#MeToo ... What?
Marina Byezhanova
LinkedIn Top Voice in Personal Branding & Thought Leadership? Founder: Brand of a Leader ? EO Canada & EO Ukraine ? University Lecturer ? Global speaker ? Radically Authentic
I read an incredible amount of articles before the holidays talking about companies instituting new rules to help prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. As someone who started her career in a stereotypical sales boiler room full of classless and constantly hyped up guys who give the profession a bad rep, I have been on the receiving end of countless inappropriate comments, advances and propositioning. To that end, I unsurprisingly and wholeheartedly support HR’s efforts to eradicate any workplace occurrences that make either women or men (because let’s be honest, this is not a pure gender issue) uncomfortable at best and violated at worst.
But must we stoop to the levels of utter ridiculousness? Party monitors? Patrolling of the hallways? Checking secluded areas? And my absolute favorite - banning the ... mistletoe. Way to infantilize our employees and to make a circus out of a deeply serious issue.
This is of course an echo of the ever-present #MeToo movement. All of a sudden we have pivoted from discussing heart-wrenching stories of sexual assault and sexual abuse to wasting our time with graphically recounts of sub-par dates. All of a sudden everyone has a story to recount. #MeToo has somehow transitioned from indicating that someone underwent a severely traumatic experience and is courageously baring her soul, to becoming an in vogue badge of honor of sorts. Recounts of horrific life-altering traumas are being drowned out by stories of mildly unpleasant situations and unfortunate verbal exchanges.
Are sexual assault and sexual harassment such complex issues for us to digest that we’ve got no choice but to engage in massive amounts of group-think and group-talk in order to desensitize ourselves to them?
Prevailing advice is not only to abstain from complimenting a colleague on anything “outside of professional capacity” but to also elaborate on those compliments that are work specific in order to make it absolutely clear that you are in no violation of any boundaries. Oh - and no picture taking with your co-workers either! Is a culture of fear the ultimate solution to workplace harassment? Sheesh.
Statistically, over 70% of employees do not report instances of sexual harassment (I sure never did) for fear of being ridiculed. Hardly surprising considering how we collectively make it ridiculous by bringing mistletoe into the conversation and qualifying compliments into categories of acceptable and unacceptable with absolutely straight faces.
I don’t have an answer or a solution. All I know is that the moment we switch our rhetoric from blood-boiling and anger-inducing to chuckle-provoking and eye-rolling, we’ve got it all wrong. Off to another “movement du jour”.
Principal Advisor, Government Partnerships | Solutions-driven strategist | Builder of bridges | Founder
6 年Hi Marina, I think the point you highlight is the fact that many companies, instead of trying to implement corporate culture change and fostering a workplace climate of respect and awareness, are simply trying to babysit specific interactions. This will have the same effect of prescribing aspirin for the headache of someone with brain cancer... The tendency of turning something valuable into a movement du jour, happens all the time in moments of crisis. Why? Rarely people have the judgement of addressing the structural issues that are A) Asking us to look beyond what we know and feel comfortable, B) that require change management at a larger scale. People like statistics, so they can count how many mistletoes they removed from the halls, it is easier than to fire known offenders, conduct unconscious bias training and to set up an HR structure that is inclusive. I believe the #MeToo movement makes so many people uncomfortable that they would rather do anything to make it go away. Tough luck then, growth and maturity is about having uncomfortable conversations first, engaging in self-reflection second and implementing concrete action third. Those of us committed to making better business and a better society are on it! Whoever drags their feet can try to catch up with us one day.
Growth Designer, UX & Digital Strategist, Innovation enthusiast :: I help teams co-conceive Human-Centric experiences, products and systems
6 年The solution is Witioo
HR Professional | Aspiring Nurse/Student | Here to help others and make a difference
6 年I'm confused by this article. Are you trying to quantify the seriousness of the sexual harassment? Are you saying some are worst than others?