Would you like to help improve voice outcomes for sexual harassment?

Are you ready for the new Worker Protection Act, which comes into effect in October 2024? Have you taken reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of your employees in the workplace? If not, you may be liable (Acas, n.d.). If you are a progressive organisation seeking to find a way to reduce and prevent sexual harassment and would like to lead the way by developing a new approach, Sheffield University Management School would be interested in hearing from you.

We are seeking an organisational partner for a project to design, deliver and evaluate a coaching programme to support individuals who have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.  Organisations must be a UK registered business or not for profit organisation with at least 4 FTE. Funding is available for between 50% and 75% of overall costs through the Management Knowledge Transfer Partnership fund. They must also be able to support a skilled graduate for the duration of the project at their premises.  Projects can range from 12 months to 36 months in duration depending on scope and available funds.

Sexual harassment is a complex and prevalent social problem. Almost a third of male and female employees have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace over the last 12 months (Adams et al., n.d.). The individual economic cost of sexual harassment can run into millions owing to job loss, unemployment, forced career change, loss of pension and high legal costs (Hegewisch et al., n.d). In addition, sexual harassment has a number of negative financial, health and relationship outcomes for organisations such as absenteeism, presenteeism, loss of skills, high turnover, grievances and tribunals (McLaughlin et al., 2017).

Despite the large number of initiatives on offer to both prevent it and address it, figures indicate that poor levels of reporting suggest sexual harassment in the workplace could be higher than feared (Equality and Human Rights Commission, n.d). For example, only 15% of incidents are thought to be formally reported (Adams et al., n.d.) because of concerns about not being believed, being retaliated against, or damaging relationships (Brinsfield, 2013). In addition, a recent study found that individuals prioritise safety and social support over and above formal reporting (Morton et al., 2023). However, reporting has the potential to support individuals during their time of need whilst also providing organisations with important information about unethical practices in their own organisation (Brooks et al., 2023).

In order to increase reporting figures, Dr Sarah Brooks, a Lecturer in Organisational Behaviour at Sheffield University Management School is developing an approach which uses coaching to give individuals who have experienced sexual harassment an opportunity to consider their voice options. Coaching can support individuals to voice by helping them understand power differentials in the workplace and how to identify who is most likely to want to listen, how best to frame the information and when might be the best time to tell them (Brooks, forthcoming). This approach is different to those on offer currently (such as counselling and therapeutic support, HR and line manager support) yet has the potential to increase reporting whilst allowing us to learn more about the problem.

Click here to express interest and find out more information.

Acas (n.d). Sexual harassment.  ACAS. https://www.acas.org.uk/sexual-harassment

Adams et al., (2020). 2020 Sexual Harassment Survey.  GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace

Brinsfield, C. T. (2013). Employee Silence Motives : Investigation of Dimensionality and Development of Measures. Journal of Organization Behavior, 34, 671–697. https://doi.org/10.1002/job

Brooks, S., (forthcoming). Coaching as a route to voice: A framework for change. The Coaching Psychologist 20 (1).

Brooks, S., Richmond, J. & Blenkinsopp, J. (2023). Applying a Lens of Temporality to Better Understand Voice About Unethical Behaviour. Journal of Business Ethics 188, 681–692. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-023-05505-x

 Equality and Human Rights Commission (n.d). Sexual harassment

and harassment at work. https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/2021/preventing-sexual-harassment-at-work-guide-for-employers_0.pdf

Hegewisch, A., Forden, J., & Mefferd, E. (n.d.). Paying Today and Tomorrow. Charting the Financial Costs of Workplace Sexual Harassment. Institute for Women’s Policy Research. https://iwpr.org/paying-today-and-tomorrow-report/

McLaughlin, H., Uggen, C., & Blackstone, A. (2017). The economic and career effects of sexual harassment on working women. Gender & Society, 31(3), 333-358.

Morton, T.A., Dimitriou, E., & Barreto, M. (2023). What Would a “Reasonable Person” Do? Exploring the Gap Between Experienced and Anticipated Responses to Sexual Harassment. Psychology of Women Quarterly 2023, Vol. 47(3) 343–364. https://DOI: 10.1177/03616843231170761