The #MeToo Movement has shone a long-overdue spotlight on the issue of sexual harassment at work, with organizations scrambling to try and provide a safer environment and a more inclusive culture.  Providing clear and unambiguous boundaries between what is acceptable and what is unacceptable behavior is obviously crucial, with recent research from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh highlighting how harmful blurred boundaries can be.

The paper shows that when offenders are able to shift the boundaries of what is deemed acceptable, harassment is more likely to occur.  This can unfold in a number of ways, such as regular displays of masculinity or the cloaking of inappropriate remarks as humor.

“The elephant in the room is that different people will interpret the same behavior differently, yet there are incentives for people to play along and cooperate in the workplace by avoiding critical conversations about the meaning of their work interactions and the roles they play in those interactions,” the researchers say.

A feeble excuse

The study was inspired by the use of humor as an excuse for inappropriate actions, including sexual harassment.  The authors cite an example from a police station where female officers felt the need to banter back after receiving sexual remarks from male colleagues because they felt it was required in order to fit in with the group.  Despite this attempt at ingratiation, the male officers still did not fully trust them in dangerous situations.

“They didn’t understand that these kinds of conversations undermined their credibility in the workplace. When the male officers push the boundaries of what is acceptable work behavior, that’s a power play,” the researchers explain.

Worryingly, being on the receiving end of harassment can have such a negative impact that the victim’s performance suffers and they’re the ones that are moved on as a result rather than the abusers themselves.

Sexual harassment can often be cloaked in humor, but the authors highlight how these jokes can create unhealthy norms about what is acceptable behavior and what is not.

Not harmless fun

In organizations where managers are more in tune with the various best practices and laws surrounding sexual harassment, these jokes are far less likely to be viewed as harmless fun.

In organizations that lack appropriate policies and procedures to allow them to identify, investigate, prevent, and prohibit sexual harassment makes it so much harder to create a safe and respectful workplace.

It can also help if employees are empowered to intervene in harmful situations, thus creating a supportive “bystander effect” and a more respectful organizational culture.  This can be especially powerful if it is other men who are standing up to poor behavior from male colleagues.

“There are plenty of people who want to do the right thing. If someone tells a sexual joke, you don’t have to laugh. You can shift the play,” the researchers say. “Instead of pushing a boundary until it breaks, key bystanders can be instrumental in course correction. It doesn’t have to be a lawsuit.”

The authors argue that this is more powerful than official sexual harassment training, as employees often struggle to internalize this unless they’re able to personally relate to it.  This includes being able to distinguish between social sexual behavior and sexual harassment.

“Training must also have a sensemaking focus. Research indicates that [sexual harassment] definitions adopted by some organizations are broader than the legal definition,” the authors conclude. “This provides an opportunity for employers to engage employees in sensemaking about what those broader actions are and use this as a springboard to envision what kind of values and culture employees want (versus a focus on what actions are legally forbidden). …How do we build a respectful culture?”