NOW WHAT?How Do Your Workers Feel
About Harassment? Ask Them
by Andrea S. Kramer and Alton B. Harris
If your business is serious about eliminating the risk of sexual
harassment— and it should be— you need to approach the prob-
lem comprehensively. This means recognizing that sexual harass-
ment is part of a continuum of interconnected behaviors that range
from gender bias to incivility to legally actionable assault. All these
kinds of misconduct should be addressed collectively, because sex-
ual harassment is far more likely in organizations that experience
off enses on the “less severe” end of the spectrum than in those that
don’t.
There’s no one- size- fi ts- all program for eliminating inappropri-
ate gender- related behaviors; the best programs specifi cally address
the characteristics of each workplace’s culture. The vital fi rst step,
then, is to get an accurate picture of yours. How? Ask your employees
directly. Do they see disparities in career opportunities? Are
colleagues or supervisors rude to each other? Is there inappropriate
sexual conduct? Do employees feel uncomfortable or unsafe at work?
The best way to find all this out is with a carefully designed
employee survey. In this article we’ll offer some key principles
for fashioning one, along with a model survey that you can adapt
(which incorporates some of the recommendations the EEOC made
for surveys in its 2017 proposed enforcement guidance on harass-
ment). Our advice is based on insights we developed while working
with major business organizations and conducting several hundred
gender- focused workshops and moderated conversations around
the United States.