Member-only story
HR is not the answer
Why we keep failing to hold people to account for poor behaviour
I was having a conversation with a former female colleague about things she’s seen at work. She had many examples like this: a female colleague was forcibly kissed and groped by a male colleage. They complained to HR and were asked whether they were wearing a skirt or did anything to lead the male colleague on. Shortly after, they transferred to another location. Then they discovered this was the 4th such accusation against the same man. My former colleague asked me “why does this keep happening?”. I’m not just talking about #metoo moments at work here. Other examples might involve abusive language, inappropriate touching, openly msyoginistic or racist speech. It’s a long list. It also feels that the more senior someone is the less likely they are to be held to account. In some cases it feels like they are being rewarded.
This got me thinking because it’s something that’s bothered me a while because I’ve had a LOT of these conversations with women (and others) at work. The lazy answer here is to look at HR and say that they should have done better but I think the answer is more systemic and deeper than that. Don’t get me wrong, I have had many hair pulling interactions with HR but I think that holding them up as the scapegoats in all these instances is wrong. Here’s why.
