Sexual harassment in the workplace is a serious problem that affects many employees and organizations. Research shows that 90 percent of the Fortune 500 companies have at one time or the other dealt with the complaints of this type of harassment and that more than a third of them have faced lawsuits related to this issue. It’s also a fact that this problem in not limited to the largest or most profitable organizations.
Supervisor training is important
The best way for companies to reduce the risks they face in the workplace is to start with a solid prevention policy and follow up by taking steps to ensure that their managers have the knowledge of how to deal with inappropriate behavior, complaints and charges. Ongoing monitoring of sexual harassment prevention training for supervisors should be a key component in a comprehensive risk management plan of each company.
Recognizing sexual harassment
It’s essential for everyone who supervises employees to have solid understanding of what sexual harassment is and to know how to recognize the implicit and explicit warning signs of dangers that put themselves, their employees, and their companies at risk.
While some occurrences of sexual harassment in the workplace might be obvious, this is not true in all situations. Managers who are not properly trained often allow risky behaviors to take place simply because they do not fully understand what is considered harassment.