Sexual Harassment in the Hospitality Industry - Research Paper Example

?Sexual Harassment in the Hospitality Industry A.Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..3 Sexual harassment…………………………………………………………………….4 Sexual Harassment in Hospitality Industry…………………………………………..4 Managing the Sexually Harassed Workers……………………………………………5 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….7 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………….9 Introduction Leisure, vacation to dream destinations, and some smart funs are the common trend of services offered nowadays by companies working into hospitality industry which is inherently flawed with a condition that expose workers to vulnerabilities. This paper is a qualitative study about sexual harassment, its impact to human resources in hospitality industry, and how the problem should be managed about. Sexual harassment Gender specialists and women right advocates in United Nations defined sexual harassment as “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when it’s used expressly to influence the outcome of individual's employment or to unreasonably interfere with individual's work performance within a working environment (UN, 2012,p. 1). Albeit unwelcome, the victim may however, agree to participate in this lascivious acts even if it’s offensive and objectionable (UN, 2012, p. 1). Advocates only considered unwelcome when act is rejected because it’s causing physical, emotional and psychological offense. Sociologists and psychotherapists considered the following acts as sexual harassment: attempted rape or sexual assault; pressure for sexual favors; deliberate touching; unwanted sexual gestures; communications with sexual nature; pressure for dates; sexual jests, comments and statements; illustrations of sexual innuendoes, howling, showing lascivious looks, and other acts that is intimating lewd sexual desires or that sexual suggestive visuals (UN, 2012, p. 1) Schneider & Phillips (2007) further explicated that sexual harassment occurred when there is opportunistic exposure of genitals; inappropriate touching whenever the object is in a close contact; excessive talks on sexual matters for erotic gratification; and that troublesome spontaneous erections happen. Schneider et al. (2007) pointed that these are at times difficult to interpret specially if ambiguously illustrated as a behavior intimating sexual advances within the context of contrapower harassment. Oxford Economics (2010) defined hospitality industry from the perspective of macro-micro economy as the provision of “accommodation, meals and drinks in venues where the consumption happened outside homes and as such, as business, offered services that are contributory to national or world economy. Most of the services here hotel accommodation and related services; food and catering; event management (Oxford Economics, 2010). The Commission of the European Union states pointed sexual harassment destroy the working environment and impose deteriorating effect on health, confidence, morale and performance of those affected by it (Advocates for Human Rights, 2007). It hinders the right integration of women at the market (AHR, 2007). It can cause anxiety and trauma which is often affecting victim’s behavior and work efficiency until it could seek work elsewhere (AHR, 2007). The effects are maybe prolonged or not depending on the severity of emotional, psychological, and physical damages incurred (AHR, 2007). Thus, it can have adverse impact on the profitability of the company as it would diminish the reputation of the company (AHR, 2007). Studies further showed that those who have undergone sexual harassment has severe impact to their very private lives by having psychosomatic symptoms and diminished self-esteem. (AHR, 2007). Victim reported that many of them suffer post-traumatic disorder as shown in anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance, weight loss or gain, loss of appetite, and headaches (AHR, 2007). Sexual Harassment in Hospitality Industry The human resources within the hospitality industry are vulnerable to these sexual harassing behaviors. Since their primary concern is to meet customer satisfaction, thus, its services are confused with what is generally considered as pleasing to the customers in the name of satisfaction and gratification (?uclea & Padurean, 2008; Ispas, 2010). Such is evident in leisure-based business such as in cruise lines, airlines, hotels, restaurants, bars, resorts, and the like (Ispas, 2010). As an industry designed to cope with desired level of competitiveness, human resources ought to rediscover genuine concept of competitiveness as capitalized by managers of hospitality industry for improved and strategic hospitality services (?uclea & Padurean, 2008; Ispas, 2010). Experts posit that managers should also focus on performance and policy control to maintain quality service as decisive factors in protecting the employees from harassing customers (?uclea & Padurean, 2008). Strategic orientation and raising competitiveness must be undertaken to protect employees from all types of sexual exploitation and harassments that could be employed by any customer to the workers (?uclea & Padurean, 2008; Emilian, Tuclea, Tala & Brindusoiu, 2009). It’s sad to note that this industry which is contributory for national development is riddled with sad experiences that are detrimental to victim-workers and to the image of the company (Oxford Economics, 2010). If all of these industries are saddled with cases, it would certainly have some severe impact to the economy as well. In UK economy for instance, there is about an estimate of ?90 billion in 2010 for hospitality industry and the same has offered ?46 billion to the UK economy in GVA (Oxford Economics, 2010). There are about 2.44 million jobs available in this industry and are offered in multiplier effects. Reports bared that the hospitality economy has directly contributed ?34 billion in tax revenue to the Treasury which cover tax categories, VAT on sales, excise duty on ‘on-site’ alcohol consumption, corporation tax, income tax and national insurance contributions (Oxford Economics, 2010). Report further mentioned that in-bound spending from hospitality industry showed an account for ?7.4 billion of foreign exchange export earnings, which represents 1.8% of total export earnings which overlaps with tourism’s contribution to export earnings. Tourists almost spend in 2010 in UK an estimated cost of ?16.9 billion. UK government accounted 4.2% of total investment in the economy from the hospitality economy which sustained 61,000 jobs (Oxford Economics, 2010). However, it’s observed that such flourishing industries, which welcome diverse people of varied behavioral patterns, are not able to secure significant number of its workers from terrible impacts of sexual harassments (Oxford Economics, 2010). On the other hand, Vasile, (2009) offered another way of controlling undesired or unwelcome behaviors from clients. Vasile (2009) interpose that customer can also help improve the service quality of the hospitality industry by sharing quality control function thru on-the-spot quality control, service failure control, quality consultancy, and co-production control (p. 1). That way, employees who are ready to acquiesce to sexual advancement made by other customers in exchange for tips and gratification, will be able to enhance their performance and will evade harassing acts which is maybe triggered by the short flapper uniforms, by excessive make-ups, and other suggestive innuendos to sex. Vaisel (2009) recommended that managers in all hospitality industry should increase customers’ knowledge on quality standards; encourage them to articulate their concerns on employees’ services; train workers customers management quality for interpersonal interaction; (4) motivate customers to be part in performing quality-control function; and invite customers about their assistance for co-production (Emilian, Tuclea, Tala & Brindusoiu, 2009). Managing the Sexually Harassed Workers Hosmer (2009) emphasized the importance of trust in employee-employer relations to remove the gap present in superior-subordinate relationships in management. With trust, harassed worker can openly report or communicate any incident that would have transpired while providing services to clients (Emilian, Tuclea, Tala & Brindusoiu, 2009). This is significant in business ethics where the attention of the employer to protect harassed worker is called to respond to a distressing situation. The company, being an organization with presumed integrity, competence and consistency, should offer all the needed benevolent support for the victims who rely from company for technical and emotional assistance (Emilian, Tuclea, Tala & Brindusoiu, 2009). Those who are severely traumatized from sexual harassment should be accorded with psychosocial and emotional healing. Technical legal support should also be offered to harassed employer to illustrate to the public that the company is a wholesome site with professional services for customers. Such implies that as workers are symbolic image of the company, the protection of their rights is also the protection of company’s integrity. Sexual harassment, as an empirical experience in hospitality industry should be discussed at an organizational level as relevant matter in human resource management to also avoid bullying those workers becomes victim of sexual harassment (Patah, Abdullah, Naba, Zahari & Radzi, 2010). Ethical and legal issues that are anent to these cases are significant as workers are threatened of being harm (Patah, Abdullah, Naba, Zahari & Radzi, 2010). Transactional details should be re-examined, as part of performance management to view the lenses on ethical imperatives sought within these ethical dilemma confronted by workers in hospitality industry (Patah, Abdullah, Naba, Zahari & Radzi, 2010). All acts should be right, proper, and just. It’s imperative that management should integrate its moral obligation and ethics as important component of corporate responsibility. Such is also essential in creating an environment of trust and commitment among company’s stakeholders to ensure business leverage in the market and its economy (Anastassopoulos, Filippaios & Phillips, 2007). Managers of hospitality industry must uphold the general paradigm which put high regard on the rights and welfares of employees (Anastassopoulos, Filippaios & Phillips, 2007). This should likewise be integrated as an important part to its corporate policies, decisions, and actions to gain positive impact on its management (Anastassopoulos, Filippaios & Phillips, 2007). Managing hospitality industry is also about strictly enforcing business ethics for a just, fair, and effective business operation (Kasim & Scarlat, 2007). The attitude to business satisfaction and safe working relations with customer must be redesigned within the context of principled behavioral response in task performance and toward positive change for competitive advantage in business performance (Kasim & Scarlat, 2007; Minazzi, 2010). Ethical values and moral principles should therefore be superimposed as a corporate policy in business management or in corporate administration. In that way, the image of the company will itself provide control for visiting customers. Conclusion In conclusion, this researcher recommends the following remedies that should be undertaken as a measure. First, the company should be stringent in its business policy to protect the rights of there workers from prurient interests of customers. As most of the workers are presumed to have attained higher level of education before they are employed to this job, it’s a necessity to translate right-based and protective principles within the working place (Dalota & Tanasoaica, 2010). The company should be apt to focus towards corporate and personal responsibilities in practicing human rights for workers (Dalota & Laura Tanasoaica, 2010) Second, business ethics should be practiced in the company. Like services, morality should be upheld in business and customer relations for it to be professionalized. Such should be integrated at the conceptual, organizational, technical, positional, functional and operational level. Third, trust is essential component in employee and employer relation. There is an explicit sense of moral duty in this relation because the level of trust determines workers’ behaviors. Employees who are subjected to a harassing situation from clients should wholly profess in truthfulness the incident to the management so that remedies will be rightly given (Tala, 2008). It is important for the company to nurture an environment of trust with employees to enjoy positive implications to interrelational levels in business management. Fourth, the company should have built –in measures for healing. Those who are traumatized from sexual harassment should be given psychological assistance to overcome the trauma. Legal services must be accorded too to indemnify the right of the harassed worker and the reputation of the company. Fifth, all hospitality industry, should practice principle-and-value-centered policy so that customers would live up to its integrity and competence. Management should be moral. This value is needed as a duty of managers and employees that must be translated in their performance to gain positive impact and respect from clients (Covey, 2009). Certainly, additional theory building is still needed to improve the hospitality industry to improve their performance management and make it protective of the interest of their workers. But as business management comprise of planning, organizing, staffing, leading, directing, facilitating and controlling an organization, the company management must consider including legal aspect in protecting employees rights. Any company must have its legal consultant who can help mount legal action against customer who behaved out of decorum and employed sexual harassment to its workers. Sexual harassment is punishable under the law and any victim should be afforded with justice and indemnity for damages done against one’s reputation and person hood. The company should consider that any person is an image of the company. Thus, any harm done to the employee is also a harm done against the reputation and integrity of the company. Sexual harassment is a human rights violation. The right to dignity is an inalienable and universal right. Any corporate managers should therefore be knowledgeable on the guarantees of guarantees human freedom, equality and security. Right-based knowledge will empower its workers against sexual advances from customers. As sexual harassment has devastating impact to workers, in varied ways, such practices should be stopped so as not to subject workers to severe human rights violations (HRVs) and indignity. Like good Samaritan, managers of must not be a leader for business operation but must also extend compassionate leadership to foster good integration with its human resources. Caring for the victims will help assuage the emotional burdened due to traumatic experience on sexual harassment. Leadership with moral values would likewise encourage workers to tow within good principles. Such principles, if transferred and inculcated to workers, will become its golden rule too, in providing services and meeting customer satisfaction. Corporate leadership should be transformational; its culture should assert to shape and influence workers’ behaviors too since these are all made of some cultural make-up. Since the issue on sexual harassment should be addressed at a corporate level, company should trained its workers on what desired behaviors, dressing and customer management should be exercised while performing some functions. While working certainly needs charisma but such must be coupled with integrity too. Some companies would certainly need to conduct trainings for its human resource, uphold best practices, and be as customer-focused equally as that steadfast akin to a human right advocate (Kasim & Cezar Scarlat, 2007; Tala, 2008) In managing a business, leaders are mandated by corporate policies to exercise power and control in managing human resources. However, beyond policies, business leaders’ relations with employees are likely shaped by leaders’ adapted value system, customary beliefs and practices that are often confluence of one’s cultural consciousness. The manner on how their interactions transpire is still rooted from their cultural foundations. Such require communicative level that is contextualized on business goals and desired outcomes which are sensitive for growth and improvement. Transformative leadership theory in business management may expand follower’s portfolio of needs; transform self-interest; increase confidence of followers; elevate expectations; heighten the value of the leader’s intended outcomes; encourage behavioral change and motivate higher levels of personal achievement (Dalota & Tanasoaica, 2010). Bibliography Hosmer, LaRue T. (2009). Somebody Out There Doesn’t Like Us: A Study of the Position and Respect of Business Ethics at Schools of Business Administration. Journal of Business Ethics, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Netherlands. vol. 22: 91-106. Hosmer, LaRue T. (2009). Trust: The Connecting Link Between Organizational Thoery and Philosophical Ethics, Academy of Management Review, vol 20, no. 2, pp 379-403. Schneider, Margaret & Phillips, Susan P., 2007. "A qualitative study of sexual harassment of female doctors by patients," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 45(5), pages 669-676, September. Claudia-Elena ?uclea & Ana-Mihaela Padurean, 2008. "Competitiveness In Hospitality Industry: Romanian Style," Management and Marketing Journal, University of Craiova, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 6(1), pages 105-114, November. United Nations (2012). What is Sexual Harassment? Women Watch. United Nations. http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/pdf/whatissh.pdf Accessed: March 26, 2012. Dragos Constantin Vasile, 2009. "Customer Contribution to improving Service Quality in the Hospitality Industry," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 11(26), pages 441-450, June. Andreia Ispas, (2010)."General Considerations on Leadership in the Hospitality Industry. Conceptual Analysis and Practical Studies," Timisoara Journal of Economics, West University of Timisoara, Romania, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 3(4(12)), pages 213-220. Radu Emilian & Claudia Elena Tuclea & Madalina Lavinia Tala & Catalina Nicoleta Brindusoiu, 2009. "Hospetitiveness – the Empirical Model of Competitiveness in Romanian Hospitality Industry," The AMFITEATRU Economic Journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 11(26), pages 462-472, June. Mohd Onn Rashdi A. Patah & Rahman Abdullah & Mohaini M. Naba & Mohd Salehuddin Mohd Zahari & Salleh Mohd Radzi, 2010. "Workplace Bullying Experiences, Emotional Dissonance And Subsequent Intentions To Pursue A Career In The Hospitality Industry," Journal of Global Business and Economics, Global Research Agency, vol. 1(1), pages 15-26, July. George Anastassopoulos & Fragkiskos Filippaios & Paul Phillips, 2007. "An ‘eclectic’ investigation of tourism multinationals’ activities: Evidence from the Hotels and Hospitality Sector in Greece,"GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 08, Hellenic Observatory, LSE. Azilah Kasim & Cezar Scarlat, 2007. "Business Environmental Responsibility in the Hospitality Industry," Management, University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper, vol. 2(1), pages 5-23. Roberta Minazzi, 2010. "Hotel Classification Systems: A Comparison of International Case Studies," Acta Universitatis Danubius. OEconomica, Danubius University of Galati, issue 4(4), pages 64-86, December. Marius-Dan Dalota & Laura Tanasoaica, 2010. "Implications Of Resource Planning, Innovation And Learning For Work Processes And Performance Management," Romanian Economic Business Review, Romanian-American University, vol. 5(1), pages 132-137, March. Madalina Lavinia Tala (2008). Leader's Ethics - A Requirement For Business Success. The Amfiteatru Economic Journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 10(23), pages 97-102, Oxford Economics (2010). Economic Contribution of UK Hospitality Industry: Final Report. Oxford, UK. http://www.bha.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/BHA-Economic-Contribution-of-UK-Hospitality-Industry-Final-.pdf Accessed: March 27, 2012. Covey, Stephen R. (2009). Principle Centered Leadership. FreePress. Simon & Schuster, Inc.. New York, New York. Read More