Harassment is coming to my startup, and yours: Here's how we prepareUnfortunately, sexual harassment is always in the news. Recent revelations have been made about it at gaming companies and government governments. Despite the fact that harassment is very common, companies tend to adopt an it cannot happen here stance until it happens, then there are knee-jerk responses and crisis communications.Better approach is to recognize how widespread it is and plan with this in mind.My father was intrigued by the idea of Ethena's innovative harassment prevention training. I told him when I started Ethena. He thought that my entrepreneurial genius was a bad idea, and advised me to keep my job. When I finally admitted that I was going into business, he advised me to stop harassing people at work. It would be a terrible idea.He isn't wrong. My team offers a modern compliance training platform. Our first product was harassment prevention training. It would be very bad if we just talked the talk but didn't walk the walk.Your team should be able to recognize harassment and better understand inclusion.If I could stop workplace harassment with optimism, it would be a miracle. However, I have seen the statistics on workplace harassment.According to a 2018 Pew survey 59% of women reported being harassed and 27% of men, respectively. The rise of remote work has not made things any easier. There are signs that harassment is on the increase due to keyboard courage.Knowing this, I've come to terms that these are issues we will likely face. I want us all to be prepared. Leaders must be open to discussing difficult topics and acknowledge grey areas in today's workplace. This is how companies can grow and thrive. Let's look at how we view that growth.Make plans for itGrowing up in Florida, I was raised to assume hurricanes would strike my home. Because you never know what is coming, you prepare for it.Startups tend to be more cautious than prepared Floridians when it comes harassment. Companies wait to stock the pantry until there is a storm.Startups are often a small group (usually homogeneous), and it is difficult to admit that bad things can happen. It is easier to believe that building a stellar team of people will suffice.Unfortunately, harassment can sometimes lead to terrible things. Harassment often arises from human interactions intent and perception, privilege, context, and other factors. You might start by making small jokes or having a colleague get drunk every Friday. Or a team that refuses to hire people outside their circle of friends.Things can get worse and people realize they are in a hostile workplace. It can be very difficult to correct the ship when the company has 600 employees. Change becomes more difficult as the company grows.It is important that companies are prepared by educating their employees on how to spot warning signs and avoid problems. Your team should be able to identify workplace harassment and help them understand inclusion.Managers are the most important employees in a company. Senior leaders are limited in their control as a company grows. Frontline managers play a crucial role in promoting inclusive workplaces or stopping them from being created. Training is required in New York and California.Give feedback and not just HR.Harassment is traditionally dealt with in a binary way. Either a workplace is inclusive or toxic, it's either one of these two options. These issues are important and should be taken seriously. However, employees have the option of choosing between good or worse harassment.Let's say Elena is in an engineering pod with Jonah. Jonah sometimes does small things that make her feel less than she should.Jonah, for example, is hiring a front-end engineer. Elena has two options.Jonah will continue to do it, so you should not do nothing. Tell HR: This is also bad. Elena does not want Jonah to be fired. She wants him to be more inclusive.Elena has now a tool that she can use if she and her team learn to speak in the moment through training.Next time Jonah says: OK, Elena can join him when he leaves. Unless you're psychic, which seems unlikely considering how badly you played Fantasy Football, please use they for our new hire. We don't know their gender.Elena really needed to insert the burn. Although it is unlikely, humor can help to diffuse tensions. However, Elena's words are binding on Jonah. Jonah must accept Elena's feedback and make changes. If team values are clear, Jonah's coworkers will also be held accountable.Accountability is essentialThis lesson can only be applied after an event occurs in the company. Jonah's comments escalate even after Elena provides feedback. Jonah excludes Elena and other females from key meetings and talks over them. When confronted, he says, "Look, we all know theyre here for diversity stats."Jonah's manager at this fictional, troubled company doesn't do anything. Elena will not be convinced by any amount of training, blogs, workshops, or all-hands meetings. The best words are the loudest.Transparency is the best way to deal with an issue. This allows people to learn from what happened, and shows that the company cares. It is difficult to deal with issues involving private information. However, it is important to ensure accountability.My dad is correct. Harassment would be terrible at my company. We were prepared for it, because scaling a business means increasing the number and quality of human interactions.Building an inclusive company is not difficult. However, it requires good planning, feedback, and accountability.
