Looking Past "What" to Consider "Why"

"Where oh where did my Blackberry go, where oh where can it be?"

The climate in my organization right now is one where the loss of any information device is not a good thing. As you probably surmised from my opening line, I did not know where my Blackberry was. I opened my purse to plug it in for the day and it was not there, it is always there, where could it have possibly gone? Thankfully, by the end of the day it was back in my hands.

Where was it? In my daughter's clubhouse behind the couch, tucked safely away with her animals. When I realized that, I was relieved and shared the news. A number of times I heard the comment, "I sure bet she's grounded."  When I got home, I asked the kid if she took mommy's little computer. She said that she didn't know I was looking for it, she didn't want me to use it. Message sent, message received - loud and clear.

Did I ground her? I sure did. How? I called her over to me, got down on the floor beside her and gave her a nice, long heart hug.  In the process, I grounded myself too.

So, what does this have to do with HR? I have many conversations with supervisors and managers about appropriate discipline. About how to respond to an incident. About not bringing down the hammer every time. About not doing it just because you can.

My advice to them is to look past what happened to consider why it happened and above all, don't forget, for a minute, that there is a person on the other end of the equation.

Hostile Work Environment Defined

My schtick, my thing, the thing that gets me going is when I hear a complaint that an employee is being subjected to a hostile work environment. Let me start by saying that if any of our employees are being subjected to a hostile work environment, I am right there with our EEO Manager and others to ensure that we put a stop to it immediately.

My schtick is not at all with the employee or with the concern addressed. It is the way the term "hostile work environment" is so loosely used because a hostile work environment is anything but loose or gray.  It is specific and prescribed. It is simply, flat out, no two ways about it, unacceptable. A crabby  co-worker does not a hostile work environment make. Rudeness can fall in harassment in the workplace based on gender, race or any of the Title VII basis but it is not a hostile work environment.

How does the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) determine if hostile work environment exists? A hostile environment harassment is usually found where a general pattern of workplace behavior exists that is sexually-oriented and severe or pervasive. It usually involves actions of co-workers that interfere with an individual’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment. Key words are severe or pervasive and sexually oriented and fortunately, I do not see much of this at all in the workplace.

If an employee feels that they are not being treated respectfully or equitably, there are people they can, and definitely should bring their concerns to: their supervisor, the union, HR or the facility EEO Manager. No matter how they define it, if they bring it, we will listen. And then, we will do everything we can to remedy the concerns. How we do so varies based on the situation and the individual's desires and may include simply listening, facilitating a meeting, coordinating alternate dispute resolution or conducting an informal investigation. 

We are here to help and cannot do so if we are not aware of the concerns. So, schtick aside, what you call it is not important. What is important is that you tell us so we can do something about it.