Last week’s podcast was on sexual misconduct. It is a lot more frequent to hear about sexual misconduct or sexual harassment cases in the business world than it is to hear about them in the world of international politics. But just because we do not hear about something, does not mean it does not happen.

In this episode, I specifically talk about sexual misconduct cases in the FBI, which is one of the biggest institutions of the U.S. government and how the leadership in FBI tries to hide cases of sexual misconduct.

It is one thing that there is bad behavior in the workplace, it is even worse when the leadership tries to hide it. Sadly, this is not an unfamiliar thing most places try to do. Many big brands are far more obsessed about protecting their brand value and public reputation than to fostering a positive, healthy, and safe work culture where there is no tolerance of sexual harassment.

Leaders across the world, both in business and politics, have to come forward as allies of sexual harassment survivors.

SHUJA RABBANI – SHRM-SCP, SPHRI, EXECUTIVE COACH – JOHN MAXWELL TEAM

Generally speaking, majority of sexual harassment offenders are men. I used to work in human resources department of an international airline and every sexual harassment case that came to me, the offender was a man. In retrospect, every time I think of the number of sexual assault cases that would take place regularly in that airline, all I can say is there was a ‘Me Too’ movement waiting to happen – it just needed enough survivors to come out and speak to the international media.

Earlier this year, multiple sexual assault allegations were filed against the Governor of New York City, Governor Cuomo, who is currently a sitting Governor of NY. Another example of sexual harassment cases in the political world that I can recall is one within the past few years – there has been information leaked about the presidential palace in Afghanistan where there were allegations of sexual harassment by members of the Afghan president’s inner circle.

Last year in 2020, Jeffrey Toobin was suspended from The New Yorker Magazine for masturbating during a Zoom meeting and he was reinstated in his job on CNN as a legal analyst recently.

With all this happening around us, you would think that the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements which exposed powerful men and ripped the band-aid off this topic would make men think twice before they misbehave – clearly not.

If you are a business leader or an HR practitioner reading this, here are some things you should consider at the minimum that must be introduced immediately if you have not already done so.

• Make sure you have clear, exhaustive policies in place about sexual harassment and make sure those policies are widely communicated throughout the company with the sponsorship of business leaders. Leaders across the world, both in business and politics, have to come forward as allies of sexual harassment survivors.

• Secondly, make sure there are trainings in place and these trainings are consistently updated and repeated until the expected behaviors and values are internalized. Setting expectations makes it clear to everyone that when walking into the work premises, which behaviors are encouraged and which ones will lead to consequences and accountability. Sadly, one of the biggest reasons survivors of sexual harassment at work do not step forward is because not enough is done to the perpetrator(s) or accountability held when such issues are brought to the attention of human resources department or leadership.

• Make sure you have the right mechanisms in place and employees are equipped at all levels of the organization should someone come forward to report a sexual harassment case. These cases should be handled in complete confidentiality and employees must be guaranteed safety from fear of retaliation.

When Google mismanaged a number of sexual harassment cases a few years ago, thousands of Google employees around the world walked out to protest in solidarity with the victims who stated that when they went to complain to HR, HR sided with the company and retaliated against the victims.

Sexual harassment cases are highly sensitive and many survivors of sexual harassment do not usually come forward because of feelings of guilt and shame, and other social stigmas surrounding sex that could be because of religious or cultural norms.  In all cases, victims of sexual misconduct should be provided with support for psychological and emotional well-being.

Listen to the ‘Pod Your Heart Out’ episode on sexual misconduct on all leading podcast directories and please leave a rating and a review.

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