Our team of experts fields real-life everyday questions from HR managers and gives practical answers that can be applied by any HR pro in the same situation. Today’s question: What’s the No. 1 thing we can do to prevent sexual-harassment complaints in our workplace?
Question:
We’re trying to prioritize our training on preventing sexual harassment. Can you give us an idea of where the biggest problem spot is for most companies?
Answer:
Of the roughly 5,000 sex-harassment complaints filed with EEOC last year, the majority of them were based on supervisors’ not responding to initial complaints. That comes from HR consultant Hunter Lott, who’s done harassment-prevention training for firms such as Anheuser-Busch and FedEx-Kinko’s.
Most firms get into trouble because supervisors don’t take complaints seriously, so employees feel forced to go outside the company to get someone to listen to them.
