This article is set before Oct. 2017, before the downfall of Harvey Weinstein.
Jul. 22, 2017 "Harassment and the C-suite": Today I found this article by Merge Gupta-Sunderji in the Globe and Mail:
Executives need to foster safer workplace cultures wherein employees aren’t subjected to unwanted innuendo
Lately it seems to be non-stop: Every few days, there is another news story about a senior executive (who should have known better) saying or doing something sexually inappropriate to someone more junior in his organization.
In recent weeks, it’s been Uber’s Travis Kalanick, 500 Startup’s Dave McClure, Binary Capital’s Justin Caldbeck and Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, to name a few. And this malaise is not solely confined to the business world, nor to North America.
U.S. actor Zoe Kazan recently shared her experiences of repeated sexual harassment in the world of the performing arts, and several women at Cool Japan Fund (a public-private investment fund in Japan) have stepped forward with allegations of sexual misconduct by their supervisors.
So why the seeming epidemic? Let us be clear: It’s not likely that it’s happening more frequently, but much more probable that it’s being reported more often. And that’s a good thing.
The world of work is no place for anybody to feel uncomfortable, humiliated, degraded or threatened by unwelcome physical contact or verbal sexual innuendo.
Everyone deserves to work in an environment where they feel respected, treated with dignity and considered as equals. The fact that more people are willing to speak up is positive.
The world of work is no place for anybody to feel uncomfortable, humiliated, degraded or threatened by unwelcome physical contact or verbal sexual innuendo.
Everyone deserves to work in an environment where they feel respected, treated with dignity and considered as equals. The fact that more people are willing to speak up is positive.
Let’s face it, though, if you’re male, the workplace can suddenly seem like a minefield. The standards of acceptable behaviour have changed from 30, 20, even 10 years ago, and they continue to transform as societal norms shift. As a leader, you have a responsibility to create a workplace that is free from sexual harassment.
And you can’t, intentionally or inadvertently, be the source of it. If you continue to operate on the basis of old workplace norms, sooner or later, you can expect to find yourself in the midst of an ugly allegation and perhaps in the nasty glare of the public spotlight.
And you can’t, intentionally or inadvertently, be the source of it. If you continue to operate on the basis of old workplace norms, sooner or later, you can expect to find yourself in the midst of an ugly allegation and perhaps in the nasty glare of the public spotlight.
It’s naive to expect that romantic fires won’t light in the workplace. Humans are sexual beings and attraction and chemistry toward another person isn’t just confined to the hours outside work.
But as a leader, tread carefully; behaviour that crosses the line from professional to personal can get complicated. And if there is a power differential in play, at best, it will be a conflict of interest, and at worst, quickly shift into harassment, or even assault.
But as a leader, tread carefully; behaviour that crosses the line from professional to personal can get complicated. And if there is a power differential in play, at best, it will be a conflict of interest, and at worst, quickly shift into harassment, or even assault.
So how do you avoid becoming the subject of the next corporate sex scandal? Here are four key principles to keep in mind. Whether it has to do with you or someone else in your organization, question whether there is a disparity in positional or influential authority, real or perceived.
If one person is in a management role and the other isn’t, then the answer is easy. Heck, if one party is in the C-Suite, then you know you have a problem! But watch out also for perceived power differentials that exist simply because of the nature of the working relationship.
When power and positional influence come into play, even though you may believe that you have consent from the other person, it isn’t as clear as you might think. The onus is always on the person who has greater authority in the relationship to ensure that the lesser power is not being taken advantage of.
So even if there is mutual attraction, pause to carefully look ahead before proceeding. Listen for the word “no.” And understand that it means exactly that. Flippantly, a well-known corporate VP recently commented, “‘No’ means ‘maybe.’ ” While that likely wasn’t true even 20 years ago, it’s dead wrong today.
And this C-Suite executive is setting himself up for certain failure. If the other person refuses, rebuffs or even expresses discomfort with the situation, it’s time to shut it down and walk away.
If one person is in a management role and the other isn’t, then the answer is easy. Heck, if one party is in the C-Suite, then you know you have a problem! But watch out also for perceived power differentials that exist simply because of the nature of the working relationship.
When power and positional influence come into play, even though you may believe that you have consent from the other person, it isn’t as clear as you might think. The onus is always on the person who has greater authority in the relationship to ensure that the lesser power is not being taken advantage of.
So even if there is mutual attraction, pause to carefully look ahead before proceeding. Listen for the word “no.” And understand that it means exactly that. Flippantly, a well-known corporate VP recently commented, “‘No’ means ‘maybe.’ ” While that likely wasn’t true even 20 years ago, it’s dead wrong today.
And this C-Suite executive is setting himself up for certain failure. If the other person refuses, rebuffs or even expresses discomfort with the situation, it’s time to shut it down and walk away.
Even if the emotions are reciprocal, think it through. Relationships at work are certainly possible, you just need to be cautious about how you move forward. Seek to remove the real or perceived power differential by reassigning work responsibilities.
If that’s not possible, then declare the potential conflict of interest to an appropriate third party so as to sidestep any future allegations of sexual misconduct.
If that’s not possible, then declare the potential conflict of interest to an appropriate third party so as to sidestep any future allegations of sexual misconduct.
If you’re observing or hearing about unwanted advances among your staff, shut it down.
Make it clear that any inappropriate comments of a sexual nature are unacceptable. If you observe such behaviour yourself, address it immediately. If you hear rumours that this is occurring, pull Human Resources in right away to address the gossip and speculation before it spirals out of control.
Whatever you do, don’t get caught up in the crowd mentality that causes harassment to snowball: Just because “everyone” does or says it doesn’t excuse inappropriate behaviour or comments. As a leader, you have a responsibility to create a harassment-free workplace culture.
Make it clear that any inappropriate comments of a sexual nature are unacceptable. If you observe such behaviour yourself, address it immediately. If you hear rumours that this is occurring, pull Human Resources in right away to address the gossip and speculation before it spirals out of control.
Whatever you do, don’t get caught up in the crowd mentality that causes harassment to snowball: Just because “everyone” does or says it doesn’t excuse inappropriate behaviour or comments. As a leader, you have a responsibility to create a harassment-free workplace culture.
Truth be told, it really isn’t that hard to steer clear of accusations of sexual harassment.
Every one of the situations that made recent headlines would have been avoidable if the people involved had simply recognized and understood that the standards of workplace behaviour have changed.
Not only are they different from what was acceptable 20, 10 or even five years ago, but they continue to shift as societal norms and expectations change.
Every one of the situations that made recent headlines would have been avoidable if the people involved had simply recognized and understood that the standards of workplace behaviour have changed.
Not only are they different from what was acceptable 20, 10 or even five years ago, but they continue to shift as societal norms and expectations change.
Merge Gupta-Sunderji (@mergespeaks) is a leadership expert, speaker, author and consultant who turns managers into leaders, drawing upon her more than 17 years of first-hand experience as a leader in corporate Canada. Reach her or join the conversations on her blog at TurningManagersIntoLeaders.com.
Nov. 18, 2017 "Fostering work sponsors post- Weinstein": Today I found this article by Paul Attfield in the Globe and Mail:
With promotions and raises on the line, recent scandals threaten to derail the efforts of women looking for professional sponsorships
When it comes to career development, there are few things more effective than finding a sponsor in the workplace.
Unlike mentorship, which traditionally involves one person coaching another,
sponsorship is a form of advocacy, where one person looks out for another and helps connect them to the kind of experiences and opportunities that will advance their career.
sponsorship is a form of advocacy, where one person looks out for another and helps connect them to the kind of experiences and opportunities that will advance their career.
For women especially, the benefits of a sponsor can be even greater. According to Sylvia Ann Hewlett, an author and founder of New York’s Center for Talent Innovation, sponsorship can provide women with an up to 30-per-cent benefit in areas such as promotion and pay raises.
Yet men are 46 per cent more likely to have a workplace sponsor, she adds.
However, the recent fallout from the sexual-assault allegations against the likes of Harvey Weinstein, Bill O’Reilly and Kevin Spacey isn’t likely to make women’s ability to secure workplace sponsorships any easier.
That’s the opinion of Dr. John Izzo, an author and co-founder of the Men’s Initiative at the University of British Columbia.
“Men are already nervous about sponsoring women, especially younger women, because it looks like, ‘What’s he really after?’ or ‘Why is he sponsoring her?’ which is bad for men and women,” he says.
“So I think one of the things that this will do, potentially, is create even more nervousness about that kind of thing.”
Dr. Izzo established the initiative a year and a half ago to act as a catalyst in opening up conversations between men about men. The hope is that it will empower them to enhance their own integrity, becoming a better source for good in society.
“What we want to do is create an environment where we can talk more honestly about these things,” he says.
“We really need to get men talking to men about this because part of the Harvey Weinstein issue is how many good men stood by and said nothing.”
One of the initiative’s recommendations is for separate inclusion education programs designed exclusively for men in the workplace. Dr. Izzo says that the discussions become a lot more honest when members of the other sex aren’t present.
“In the groups we’ve done inside companies, for example, one of the things we see is men starting to challenge each other about sexual humour, about comments they make … about jokes that are inappropriate.”
As the dominant group in many workplaces – men made up 52.7 per cent of the Canadian labour force last year, according to Statistics Canada – Dr. Izzo feels there is value in getting that group thinking among itself.
“When you get the dominant group first talking to each other, you actually make a lot more progress,” he adds.
To Dr. Izzo, while much of the media coverage around recent sex scandals may have been well meaning, the shaming of men and male behaviour in and around the workplace doesn’t actually have the desired effect of getting them to shape up.
“Shame doesn’t actually help men change,” he says. “Shame tends to make them go underground, but what we want is to actually have open conversation that will allow us to make progress.”
While only time will tell if male female workplace sponsorships suffer as part of the collateral damage from the sex scandals, others are trying to improve the access that women have to the kind of sponsors that can build careers.
The trio of Deloitte &; Touche LLP, McKinsey & Co. and Catalyst Canada, a global non-profit that champions women’s causes, joined forces this year on the #GoSponsorHer social-media campaign.
“Men benefit disproportionately from sponsorship relationships because men tend to be in power and more often will choose people like them to sponsor,” says Tanya van Biesen, Catalyst Canada’s executive director.
The idea behind #GoSponsorHer was to ignite a national conversation about the importance of sponsorship in the advancement of both women’s and men’s careers. Ms. van Biesen says the onus is now on company leaders to ensure that they have a diversity of talent, both men and women, among their sponsorees.
While she has heard many opinions such as those by Dr. Izzo about the impact of the sex scandals on workplace sponsorships, she disagrees that it will have any long-term damage.
Part of the point of sponsorship is someone advocating on another’s behalf when the person isn’t even there. On top of that, Ms. van Biesen adds, the meetings between a sponsor and the sponsoree don’t even have to be conducted in private.
“This concern that a man doesn’t want to be alone in a room with a woman or what have you, we need to take that out of the mentoring and sponsorship conversation,” she says.
“These are business meetings between professionals about professional issues.”
“These are business meetings between professionals about professional issues.”
Ms. van Biesen is hopeful that the publicity and attention generated by the scandals can bring forth some truly meaningful conversations on behaviour in the workplace. Much like pursuing profitability or hiring the best talent, she says this is just one more muscle that organizations need to exercise.
“These bad actors if you will, the Weinsteins and the Spaceys and others, they are nothing but that, they’re bad actors,” she says.
“For us to rethink our whole approach to talent management and development on the basis of some bad actors would be a very sad thing.”
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