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Mopping Up the Mess
A Recovery Model to Promote Organizational Growth After Sexual Harassment
by Wanda Dobrich, Ph.D. & Steven Dranoff, Ph.D. 1998
We are consulting psychologists with a specialization in organizational
development. Over the past ten years, we have been particularly involved
in the area of sexual harassment prevention and have authored training
programs that are being marketed commercially throughout the US today.
Our approach is derived from a psychological perspective and constructs
the training task as one of integrating the psychodynamics of sexual harassment
with the law. A metaphor that helps explain this relationship is one we
see daily in the healing sciences. Doctors do not treat diseases: They
treat patients.
In light of our clinical orientation, we have had the opportunity over the past years of consulting to be the group that is called in to work with organizations after sexual harassment has occurred. In the course of this important work, we became very interested in the organizational recovery process from sexual harassment. Sexual harassment has diffuse impact. It does not only affect the accuser and the accused, but also the coworkers and the organization in which they all (often) continue to function. Nor does the problem end with the identification and the reporting of it: That is where sexual harassment actually BEGINS to exert its pernicious effect on the corporation. Relatedly, healing of the organization and the harassment protagonists does not occur simply as a matter of concluding an investigation. Rather, human resource professionals must take steps to spearhead a recovery process if the outcome of organizational growth, and not fragmentation is to be realized.
WHAT FACTORS PREDICT RECOVERY?
We have developed a recovery model based upon our consulting work. By distilling some common reactions seen time and again to sexual harassment post-identification we have articulated an adjustment process that describes and predicts the likelihood of recovery of the organization. The model is predicated on understanding the human rather than legal or procedural dynamics that underlie sexual harassment. All too often, human resource specialists are exhorted to act in one way or another based upon analysis of the law or company anti-harassment policy. Attention focuses exclusively on the disease rather than the patient. Did the harasser act in a way that is in accordance to legal definition? Did the victim follow company policy in reporting the harassment? Focussing on the 'particulars of the case' of the sexual harassment disease to the exclusion of the employees who suffer from it limits the ability of human resource practitioners to relieve its negative effects on the organization.
HAVE WE LOST SIGHT OF THE EMPLOYEE IN TREATING THE DISEASE?
An excellent lesson on the
perils of myopic strategy in healing the organization in the sexual harassment
aftermath can be learned by retrospective analysis of the national recovery
in the post-Lewinsky era. While the President was not accused of sexual
harassment in the Lewinsky case many of the dynamics of his situation
are strikingly similar to what we see in industry. In fact, looking at
the White House as a corporation, the parallels in public response post-disclosure
are daunting. This comes as no surprise because while the disease variables
in the Clinton White House may have differed in some technical aspects
from those in a typical sexual harassment case in industry (e.g., his
relations with Lewinsky were not non-consensual), the psychodynamics or
the patient variables are much the same.
Lest the power of social perception and collective emotion be underestimated
as a source of influence that shapes the ultimate outcome of something
as 'big' as the political process in this country, or as 'small' as corporate
adjustment post-harassment, we quote the front-page article of the NY
Times (Oct. 9, 1998) by Alison Mitchell shortly after the release of the
Starr report. After describing the 'foregone conclusion' that in the end
the 'President is going to remain in office' she states:
But conventional wisdom has
often been wrong in this strange political year dominated by President
Clinton's relationship with Monica S. Lewinsky, and intense causes sometimes
take on a life of their own on Capitol Hill…
'It feels like it's out of control,' said Representative Christopher Shays,
Republican of Connecticut. 'Everything's set in motion and I don't know
how you put it back in the box.' …
The risk is that Congress could rush ahead without brakes even as the
American people continue to resist the idea that Mr. Clinton should be
ousted over the Lewinsky affair.
(NY Times, Oct. 9, 1998, p. 1)
This is a powerful insight on the part of Ms. Mitchell, who has astutely identified the power of the patient to effect his or her treatment outcome. Congressional process notwithstanding, the resolve of our national crisis was also predicated on the success of the political machine to effect an emotional recovery of the people. If this sounds too sophomoric, we again quote another front-page article of the NY Times two days later. The headline reads,
Angry Voters Aren't Sure Where to Place the Blame
And the article continues,
…'I wish they'd take the bunch - Clinton, that woman, Ken Starr, the Republicans in Congress, the media - I wish they'd take the bunch, put them on the Queen Mary, tow it away and sink the whole thing at sea,' said William H. Stout … '
The whole sense of anger out there is very real, but it's also like a heat-seeking missile that's missing a target … It's really complicated and people don't quite know who to blame. But if they do lock on to something in these next few weeks, God help the target.' … said Robert E. Gogerty.
(NY Times, Sunday, Oct. 11, 1998)
The patient will not lie still! Sound familiar to those human resource professionals who have had to deal with 'mopping up the mess' in the sexual harassment aftermath? The recovery process of the organization AFTER sexual harassment has been identified, or even AFTER an investigation has been completed is not automatic. Yet nowhere are human resource counselors offered guidelines to help them to spearhead a recovery process. How to begin?
Setting the goals and boundaries for human resource practitioners who must plan employee interventions in the post-harassment organization is the first step.
- WHO IS THE PATIENT? Our recovery model is based upon organizational development theory. It assumes that the strengths and weaknesses of employees determine the adaptive level of the organization. The corporation is only as strong as the sum of its parts. When sexual harassment occurs, it is an assault to the whole organization. Viewing it in this way, the patient is not the individual harassment victim but the entire system that surrounds the dyad. This includes the accused, the accuser, coworkers and the business unit in which they function. Recovery must address each damaged part of the whole.
- WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF RECOVERY? From our consulting experiences, we have seen repeatedly that sexual harassment can either 'kill the company or make it strong'. When treated as a normative growth crisis, it's surfacing can actually help the organization to identify 'hot spots' in the culture. Addressing these will ultimately strengthen the organization. Alternatively, if the recovery phase is mismanaged, and the conflicts within the culture that gave rise to the harassment in the first run are overlooked, the prognosis for continued organizational growth is diminished.
Human resource recovery efforts to mop up the mess left in the harassment aftermath must include all affected employees in the organization. The ways in which conflicts between individual employees are understood and acted upon will determine the recovery of the whole organization in which they function. Accordingly, helping human resource professional make sense of the sometimes stormy and seemingly contradictory reactions that they may encounter among affected employees is the first step in effective conflict mediation. From our consulting experiences, we have found that there are three fairly predictable phases to the successful recovery process of the individuals in the post-harassment organization.
THE FIRST STAGE OF RECOVERY
Where are your employees at?
There are characteristic responses that the human resource counselor may
expect among employees in the Stage 1 organization. The accused is typically
in a state of denial. Facing the greatest moment of embarrassment at public
exposure of the problem, the harasser most usually does not admit wrongdoing,
instead believing that he or she has been entirely misunderstood, misaccused
or that the organization has overreacted to innocent intentions or actions.
Harassers with extreme denial systems may never progress beyond Stage
1. In this event, one can anticipate a repeat offender or that this employee
will leave the corporation to move on to a 'better playing field'.
In contrast, the accuser is most usually well entrenched in the 'victim
role' in Stage 1, in most cases having been subjected to mistreatment
for some time before making a formal complaint. Most human resource counselors
do not learn of sexual harassment at its 'first show' - particularly hostile
work environment sexual harassment, which uses the criterion of pervasiveness
as a defining characteristic of its occurrence. The Stage 1 accuser is
angry and has felt intimidated by the accused. The decision to alert human
resource of the problem is typically only reached after considerable deliberation
of the pros and cons of pulling the cord of the parachute, the company's
anti-harassment policy. These include weighing the potential for retaliation
(though not officially sanctioned) and the concern that human resources
could 'side' with the accuser.
It has been our universal experience that in each case of sexual harassment we have treated in the workplace, many if not most coworkers know the 'family secret' although not through 'official' channels. Accordingly, in Stage 1 there is much controversy about who the true culprit is. Some coworkers are likely to side with the accused, others with the accuser. Still more importantly, their eyes are usually riveted on the organization to see 'what will happen'. They are silently assessing how much confidence they can put in the employer to 'be fair', or protect perceived employee interests. This is because they are privately imagining themselves to be one or the other of the harassment dyad. But they are foreclosed from direct knowledge of the harassment and investigation process, and so rumor and innuendo can quickly distort perception and misinformation is a significant threat to sustaining employee trust in the organization.
What can you do? Human resource
interventions in the first phase of recovery typically begin after the
sexual harassment has been identified and perhaps an investigation is
completed. The critical task for the counselor at this stage is to open
communication. This may seem obvious, but the fact is that forces within
the company usually conspire to push employees to do just the opposite!
Because of legal proscriptions to protect the confidence of all parties
involved in an investigation, the harassment dyad is typically silenced
and removed from one another. While this may be important from the stance
of perceived employer liability, it actually prohibits resolve between
the players in the harassment drama and can have the reverse long-term
effect. Reins of silence also hold in coworkers who keep the 'family secret'
of the harassment. Thus while human resource professionals may not hear
any more about the harassment after a time, fear not! It has not vanished.
It has simply gone underground, where it is circulating its damage throughout
the organization's bloodstream, eroding trust in the company and destroying
harmony among coworkers.
The critical task for the human resource professional, therefore, is to
find a means to open communication without disclosing the confidences
of the parties directly involved in the sexual harassment or increasing
a sense of personal threat.
At this stage of recovery, it may be most helpful for the counselor to:
- Meet individually with the employees directly involved in the sexual harassment. Oftentimes several meetings are suggested, especially if the accused employee remains on the job.
- Keep an open-door policy to coworkers who were themselves involved in the investigation or others who simply need to talk about the indirect effects of the sexual harassment.
THE SECOND STAGE OF RECOVERY
Where are your employees? The harasser has been confronted and perhaps even has admitted to having engaged in sexual harassment. But this is only the first step in breaking free of denial. The harasser must still go a ways if the ultimate goal of taking full personal responsibility is to be achieved. This includes not just admitting to one's actions but also accepting that these actions had a negative and painful effect on others. The Stage 2 harasser is typically midway in this struggle and waffles between trying to appease offended parties with the offer of an apology while still preserving whatever is left of personal dignity. This may be done by trying to invoke sympathy from others for claimed helplessness, lack of knowledge or similar personal flaws that led to the harassment, or by adopting the role of victim when in the company of a sympathetic listener. These are still essentially forms of denial, though it is loosening from its hardened mold. The Stage 2 harasser often presents as contrite, but unconvincing.
The victim typically sinks to the lowest point at this stage in the recovery process. Why? Having finally found the courage to act to STOP the harassment, why doesn't the victim feel better? Depression actually worsens in this period of time! The victim begins to second-guess her or himself, wondering how the tables got turned. Feelings of guilt and defeat may be extreme. Psychodynamically these derive from the failure the victim feels for not being strong enough to stop the harassment single-handedly. Moreover, seeing the sorrowful effect the complaint has had on the harasser, both in terms of personal losses and in the sympathy he or she may be getting from some colleagues, a sense of desperation sets in. Was it worth it, after all, to have filed a complaint? Still unable to break free from the victim role, the accuser may hide from public view or even quit the company.
A great sense of depression also overtakes coworkers in the second stage of recovery. They often feel disappointed in all parties in the harassment mess. Those who had been rooting for the victim are sorely disappointed in her or his response to 'winning' the investigation. Why isn't the accuser feeling cheerier in the glow of success? These coworkers usually try to comfort the victim by telling her or him not to feel guilty, they did the right thing, and so on. But it does not work! Impatience with the victim or even irritation sets in. Similarly, the harasser has by now usually lost the respect of both former friend and foe alike. Not only did the accused 'get caught', but even the apology lacked credibility! The Stage 2 coworker cannot find the way back to trusting the harasser, to feeling satisfaction in the victim's victory nor to feeling secure in the organization. A bleakness pervades the work environment.
What can you do? Now that the sexual harassment occurrence has been acknowledged, its effects can no longer be suppressed. The 'sickness' to the organization that has been incubating internally over the course of Stage 1 is now manifest on the surface. The symptoms of sexual harassment on the individuals involved and on the organization are palpable. The organization is at its most depressed and split at this stage. It is on the 'critical list' and the prognosis for full recovery is guarded. Someone must take the leadership in the healing process, to rebuild trust and confidence in the safety of the work environment. Oftentimes this does not happen spontaneously. Instead, overwhelmed by contradiction and conflict, harasser, victim and coworkers alike may give up on the mess and want to forget about it and 'move on'. If this is done prematurely, prior to rebuilding security, recovery will be compromised.
The challenge to the human resource professional in the Stage 2 recovery is to support the organization to embark on a process of self-analysis and self-correction. This entails searching outside of the immediate stressor of the harassment to confront underlying causes. Hostile work environment sexual harassment is often a symptom of deeper problems of trust and respect in the company. These will present themselves at this stage to the practitioner who is willing to listen. The counselor has a critical opportunity to have a profound impact on the organization at this juncture. At low ebb, the vulnerable corporation is as receptive to help as it will ever be. Hurting from the harassment, it knows it needs to change.
The human resource professional may consider these options to assist the Stage 2 recovery:
- Introduce sexual harassment group training. This will allow an airing of employee perceptions and emotions and help to heal fractures in affected work units. Thoughtful composition of training groups can go a long way to rebuild trust among disaffected subcultures in the organization.
- Assess the success of the reintegration of the harassment dyad. If readjustment to the workplace has not occurred, referral to an Employee Assistance Program or outside resource may be considered, if appropriate.
THE THIRD STAGE OF RECOVERY
Where are your employees at?. The Stage 3 harasser has admitted to wrongdoing and has accepted that his or her actions have caused harm to others. Having made amends for misconduct to others, the harasser must now correct the underlying personal problems that gave rise to the harassment in the first place. Sexual harassment usually occurs as one of many expressions of frustration, discontent or disappointment in the harasser's worklife. If successful in recovery thus far, the Stage 3 harasser is ready to move beyond the symptom of the harassment event to correct the problems that contributed to its occurrence. This is the essence of prevention.
Having taken steps to reduce guilt, the Stage 3 sufferer is finally released from the grip of the 'victim role'. No longer entrapped by self-blame, the recovering victim can also let go of the rage that was felt toward the harasser (and sometimes toward the employer, as well). This repatriated employee often becomes a positive role model for others in the organization. If a freeing of guilt has not occurred, by Stage 3 the unsuccessful victim is a very real threat to the organization. Watching others recover in the workplace and 'move on' will only intensify discontent and replicate psychologically the experience of victimization. Litigation can look quite attractive to this employee.
Coworkers have seen the light at the end of the tunnel. Having received the benefits of employer support through sexual harassment training or other restorative actions, they are no longer a divided body. Able to experience empathy for all players in the drama, a comfort level can be rebuilt and security in the organization restored. Empowering employees to participate in the forming of a consensus around the value of workplace respect in the training process contributes significantly to the creation of a positive culture in the organization. The benefits extend well beyond sexual harassment to other forms of workplace aggression. In the recovery process, employees readily see the common negative effects of exploitative practices, not only when members of 'protected categories' as defined by federal law are subjected to them.
What have you accomplished? Positive or negative events can present equally significant challenge to the developing culture of the organization. Weathering a negative stressor such as sexual harassment can have a beneficial effect on growth. When viewed as a symptom of a larger corporate malady, the adaptive organization will turn a potential liability, such as a sexual harassment incident into a growth opportunity.
If you have been successful over the first two stages of recovery, by Stage 3 you can feel secure that:
- You have opened a window of opportunity to improve employee communication through training and individual consultation thereby deepening trust in the corporation and enhancing mutual respect.
- You have availed yourself of an opportunity to enjoin employees to work together to solve an interpersonal workplace problem. They will be more likely in the future to turn to one another and to human resources to solve relationship problems that interfere with work.
- You have supported your employer's anti-discrimination policy and mission. Maintaining a professional workplace that is free of all forms of discrimination and intimidation (not just sexual harassment) is now an objective that the whole organization has learned to support in word and deed.