Sexual Harrasment

Reaction – Sexual harassment can be faced by both men and women. But most of the times women are affected by it. This kind of harassment would make someone very uncomfortable at work and social places. Awareness is very much required to avoid consequences.

Learning – It was interesting to learn that in the year 2010 around 11,717 sexual harassment complaints were filed and among them 16 percent of charges were filed by males (Snell & Bohlander, 2013). Still it is hard to believe that women can be harassers too, but it is possible and agree with the author.

Behavior- After reading on this topic I think I may be able to better judge what sexual harassment is when it actually happens. I have coworkers who crack dirty jokes and swear a lot but it is usually a joke to make everyone laugh. The team we have right now is taking it very sportingly but there may be some who might get uncomfortable and will feel as if its harassment.

Result-Would like to see if HR can start an awareness class on sexual harassment topic, right now it’s done only during orientation but after reading this I feel this needs to be out there more than we think it’s needed.

Summary- The more we have awareness the more we will see the decrease in sexual harassment. Men or Women need to speak up and let HR know if they are in an uncomfortable situation or hostile environment. One of our directors with whom I used to work very closely recently was fired due to sexual harassment, for me he was a very nice guy and never made me uncomfortable or made any kind of inappropriate conduct. But I am sure whoever complained was not a happy camper and reported his behavior to HR. This is what we want employers and employees to be aware of react to situations like this so that this doesn’t happen to anyone.

References

Snell, S., & Bohlander, G. (2013) Managing human resources (16th ed.). Mason, OH:Thomson/South-Western