“Over the years, the profession has attracted a lot
of people for a lot of different reasons. It was very
trendy to go into HR and anyone could call
themselves an HR practitioner. In many instances
individuals excelled, investing in building their skills,
their knowledge and their professional behaviour,
but in others, they haven’t.”
MANAGING THE FALLOUT
The 2017 Australian HR Manager of the Year, Jane
Shand, was the newly appointed HR Manager of
Queensland Rugby League (QRL), and in the US,
when she heard Oprah Winfrey make her memorable
Golden Globes speech. Shand was moved to hear
the media mogul call out something that was “so
common it had become normal and even expected”
for many women.
“Oprah’s speech gave women permission to
expect a level of dignity in the workplace and called
on women to help women, which doesn’t always
happen in our workplaces,” she says. “Oprah started
a conversation and encouraged us to continue it.”
On her return to Australia, and about to attend
her first annual QRL conference, Shand continued
the conversation with QRL’s managing director.
“I explained that any HR manager worth their
salt would be addressing the campaigns,” she says.
“He agreed it was critical, and during our two-day
conference I spoke about the impact of sexual
harassment on workplaces. I went through what
sexual harassment actually is and the process
to follow in the event that it occurs – hardly
groundbreaking stuff, but you could have heard
a pin drop.
“I decided that if I really wanted our position on
sexual harassment to sink in, I needed to move away
from straight policy and procedure, and talk through
a real story. I used an example of harassment I had
experienced as a new HR practitioner in a previous
organisation. I explained how my complaint was
taken very seriously and how the level of respect
I was shown by management at that time has stuck
with me throughout my career.”
Shand also stressed that employees would be
unaware of any incidents being investigated unless
directly involved in allegations.
“Sometimes, people assume that if they don’t
hear about something then nobody is taking it
seriously or dealing with it. I believe our team has
now been reassured that if they don’t hear about
us addressing an issue, it is because we respect
confidentiality, and to trust that a robust process
is underway.”OPPORTUNITY FOR CHANGE
However, confidentiality is difficult in a world
dominated by social media. Aggrieved employees
have provided the perfect fodder for headlines by
airing their experiences online. Goodear warns
company PR has to be finely tuned to deal with these
explosive and very public disclosures.
“PR needs to be trained not to hose it down, but
to give a credible explanation for what is happening
and, most importantly, to let it be seen that justice is
being done,” she says. “If an organisation has policies
just for the sake of having them and training stops at
compliance level, with leaders thinking HR is only
there to keep them out of jail, then infrastructure that
allows an organisation to thrive won’t be created.”
Goodear is confident a working environment free
of sexual harassment will become the norm, similar to
the acceptance of employing people with disabilities.
“I don’t think we need a new puritanism; that’s not
where we want to end up,” she says. “Nor do I think
the potential for poor behaviour has changed. But
poor behaviour has been mismanaged and what we’re
seeing now is not new policies, but a much improved
application of the procedures to deal with them.
“It is a terrific opportunity for HR to show that it
has lifted its game.”theceomagazine.com | 19Oprah was presented with the Cecil B DeMille Award
by Reese Witherspoon at the 2018 Golden Globes.The role of HR | INSPIRE