Will sexual misconduct at work pose a challenge to human resource management in the coming years?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers will vary. Perhaps the challenge that will be the most important for HR in the coming years stems from the "Me Too" movement and the new spotlight on sexual harassment and sexual misconduct at work. A number of important personalities have been caught in this movement, including Matt Lauer, Kevin Spacey, and Harvey Weinstein. Women are increasingly feeling empowered to speak out against the way they are treated at work, and people are finally taking the claims seriously. Some trace the movement back to the comments of then-candidate Donald Trump about how he treated women, which led to outrage over the fact that someone of his prominence could actually say the things he said. Others, however, suggest that these issues have been long simmering, but women felt afraid to speak out about them-especially when the perpetrator was someone in power such as Harvey Weinstein.This movement has become so big that, in 2017, TIME magazine named as their "Person of the Year" the group of women who spoke out about their various episodes of sexual assault and harassment. The movement has also gained momentum as more women speaking out have emboldened yet more women to come forward with problems they have encountered, and CEOs, moguls, and entertainment icons have all toppled as a result. These stories have gone beyond the typical complaint, and many actually deal with sexual assault. But, in any case, it is usually the responsibility of the HR department to deal with complaints of this nature at work. It is clear that the incidence of such complaints will increase and also that the consequences of not dealing with the complaints will also increase in the coming years. See 1-2: Evolution of the Human Resource Function