Sexual harassment in the workplace
During
the establishment of organizations, there are rules and regulations that must
be adhered to. Another important aspect during the establishment of the
organization is the formulation of goals and visions of the organization. In
consideration of the above factors, the management of the organization of the
organization can still be a daunting task because dealing with the conflicts
and disagreements in the work place can significantly reduce the efficiency of
the workers. On the same note, the employees must be guided and mentored from
time to time to enhance their performance and that of the organization at
large. In this regard, the managers of the organization must be critical in the
observations and decision making because some of the decisions made may have
adverse effects on the performance of the organization. One of the leading
factors causing conflict in organization is the issue of sexual harassment.
Sexual harassment is an issue that has been on the rise and it significantly
lowers the moral of the workers thereby reducing their efficiency (Boland 76). Even though sexual harassment in
the organizations and work place takes different forms, the vice can be
attributed to a form of sexual discrimination. It also entails the usage of
unwelcome verbal, visual or physical conducts of sexual natures that are
pervasive.
Contents
Introduction
All
forms of sexual harassment in the organization create a very hostile working
environment for the victims because they feel victimized and demined. In other
occasion, the victims of sexual harassment may end quitting their job because
they simply the happiness that is derived from enjoying the work. In order to
create equal working opportunities for all the citizens and also because of the
need to enhance equality between the sexes, it is extremely that the cases of
sexual harassment be treated with the urgency that they deserve.
The constitution of the United States
recognizes sexual harassment as a form of discrimination chargeable in the
court of law. The management of the organizations has the duty of ensuring the
safety of all the workers in the organizations and any disturbing cases of
sexual nature should resolved with the urgency. Normally, the organizations
have established channel of registering complains formally to the higher
authorities in the organization (Katharina
Naswall 23). However, the situation of reporting to the higher offices
may be hindered if the higher ranking officers are the ones involved the
provision of the sexual harassment. In such scenarios, the employees who are
the victims of sexual harassment should initiate conversation with another
fellow employee to seek advice on the best action to take. Over the period, the
cases of sexual harassment have been on the rise and many employees are
suffering in silence because they do not the right person to channel their
problems. The human resource is concerned with ensuring the well being of the
employees in the organization. Therefore, the cases of sexual harassment should
be handled with the representative or the human resource manager. The analysis
of statistics depicting sexual harassment shows that there have been changes in
the recent past. Initially, the women and ladies accounted for the greater
number of victims in sexual harassment crime but the latest survey shows that
the male fraternities are also experiencing sexual harassment in their places
of work. Therefore, the human resource managers must device methods of ensuring
that sexual harassment in organizations is significantly reduced and
controlled.
The role of managers
The
analysis of the book titled “management challenges for tomorrow’s leader” shows
that the management of an organization can be a daunting task. The book reveals
that the managers of the organization are surrounded with varying tasks that
must be fulfilled. Therefore, in order to ensure the enhancement of the
managers of tomorrow, the book highlights the importance of training tomorrow’s
leaders today (Stephen H. Goodman 206).
The book develops the content for establishing the managers who will ensure
ethical standards in the organization are observed. One of the core areas where
the book analyzes is to train the managers to know their duties. The duties of
the manager are stipulated to consist of four main areas.
Planning
Planning
in an organization is an integral aspect of management and the managers must
initiate the establishment of proper plans to ensure continuity of the
organization. Planning in an organization is the role of the management and the
managers. Planning activities in an organization exist in two different
capacities. First, the top level managers are involved with the practice of
developing a general plan for the organization
(Swift 15). This entails the establishment of goals and visions of the
organization. Secondly, the departmental managers are involved in the planning
of activities that takes place in the organization. in this regard, the top
level managers plan for the achievement of the organization while subsidiary
managers plan for the realization of the companies goals and visions. In both
planning capacities, the leaders of tomorrow must be taught about the
challenges involved with planning.
Organizing
Sometimes
the managers are charged with the huge task of establishing the talents of the
junior employees. The management requires the practice of assigning duties and
tasks to the most able employees who will complete the task perfectly and with
minimum supervision. In this regard, the managers must be able to study their
employees and assign them tasks accordingly. Critics of the management of employees
have stated organization can be a challenging task to the employees.
Controlling
Controlling
is another crucial role of the managers that is aimed at ensuring that the
duties and responsibilities assigned to the employees are performed. Controlling
the employees requires that the manager supervises the actions of the employees
to ensure that they are working towards enhancing the wellbeing of the
organization. Controlling aspect of management requires that the manager
interacts with the employees to ascertain the problems they face. This is vital
because the problems faced by the employees may hinder the realization of the
company’s goals and visions (Stephen H. Goodman
65). Another aspect of control in the organization is to initiate the
mode of correction where mistakes can be corrected and the goals of the
organization adequately realized.
Leading
This
is the final role of the managers in an organization. This entails an
established realization towards realization of the company’s goals and visions.
The manager must be able to offer guidance and leadership to the members of the
organization in the department to enhance their performance. Leadership
position is an extremely significant role of the mangers because they assume
the role of mentors and disciplinary committee to inspire and correct the
employees. Management of the employees requires that the manager understands
that every single employees has his/her own complexities and differences and
it’s upon the manager to establish the strengths and weaknesses of the
employees to derive better results. Finally, all the aspects and roles of
management are equally important when analyzing the attributes of a good
manager because they enhance the realization of the need to establish the goals
and the visions of the company.
Observation of ethical virtues in the organizations
The establishment of an organization
brings a group of people of together. Generally, when a group of people are
working together, some individual may have the tendency to portray sexual
discrimination against the others. The management of an organization requires
the establishment and observation of the ethics and etiquette because they help
in creating a formidable working environment between the employees and between
the managers. Over the period, various cases of sexual harassment have a risen in
the global organization. The increase is alarming because these cases reduce
the efficiency of the organization. Even though it is the duty of the managers
to ensure that ethical standards prevail in the working environment, the
employees of the organization also have a critical role to play in ensuring
that cases of sexual harassment are eliminated from the organization (Stephen H. Goodman 105-123). Furthermore, the
employees experience these challenges have the right of reporting these
adversities to the higher management of the organization. Sometimes though, it
becomes increasingly difficult to report the cases of sexual harassment because
the human resource managers may the culprits involved with the conduction of
this unethical conduct. Despite the prevalence of sexual harassment in today’s
organization, the constitution provides the best description of the offense and
the punitive actions initiated by the law. The spells the mode of punishment to
be administered to the individuals found guilty of committing sexual harassment
acts. The managers of an organization are charged with the task of providing
leadership to the employees of the organization. Leadership and mentorship are
two attributes of the organization that goes together towards realizing the
goals of the organization (Sims, 48).
Therefore, the leaders and managers of the organization should devise better
methods of ascertaining the contributions made by all the employees. Also, is
vital that the top level management and other managers establish better and
clear method of handling cases of sexual harassment in the organization. The
establishment of the goals and visions of the organization requires that the
organization establishes the channel of dealing disciplinary cases involving
two employees or an employee and a manager.
The social influence
There are various reasons why
managers must undergo critical learning. The need to understand the
contributions social influence into the character formation of an individual is
just but one of them. Social structure has significant influence on the
formation of characters of individuals. This consideration is extremely
significant and should be considered by the managers because they must seek to
understand the variations of the characters of the specific employees who work
in the organization. Upon identification of the vices in the organization, the
managers should critically analyze the case to ensure that the employees
concerned are not engaged a friendly encounter. This is because the law
provides that sexual harassment all qualifies to be a crime if one party is not
welcoming the moves and the advancement s from the other party. This unethical
behavior must be established by the manager
(Sims, 94). In spite of the vices in the organization, the manager must
be able to establish the culprit and the source of the conflict. It is a fact
that people from different geographical and social structures have different
aspects when it comes sexuality matters. In some communities, the regard for
the women and the ladies in general is so demeaning. Even though this may be
treated as a normal aspect in some nations treat this as a criminal offence
chargeable in the court of law. Therefore, before engaging in a conflict
resolution strategy, the manager should understand the background information
of the people involved in sexual harassment.
In addition, social influence has a
significant contribution in the formation of culture and interpersonal relation
skills. The needs, wants, and standards of personal behavior form an integral
part of the social contract. The social contract embodies a set of unwritten
perceptions and attributes that govern interpersonal relationships between the
employees and between the organizations. The managers and leaders of the
organization must be familiar with these perceptions in order to impact on the
performance of the organization (Paludi 93).
In reality, the organizations today experience an increasing diversity in the
workforce based on ethnic, gender, race and religion but the organization must
develop ways and methods of coping with the challenges.
Manifestation of sexual harassment in the organization
With the increase in diversity and
complexity of the global business environment, the managers of the organization
have had significant difficulties in handling the conflicts that arise in the
daily management. Sexual harassment in the organization has taken a complete
new dimension because of the increased ethnic, racial and cultural
interactions. However, the most common forms of harassments experienced in the
modern organization are listed as follows.
Unwelcome conducts of sexual nature
The
constitutions clearly state that sexual harassment is viable only if the acts
are unwelcomed by one of the parties. The conducts of sexual nature may involve
the use of verbal or non-verbal communication to initiate harassment. The
continued use of sexually enticing words or favor or rather repeatedly asking a
person for a date may constitute to sexual harassment. In addition, the aspect
of looking up and down a person’s body or the act of using facial expression to
express sexual feelings may be defamatory and the individual may feel
victimized.
Physical assault
The
recent past has seen the rise in the cases of physical assault. The act of
touching a person inappropriately amount to sexual harassment and the
individual should report the matter to the management of the organization (L. Fleming Fallon 104). On the same note, some
employees have the tendency of bullying others by blocking their ways or
patting, or kissing or hugging without the consent. All these measures
attribute to sexual harassment and the managers must identify the best aspect
of dealing and eradicating these unethical behaviors.
Severe or pervasive
The
provisions of the court are extremely on what practices amount to sexual
harassment in an organization. The courts take into consideration that fact
that the victims may take the opportunity take advantage of the judgment.
Therefore, the courts provide that the sexual harassment crime must be
committed repeatedly for it to qualify to be a crime. In this regard, a manager
or an employee asking for a single date or a night out with a female employee
does not accumulate to sexual crime. However, if the requests persists and
continue against the will of the female counterpart then it accrues to sexual
harassment.
Consequences of sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is considered a
vice in the organization and the managers must identify the measure to help in
curbing the vice. It has significant adverse effects like lowering the morale
and efficiency of the victim. The victim is subjected to mental and physical
abuse and they would not feel like they want to continue working in the
organization. In some instances, the victims receive threat of contract
termination, demotion or with holding of salaries. In this regard, it is evident that sexual
harassment creates a hostile working environment for the victims and the
managers should be quick in establishing the solutions to the problem (Stephen H. Goodman 87-90). Finally, the
harassment has the consequent of being punished in the court of law. The
offenders can be prosecuted in the courts as provided by the provisions of the
constitutions.
Analysis of the organizations and the case of sexual harassment
My analysis of the cases of sexual
harassment in organizations reveals that these vices exist in the
organizations. The managers have a crucial role in ensuring leadership and
control is enhanced. The managers have significant roles in ensuring the
organization achieves its goals and visions and this is enhanced by
establishing a formidable working relationship. The leading cause of sexual
harassment is the diversity and complexity of the workers given that
globalization has allowed workers from different regions to work together (Katharina Naswall 95). The clash of cultures,
ethnic differences and social influences provides the grounds for the clash of
interests and the origin of conflicts. With the wake of this realization, the
managers are charged with a greater responsibility of ensuring that they
understand the diversification of the employees and cultures. The roles of the
managers require that they plan, control, organize and lead the employees
towards realizing the goals of the organization.
Works Cited
Boland, Mary L. Sexual Harassment In The Workplace. United
States: Cengage learning, 2005.
Katharina Naswall,
Johnny Hellgren, Magnus Sverke. The
Individual in the Changing Working Life. New York: Cambridge University
Press, 2008.
L. Fleming Fallon,
Charles R. McConnell. "Principles and Practice." Human Resource Management in Health Care: (2007): 429.
Paludi, Michele A.
"Strategies for Employees and Employers." Managing Diversity in Today's Workplace: (2012): 31-36.
Sims, Ronald R. Managing Organizational Behavior.
Illionis: Sphinx Publishing, 2006.
Sims, Ronad. Managing Organizational Behavior. USA:
Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002.
Stephen H. Goodman,
Lewis. Management: Challenges for
Tomorrow's Leaders. United States: Cengage Learning, 2006.
Swift, Evangeline W.
"Trends, Progress and Continuing Challenges." Sexual Harassment in the Federal Workplace: (2000): 73.
No comments:
Post a Comment