The Hindu Business Line : Making the workplace safe

Given that organisations are hiring young employees in large numbers, they cannot ignore the issue of sexual harassment at workplace any longer. They must address the issue proactively, as they have a responsibility to provide a safe and healthy work environment.

"It does not happen here;" "we cannot do anything about it; "this is bound to happen; "these are western issues"... All these are among the reactions one hears when one raises the subject of flirtation and sexual harassment at the workplace (SHW). Indian organisations are yet to get over the awkwardness associated with acknowledging and addressing this issue.

This lack of awareness and proactive effort may make many of the workplaces in India unsafe in addition to increasing the risk of financial liability and loss of reputation.

Understanding the issue

What constitutes sexual harassment?

It is any unwelcome behaviour, sexual in nature that affects, or threatens to, directly or indirectly, a person's job security, working conditions or prospects for promotion or earnings.

Sexual harassment can be perpetrated by a supervisor or a co-worker.

Such harassment can be expressed in many ways, ranging from unwelcome staring, comments or teasing, to unwanted physical contact or outright demands for sexual favours.

What constitutes workplace flirtation?

Workplace flirtation refers to a relationship between two people (at the workplace) arising out of a sexual attraction.

Flirtation may sometimes lead to dating, romance and even marriage. The essence of workplace flirtation is that it is consensual, reciprocated and based on mutual consent.

The thin dividing line

In reality however, the difference between these two aspects is not as clear as it seems and that is really central to the problem. There are several reasons why the dividing line is thin:

It is quite often difficult for anyone, including the organisation, to figure out if the relationship or interaction or overture is based on mutual consent or not, based on visible behaviour.

As a result, organisations find it hard to intervene since they might be perceived to be wrongfully intruding into the privacy of two employees. The reluctance on the part of the aggrieved employee to escalate adds to the problem.

On many occasions, what starts off as flirtation can end in sourness for a variety of reasons including compatibility, failed expectations, personal differences and loss of interest and as a result may become harassment. The world of business is replete with several such examples.

Things might be easy to handle when all the romance and flirtation is between two peers or unmarried people. When supervisor-subordinate relationships are involved or when the relationship is extra-marital, issues of conflict of interest and exploitation of one's position increase. The possibility of someone becoming aggrieved also increases.

Managing the boundaries between one's flirtatious and romantic behaviour and one's organisational role and responsibility calls for significant emotional maturity, more so when there are unintended consequences. When this emotional maturity is thin, the dividing line becomes thin too.

This is what leads to a potentially risky situation for the organisation.

Organisational risks

You might wonder why any of this should matter to an organisation. There are important reasons:

The organisation has a responsibility to provide a safe and healthy work environment. SHW will be seen as an organisational failure.

A complaint of sexual harassment results in financial liabilities for the organisation since the onus is on the employer.

In a media active nation like India and at a time when we are the envy of many, anything that goes wrong get disproportionate attention, especially in high profile sectors such as IT/ITeS.

In the coming years, women will form a very significant percentage of the workforce and neglect of this issue can lead to very serious consequences for the society as a whole.

For these reasons, no organisation can afford to ignore this potential problem.

Organisational practices

Driven by the pressures of the labour market, many organisations have begun to take a liberal view about employment of spouses. They seem to believe that where spouses work together, it leads to greater work-life balance and also promotes a much happier workplace. Driven by this belief, they also tend to take a lenient view about workplace flirtation with the hope that "they will live happily soon there after".

In contrast, many organisations in the West that have been plagued by law suits around sexual harassment have even framed policies that require employees who are dating their colleagues to notify the same to the organisation failing which they deprive themselves the opportunity of any complaint of sexual harassment at a subsequent date.

As far as sexual harassment in India is concerned, even though the Supreme Court issued a directive in 1997 (known more popularly as the Vishakha Guidelines), a survey by Sakshi (Delhi) points out that only 20 per cent of the organisations have implemented it.

What needs to be done

The simple truth is that organisations cannot ignore the issue any longer. Given that they are hiring young employees in large numbers they must address the issue proactively.

They need to implement the Vishakha guidelines in letter and spirit.

The subject of gender diversity, conduct at the workplace and sexual harassment must be mandatory subjects in all induction programmes. Employees must be helped to understand that with fun comes responsibility and the need to manage their professional boundaries.

HR managers must receive specialised training to understand, diagnose and manage all issues relating to gender diversity in general and workplace flirtation and SHW in particular.

They must know the law. They must also have the skills to handle these issues when they do occur and not just joke about it in cocktail conversations.

The principle of "due notice" must be remembered. If anyone in the organisation becomes aware of a transgression, he or she must report it immediately.

It would be an offence for those with due notice to withhold such information. This is especially true of senior management and HR.

Finally, and as is always the case, leaders need to lead by example.

(The author is founder and CEO of Totus Consulting, a strategic HR consulting firm. He can be reached at ganesh@totusconsulting.com)