One executive told us recently his company would not have a sexual harassment policy if not required by law. In his view, his company did not need them. “No one has filed a complaint and the company had to pay a lot of money for an HR person. Waste of money!” 



If you agree with him, you have only underscored the importance of training, not only for yourself as an executive but for all employees—from the very top-down. Want a recent example? This week, you will be reading about the 15 women who have outed The Washington Redskins for a decade of abuse. According to many of these women, policies, and procedures to protect against sexual harassment and a Human Resources Department to handle complaints were nonexistent. Human resources staff consisted of one full-time employee responsible for the team’s more than 220 employees.



Sexual harassment can have a devastating effect on the health, profitability, and reputation of a company. The mental and physical impact of sexual harassment on employees can result in reduced productivity and an increase in health issues (including depression, anxiety, and post traumatic stress disorder), more absences, sick leave, and health insurance costs, and ultimately turn-over of employees. The departure of employees risks fostering a hostile work environment and reputation issues in the open market, which might affect the recruiting of new employees and executives, customer relations, future business, financing, and investor potential. One single lawsuit or scandal can drain a company’s resources. We read that CBS’s stock dropped 6% during the Les Moonves scandal - an alleged $1.4 Billion in value. Fox News supposedly spent more than $101 Million in 9 months on sexual harassment matters, including relating to Roger Isles and Bill O’Reilly. When sponsors started dropping the Bill O’Reilly Show, the network released him. 



Avoid the pitfalls of a #MeToo scandal. Educating employees and company leaders regularly and effectively will likely promote a more healthy workplace of dignity and respect and ultimately improve the financial bottom line. For such bad behavior to change, there must be consequences, and they should be wildly known. Committing to transparency will help #changetheculture to a more healthy and prosperous environment, free from #abuse.



We wrote 'Play Nice: Playground Rules for Respect in the Workplace' to help women AND men deal with sexual harassment immediately when it occurs. Play Nice reviews essential tools to encourage women to draw a line of respect and professionalism, and to help bystanders stand up and say something. The intervention of men is especially important. Men will listen to men. 



What will you do today to tackle sexual harassment and be #beupstanding to help #changetheculture for an environment without #sexualharassment and #abuse? Join us for further discussion on how to play nice at www.thesandboxseries.com.