsibility for workplace culture can create a workplace where sexual harassment is not supported or tolerated.
Regular reminders beyond sessions
Awareness training happens once a year. Maybe once a quarter. People join, leave, change teams and evolve between these sessions.
Make sure information about the PoSH policy, sexual harassment and the Internal Committee is easily available and in various formats. Display posters around the office space, and send out emails and messages on the group chat at regular intervals to inform and remind employees about the PoSH policy and the Internal Committee.
Rinse and repeat
Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is company culture.
Keep at it with awareness campaigns and training sessions. A mindful focus on creating a safe workplace for every person is essential to ensure that employees understand the organisation’s commitment to workplace safety.
Various companies who have been partnered with Serein for years have seen how culture has evolved and shaped, through the committed and measured approach to prevention, prohibition and redressal.
To begin your journey, write to us at hello@serein.in