Managing Sexual Harassment at Workplace - Essay Example

Address Phone Number Email October 27, of the Recipient Address Dear I would like to communicate my heartiestgratitude for getting an opportunity to work on this important topic. The basic and fundamental purpose of writing this essay is to find out the reasons that are known to contribute towards aggravation of sexual harassment at the modern workplace. I managed to learn that sexual harassment is just the manifestation of unmet sexual needs while, the belief of supremacy in males causes the featured behavior to increase manifold. Moreover, I also found that the attitude of management towards the issue significantly moderates its nature and intensity. However, the workplaces with closed doors are suspected to have higher degree of the demon. Yes, I have developed a new understanding of the issue as I came to know that the behavior is associated with deformation of the sacred concept of marriage, people are considering it the means of satisfying sexual needs, and therefore, the holy notion of procreation has been placed on the backburner. I have faced significant level of hardships in conducting of the research because the topic was unique, people were reluctant to talk about it, and therefore, I had to conduct intensive literature review on the topic. But, the effort was fruitful and I reached to a better understanding of the social issue. I enjoyed the phase when I have managed to link the presence of sexual harassment with managerial attitude. At first, I thought that the behavior is committed on an individual level. But, to my surprise, it is a social and communal behavior. The topic does not concern me personally but I was annoyed by the attitude of males that compelled them to consider sexual harassment as part of the game for females. But, in reality, it is not the case because the behavior is the representation of the masculine belief that females are created for fulfillment of counter-sex’s sexual needs. Finally, I would like to conclude that I am very much satisfied with my effort because it increased my knowledge and it is a reward in itself for a student. Yours Sincerely Student Name Signature Managing Sexual Harassment at Workplace Introduction The issue of sexual harassment is quite prevalent in all parts of the world regardless of national level scientific and economic development. The phenomenon is defined as a mechanism that is working in order to tame the female professionals to submit to the institutional and cultural strength of the males. It is often recorded that male supervisors do not allow their female subordinates to perform their roles and responsibilities until they fulfill the higher authorities’ sexual wishes. But, the sexual harassing behavior is quite common in all parts of the globe. The issue is stemming from males’ misconception that females are primarily created to meet the sexual requirements of their male fellows. In major number of workplaces, the female staff has to kneel in front of the dominating male force in order to keep their bread and butter intact (Barling, Rogers and Kelloway pp. 260). Nevertheless, the researchers and policy makers have been known to be working to find a neutral solution to the abovementioned problem. The idea is to safeguard the professional and personal integrity of the females while protecting management’s image as an equal opportunity provider. The employers do not have the luxury to afford the allegation of gender biasness (Lach and Gwartney-Gibbs pp.109). The demon of sexual harassment grows stronger when management does not consider it an issue of great importance while on the other hand; it can be needlessly aggravated when females become extremely sensitive. However, according to classical research, it can be established that sexual harassment is directly related to the management’s behavior towards the problem (Fitzgerald pp.1073). The office environment with separate and opaque offices and cabins is rated as an ideal atmosphere for subliminally supporting the sexual oriented behaviors in both the genders (Barling, Rogers and Kelloway pp. 253). In the light of international and global labor laws, the managerial levels of an organization cannot intervene in the private matters of the workers until they have a probable cause for doing so (Fitzgerald, etal pp.1068). The women are believed to be victims of sexual misconduct most of the time and therefore, they feel significantly reluctant in the direction of reporting these unpleasant kinds of incidents. Additionally, every female working person in the world has been recognized as victim of the mild or severe level of aforementioned undesirable social behavior. The traditional chain of command and line of reporting are not going to serve the purpose of controlling sexual harassment because of victims’ unwillingness to publicize the issue by reporting it. The modern social scientists are of the view that bureaucratic and red tape structure and culture is the main reason for strengthening sexual harassment at workplace. The same group of scientists added that males in all parts of the world are suffering from a false belief that their wives and female coworkers are fundamentally created to fulfill their bodily needs. Moreover, because of this filthy belief, the males have a tendency to attempt to attract their female colleagues. Furthermore, the basic and fundamental purpose and image of marriage has recently been distorted in the eyes of the next generation. In the past, people used to marry so that they can have family and children. But, with the passage of time, the economic and fiscal conditions got tough and people were forced to manage their families with the help of family planning infrastructure. In the modern era of the 21st century, the classic goal of marriage cannot be fulfilled and therefore, people are increasingly falling into the fallacy that marriage is a social practice designed to support satisfaction of sexual needs of both females and males. The misplaced belief about marriage is then, translated into sexual harassment at the workplace. The sexual harassment cannot propagate without the presence of private workplaces such as internal offices and divisions. The offices where bosses sit in separate compartments are noted to be high on the scale of sexual harassment. Thusly, it can be conceived that environment at the workplace supports or challenges the featured social attitude. The management can control the undesirable behavior by eliminating separate offices and should manage their operations in large halls where everyone’s activities can be monitored all the time. The open workplace has the power and ability to challenge the demon of sexual harassment, as it will minimize the level of privacy available for each employee. In this manner, the prerequisite of sexual harassment can be challenged and minimized and as a result, the overall behavior of sexual harassment can be reduced both effectively and efficiently. Another solution is to install cameras in each office space in order to monitor the behavior of each worker. But, firstly, it is an extremely expensive undertaking and additionally, the international labor laws, does not permit it as it is considered equitant to unduly spying on people that may result in circumventing the basic human right of privacy. Secondly, organizations have to invest substantial amount of money in the infrastructure needed to operationalize the suggested plan. The best solution in the view of this paper is to eliminate separate office spaces so that each employee has to behave professionally and appropriately towards each other. The open workplaces will also help in conduction of direct evaluation of one’s work performance and therefore, the management may have the opportunity to exercise great control over employees’ productivity. The solution is also backed up with social learning theory. The potential disadvantage of the solution can surface in the form of less organizational commitment and sense of teamwork. Nevertheless, it is the role of top management to tell everyone that he or she is the part of the company and he or she is therefore valued and vital to the organizational success. The organization as a whole is going to be effected as the culture of openness, frankness within professional limits will develop, and due to this reason, the management must stand ready to witness job turnover to increase as people with bureaucratic mindset may leave their positions. The organization is therefore, suggested to hire employees who are tolerant and open-minded. The sexual harassment can only be minimized with the help of deploying organic organizational culture and structure. The removal of managerial barriers and closed workplaces is a necessity in the process of fighting the demon of sexual harassment. Conclusion This paper has reviewed and analyzed the presence of sexual harassment in organizations that are working in all parts of the world. The phenomenon is present across the cultures and therefore, it can only be controlled with the help of bringing change in organizational structure and culture. The supportive organic structured organizations with open seated work environment are noted to have less sex-oriented behaviors than the ones with traditional bureaucratic structure and culture. References Barling, Julian, Rogers, Gail and Kelloway, Kevin. "Behind closed doors: In-home workers' experience of sexual harassment and workplace violence." Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 6, 3 (2001): 255-269 Online. Fitzgerald, Louise. "Sexual harassment: Violence against women in the workplace." American Psychologist, Vol 48, 10 (1993): 1070-1076 Online. Fitzgerald, Louise, Shullman, Sandra, Bailey, Nancy, Richards, Margaret, Swecker, Janice, Gold, Yael, Ormerod, Mimi, Weitzman, Lauren. "The incidence and dimensions of sexual harassment in academia and the workplace." Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 32, 3 (1988): 152–175 Online. Lach, Denise and Patricia Gwartney-Gibbs. "Sociological Perspectives on Sexual Harassment and Workplace Dispute Resolution." Journal of Vocational Behavior 42, 2 (1993): pp.102–115 Online. Annotated Bibliography Barling, Julian, Rogers, Gail and Kelloway, Kevin. "Behind closed doors: In-home workers' experience of sexual harassment and workplace violence." Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 6, 3 (2001): 255-269 Online. This paper contributed as it supported the fact that closed doors policy in the offices aggravates the negative and filthy practice of sexual harassment. Fitzgerald, Louise. "Sexual harassment: Violence against women in the workplace." American Psychologist, Vol 48, 10 (1993): 1070-1076 Online. This document argued that the notion of sexual harassment is a social phenomenon and therefore, it cannot propagate without the profound support of managerial levels. The managerial levels are significantly notorious for turning a blind eye towards the issue Fitzgerald, Louise, Shullman, Sandra, Bailey, Nancy, Richards, Margaret, Swecker, Janice, Gold, Yael, Ormerod, Mimi, Weitzman, Lauren. "The incidence and dimensions of sexual harassment in academia and the workplace." Journal of Vocational Behavior Vol 32, 3 (1988): 152–175 Online. This paper suggested that sexual harassment is present in all occupations but it is more severe in the professional circle of academia Lach, Denise and Patricia Gwartney-Gibbs. "Sociological Perspectives on Sexual Harassment and Workplace Dispute Resolution." Journal of Vocational Behavior 42, 2 (1993): 102–115 Online. Finally, the abovementioned work told that females do not attempt to report the issue as they are always looking to save their self-respect and image. Read More