By Sheryl Johnson
Poor culture can be a liability
Discussions in the HR field concerning workplace sexual harassment were renewed in the fall of 2014 when sexual harassment allegations against Jian Ghomeshi were raised by a number of women, including some former co-workers at CBC, and when two Canadian liberal MPs were suspended from caucus after sexual harassment allegations were raised against them by two MPs of another party.
Surprisingly, there has been very little examination of the impact that workplace cultures, such as CBC’s, had on the organizations’ responses – or failures to respond – to such complaints. While it is yet to be seen what the fallout will be for CBC and its manager’s failures, we can see at least one lesson to be learned from CBC’s workplace culture: the need to assess, analyze and take ongoing, proactive measures to ensure that your organization’s culture is healthy and effective.
Workplace culture is the foundation of an organization. It is the environment that surrounds employees at work. It powerfully influences the organization and its actions as well as those of its employees, including their work enjoyment, relationships and actions. It is an organization’s personality made up of the values, beliefs, underlying assumptions, attitudes, perceptions and behaviours shared by employees as influenced by the organization’s executives and management (i.e., through their practices and the way they organize work). It is the behaviour that results when employees over time arrive at a set of unspoken rules for working together. While not visible, it can be seen or felt through its manifestations at work. It is not static.
An unhealthy workplace culture
Ghomeshi’s Q broadcasts were unprecedentedly successful and high profile. He was considered a “god” in the workplace. Such success lead to a “culture of complicity” concerning Ghomeshi’s workplace misconduct. Under this culture, neither management or the union took rumours or specific complaints concerning Ghomeshi’s workplace sexual harassment seriously and failed to take adequate steps to address either.
Under this culture, CBC employees generally did not report experienced, and certainly not witnessed, incidents of workplace sexual harassment. In short, CBC had a workplace culture that enabled Ghomeshi. Specific examples of this complicity include: a co-worker not speaking up when he witnessed Ghomeshi grind his pelvis into a female Q employee at work; a CBC executive “reminding” a female CBC employee complaining about Ghomeshi’s workplace conduct to be more “malleable”; Q’s executive producer advising another complainant that “Ghomeshi was the way he was”; and CBC’s justification of its inactions by stating that prior to the October 2014 allegations, no workplace sexual harassment complaints were filed.
CBC is not the first and won’t be the last employer with an unhealthy or “complicit” workplace culture – a culture that fosters a toxic work environment wherein high producing, successful employees’ workplace misconduct, particularly towards other employees, is condoned, until the point when it can no longer be ignored (i.e., when the “god” becomes a liability). This is an old story; however, the law and the consequences of such failures are evolving so that organizations with unhealthy workplace cultures can no longer afford to turn a blind eye on misconduct.
The new story
In addition to facing liability arising out of human rights applications and constructive dismissal lawsuits (i.e., the old potential damages story), employers and managers may now also face significant liability for damages in negligence to victimized employees. In extreme cases, such employees could be awarded damages equal to the replacement of their employment income for the remainder of their presumed working lives.
Additionally, damages arising out of a botched investigation or failure to investigate are no longer extraordinary. We further know that employee health, which includes a healthy working environment or culture, is strongly connected to organizational productivity and effectiveness, employee satisfaction, attraction and retention, improving an organization’s public image and profile as well as offers the chance to curb organizational health costs.
What proactive measures can you utilize to improve your work- place culture?
1. Conduct objective evaluations of workplace culture
Implement periodic employee surveys and/or conduct random audits to assess your employees’ workplace experiences and the effectiveness of your policies, programs and practices. Additionally, walk through and objectively observe and evaluate your workplace on an ongoing basis. Test your employees’ knowledge of and willingness to use your policies and programs.
Important observations to consider:
- Emotions and conflicts as indicators of values
How are employees attired?
What are employees’ rituals and routines?
How is space allocated, where and to whom?
What is placed on walls and desks?
Treatment and use of common areas; the language and symbols used; the content of bulletin boards and newsletters
How do employees collaborate? How do employees interact during meetings? How do employees communicate (i.e., method and tone) internally and externally?
How are goals achieved?
How are employees rewarded or recognized?
In short, analyze what your operating norms are, whether they are effective or ineffective in supporting the organization’s goal achievement, progress and success and then establish improvement goals. Thereafter, regularly analyze the success of these improvement goals and whether they need to be modified or replaced.
2. Practice what you promulgate
Do the organization’s leaders demonstrate through their comments and actions a commitment to a healthy working environment? For example, does your organization equally apply its policies, programs and practices to all employees from top to bottom of the organizational chart?
If this is not currently being done, you will need to republish and retrain your employees making it clear that the policies, programs and practices will now be consistently applied to all employees, regardless of position, past experiences or organizational lore. If you don’t, your policies and programs will not be effectively utilized.
3. Have trained HR employees to respond in an appropriate and timely manner to complaints under your policies and programs, including any necessary investigations
If the size of your organization does not permit for this, ensure you have a trusted legal adviser to assist you in appropriately responding to complaints in a timely manner.
4. Acknowledge that workplace culture is learned behaviour from workplace interactions
When a behaviour is rewarded or condoned, it is repeated and the association eventually becomes part of the culture. Assess what behaviour your organization is encouraging.
5. Recognize that establishing and maintaining a healthy workplace culture or effecting a positive culture change involves an ongoing commitment
Workplace culture, by definition, is deeply ingrained into the fabric of an organization. As such, changing and influencing it is rarely a quick and easy process.
Sheryl Johnson is a partner in Fogler Rubinoff’s employment and labour law practice area.