With the start of the New Year a new movement was launched with the hashtag #TIMESUP. It is a call to everyone to stop being silent, stop waiting to report and to stop tolerating discrimination, harassment and abuse. The movement is linked to a Go Fund Me campaign to raise money for a Legal Defense Fund and was developed by women in the film, television and theater industry. But it is not targeted at these groups alone, it is a call to all women and men. It is a call to hold our own workplaces accountable.
The group also looks at the representation of women compared to men in leadership positions as an imbalance of power that needs to be evened out. Research shows that women in male-dominated occupations, especially those in male dominated work contexts are sexually harassed more than women in balanced or in female-dominated ones.
In my own career I have seen this to be true. When I was being sexually harassed 25 years ago by the VP of my company I went to my managers - all of which were men- and they asked me to just deal with it, because if we made him made, he wouldn't help us all hit our goals and that would be bad for careers. They didn't think it was a big deal. He did it to everyone, this is how some guys act was their thought. Would a female manager have agreed with them? I don't know because there were no female managers.
When I worked in a company that was predominately run by women and the client base was predominately female as well, I thought I had found a company that didn't see gender. And while I was never sexually harassed, the company managed to promote men into the executive team over and over. Because even though the company was 75% female based, the executives - were all men. Coincidence? I don't think so.
I get it. We like to work with people that are like us. That we enjoy hanging out with and that have the same ideologies. But doesn't that weaken a team? Isn't a team strong because of diversity and different skill sets? I think that this is missed by so many management teams. They want to fill the room with people that support them. However, they would be stronger if they had a team that supported them with differing viewpoints. Adding diversity to a team adds layers of talent to it as well.
'
The problem is that change is intimidating. Very few people like change - particularly if they have been enjoying the fruits of the current system. But change will come whether you want it to or not, so why not be leading the pack? Be open to looking at your hiring processes. Find ways to innovate growth for your employees that is equal and fair. Build leadership programs that will build the team you want based on skill and your company will not only be stronger - it will avoid the time consuming process of fighting harassment complaints that occur when there is imbalance. Build a culture that has transparency and accountability. Lead the cultural movement - instead of being swept up by it. Time's up!
For information about ethics, etiquette and education programs for your workplace-
info@weeehelp.com.
Comments
Post a Comment