Commentary From Crisis Management Expert Edward Segal, Author of the Award-Winning Crisis Ahead: 101 Ways To Prepare for and Bounce Back from Disasters, Scandals, and Other Emergencies (Nicholas Brealey)

Bullying, discrimination, sexual harassment and other forms of workplace misconduct can create a crisis for any company—and trying to ignore or cover it up will make a bad situation worse. 

In addition to costing an organization its image, reputation and credibility, misconduct in office and other settings can impact their bottom line. The financial hit to U.S. businesses in the past year was an eye-popping $20.2 billion, according to a new study by Vault Platform, a workplace misconduct reporting platform.

The company explained that the multi-billion figure is based on what the Society of Human Resource Management said in 2016 was the average cost ($4,129) to hire a new worker to replace one who left because of their experience with misconduct at their place of work.

That could be a conservative number, since it apparently does not include any legal, compensation or other costs associated with the departure or replacement of employees and is based on a five-year old estimate.

Major Survey Results

Vault Platform's study, The Trust Gap: Expectation vs Reality in Workplace Misconduct, found that:

• Workers who had to take time off in 2021 due to their experience with workplace misconduct missed, on average, six days of work or 43 million sick days. This resulted in a $8.54 billion loss for the U.S. economy.
• 14% of staff who experienced workplace misconduct in the last 12 months ended up leaving their jobs.
• 75% of U.S. office workers have experienced or witnessed some form of workplace misconduct during their working lives.
• Harassment was the most common form of misconduct in the U.S., with over a quarter (26%) of office workers having experienced this at some point in their careers.

The survey polled 2,000 office staff across the U.S. and UK to understand transatlantic experiences of misconduct in the workplace. The research project was conducted in October 2021 by Norstat, a polling company.

Surprised By Numbers

Neta Meidav, CEO and cofounder of Vault Platform, said she was surprised by "the sheer number of office workers that have witnessed or personally experienced misconduct (bullying, harassment, discrimination, fraud, bribery etc.) in their careers…"

"Demonstrating the extent to which this has become a systemic issue, almost half of office workers (48%) experience workplace misconduct at least once per month," she said.

A Dangerous Gap

Meidav warned that, "The gap between expectation and reality is a dangerous one. We have the evidence to show that in both the U.S. and the U.K., employers and their staff remain poles apart in their experience and attitudes to workplace misconduct. 

"Businesses can no longer afford to sit back and allow abuse in any form to fester, with societal and technological change placing greater pressure upon them to act. While the issue has moved away from a lack of acknowledgement from the employer, there is still a huge trust gap, leaving a chasm where staff are in fear of speaking up," she concluded.

Preventing Workplace Misconduct

Kabrina Krebel Chang is an associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion and a clinical associate professor of business law and ethics at Boston University's Questrom School of Business. She recommended that corporate executives take the following steps to help prevent misconduct in the workplace.

Get The Message Across

"Make it clear to all workers that every person deserves to be treated with respect and professionalism. Getting this message across and deeply engrained in a culture can take time and often requires repeated conversations about why our individual identities and the identities of others are important and should be respected. It is critical to culture and is the fulcrum that prevents misconduct being viewed just as something you don't want to get caught doing rather than something that is fundamentally wrong," Chang said.

Tone Is Important

"Tone from the top is important here, senior leadership must model this behavior every day to show employees that they matter. Tone from the middle is also important; managers are on the ground everyday with their teams and are positioned to reinforce this messaging, read the climate of their workplace, and model respectful conduct," she advised.

Empower Employees

"Empowering employees to speak up when they witness or experience misconduct such as harassment, bullying, and discrimination, is an important step to discouraging this type of behavior. Senior leadership must support and empower managers and managers must support and empower their staff.  For this to work, there must be appropriate lines of communication for reporting concerns," Chang counseled.

Accountability

"Leadership at all levels must be held accountable and intervene rather than enable bad workplace behavior," she recommended.

Diversity

"Lastly, a more diverse and equitable management team helps employees feel more included and less vulnerable to pressure," Chang concluded.

Responding To Allegations

Don't Treat Claims Lightly

Molly Mauck, an employment attorney with Romano Law, said, "Employers and business leaders cannot afford to treat discrimination and harassment claims lightly. There are several ways to discourage harassment, discrimination, and other workplace misconduct. You must establish clear and consistent communication with your employees, implement trainings, and create practical policies and procedures addressing prevention and reporting."

The Right Environment

"Business leaders should cultivate an accessible and open-minded work environment. Encouraging ongoing communication will help employees …feel more comfortable conveying concerns," she recommended.

Training

Mauck said, ""Employee training, in particular for supervisors and hiring managers, is useful and critical to implement. Business leaders, supervisors, and employees should be educated on all forms of discrimination and harassment, the adverse effects it could have on individuals personally and the company as a whole, and how to address those complaints when they arise."

Policies And Procedures

She said, "Employers should develop appropriate policies and procedures to prevent or minimize workplace harassment and discrimination. If an employee experiences an act of discrimination, bullying, or harassment, they should feel comfortable reporting it without fear of retaliation. An employee should understand the steps they need to take to report an act of harassment or discrimination should it happen. 

"It is vital for employers and business leaders to establish a complaint policy and procedure and facilitate an approachable work environment."

Take Accusations Seriously

"It is important that every complaint or accusation of harassment and discrimination is taken seriously and fully investigated. It is an employer's responsibility to investigate, hear all sides, and take appropriate actions," Mauck advised.

Document

She observed that, "It can be equally important for employers to fully document every complaint, any investigation into that complaint or any actions taken as a result. Often times an experienced investigator or attorney can help an employer establish appropriate preventative measures and investigate any claims that may arise."`

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