If you’re in a position of leadership, you’re most likely (hopefully) reconsidering your company’s approach to sexual harassment policy. You would be right to reread the policy and assess if it supports victims in coming forward and sharing their experiences, and if it adequately demands that all employees work to make sexual harassment something that does not occur in your agency. However, policy is not everything when it comes to creating a sexual harassment free work environment for your employees.

A company’s culture, though theoretically is reflective of and responsive to a company’s policy, can often be very different from that policy. This means that even if you have a solid policy that specifies having no tolerance for sexual harassers, and detailed guidance for how to handle sexual harassment cases, a company culture can work against that policy. 

Culture is strong—it’s how things are done and how things are allowed to be done among a group of people—even if a policy says it should be done in other ways. As a leader, it’s important to recognize that written guidance is not sufficient when trying to strengthen your company’s approach to sexual harassment. In conjunction with what you document, you must impact the culture by first making sure that everyone with power in your agency has the commitment to regard that policy fully. 

This means that Human Resources, and every manager, completely comprehends the policy and promises to live by it. If there is zero tolerance for sexual harassment, with steps for what to do if a case is reported, then every person with even an ounce of authority must live and breathe that in practice. When a person with authority minimizes or does not take a report of sexual assault seriously, there are 2 problems. First, there is the problem that someone sexually harassed someone else under your leadership. The second problem is the breakdown, not only of policy, but of humane management. The fault goes to leadership when managers get away with not responding to reports of sexual harassment. Therefore, the responsibility lies with leadership to make sure that managers are completely bought into living the policy.

How are you working to create an environment that is more responsive to concerns about sexual harassment? Share with us below.