HR Management & Compliance, Learning & Development, Talent

#TimesUp: What this Movement Means for Employers

The #MeToo movement and the continuation of it, #TimesUp, have profound implications for employers. These movements are seeking to address the long-standing inequalities in the workplace (among other things), specifically as it pertains to sexual harassment and gender-based wage inequality and other gender-related discriminatory practices.

productivityFor employers, this means there has been (or will likely be) renewed attention to workplace harassment issues, and to what the employer is doing to prevent them from happening. There’s also a renewed focus on where wage discrepancies exist, and more attention being paid to what steps employers are taking to prevent it.

This movement has momentum now, but sentiments are mixed in terms of how much impact people think it will have over time. Women are more optimistic than men when it comes to this sentiment:

“Sixty-nine percent of women and 59% of men say #Times Up will result in progress in relations between men and women in the workplace, according to the latest reading of an ongoing query by Comparably.” [i]

Perhaps more encouraging, however, is that 91% of those who were surveyed who work in HR were more confident this will benefit workplace relations.[ii]

Steps Employers May Choose to Take Now

Clearly, each organization’s response in times like these will depend on their current situation. But here are some ways many employers could choose to respond:

  • Reevaluate existing antiharassment and antidiscrimination policies (or create them if not already in place). Ensure they’re fair, being enforced, and that employees are being trained in what constitutes harassment and what to do if they see such actions or are subject to them.
  • Ensure that all policies have been distributed to all employees and they know where to find copies of them if need be.
  • Train or retrain employees on sexual harassment and on the company’s anti-harassment policies. If this training was previously selective, consider expanding it.
  • Ensure employees have someone they can turn to with complaints—and ensure those individuals are trained to always follow up and investigate.
  • Conduct employee engagement surveys that include questions about the working environment as it relates to harassment and equality.
  • Assess the company culture to see where there may be areas of improvement to bring greater equality and/or diversity to the organization.
  • Assess hiring and promoting methods to see where there may be room to improve gender and other diversity at all levels. For example, what percentage of C-suite positions are held by women? What percentage of female applicants are hired? (These types of questions can be applied across the entire organization to get a full picture of where one gender may be under represented.)
  • Review the pay levels for everyone in the organization to determine whether there are differences for different genders—and correct problems if found. Follow up to find the root causes to stop this from continuing going forward. Review pay and benefit policies to see where changes can be made to improve gender balance.
  • Consider conducting a workplacewide assessment to review potential harassment and discrimination risks.

The key to all these assessments is to act on the data once it’s uncovered. Not everyone thinks this movement will make a difference, but with action from all of us, maybe it can.

[i] https://www.comparably.com/blog/women-have-more-faith-in-timesup-than-men/

[ii] For more statistics on the sentiment behind the #TimesUp movement, check out https://www.comparably.com/blog/women-have-more-faith-in-timesup-than-men/

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