Admittedly, there would also be cases where false allegations are made with vested and malicious intent, but then it is the responsibility of organizations and society to set up the right process for fair inquiry and redressal.
Unlike in the past, where the relevant authorities had been in a more of ‘hush up the incidents’ mode, this time round the issue did not remain limited to one between the individuals concerned.

It impacted individual and organizational reputations, with reputational risk snowballing into financial loss in some cases and stakeholders refusing to partner with organizations and individuals tainted by accusations of sexual harassment. Organizations, industry and society have been forced to take note of the repercussions and introspect their own role in ensuring healthy workplace dynamics, for when women took to social media to highlight disturbing instances, they also pointed towards a lack of trustworthy redressal mechanisms within their operational institutions.

So, far they have been setting up mechanisms for addressing concerns of sexual and other discriminatory behavior and trying to arbitrate between the concerned parties. But it still seems more of a reactive measure than a proactive long term solution.

Image credit Refinery

In a larger context, the #MeToo movement is not something limited to issues of sexual harassment in the workplace. It is also about women and other marginalized groups having equal representation, advancement opportunities and pay parity, prompting a critical examination of organizational culture and workplace environment in terms of attributes like values, purpose, integrity, diversity, inclusion, emotional intelligence, respect etc. Hence to proactively future proof work environments driving employee well-being, a critical focus on people and culture is necessary.

Proactively future proofing workplace people cultures thus becomes a key success parameter and framework for the same can be based on the LAM model as detailed below:

LEAD – Leaders across organizations, social institutions and political parties need to take the LEAD on ensuring fair workplace environments where Diversity & Inclusion are actively promoted. The intent and advocacy of key parameters like zero tolerance of any kind of inappropriate behavior, minimization of bias in practices related to recruitment, employee engagement and development, understanding employee voice etc. needs to be driven by the top and be communicated in very clear terms both internally and to external stakeholders.

ACT – Intent and commitment needs to be followed up with concrete action. Necessary forums which give a fair hearing to employee concerns, especially on sexual misconduct cases need to be constituted and empowered to take action. Appropriate policies, strategy and action plans should be chalked out and implemented to boost diversity, employee engagement, development and retention.

MEASURE – Mere policies, procedures and training are not enough. All actions taken need to be measured continuously and on robust metrics to help refine and drive successful implementations. Data matters for getting measures right – the right data collected and managed systematically helps objective measurement. A combination of Diversity & Inclusion studies, engagement scan, voice of employee surveys need to be coupled with bespoke interviews of the focus population, in this particular case females to understand individual stories and feedback for corrective action.

Proactive, appropriate and timely attention can thus convert reputational risks into reputational assets and negate the need for employee issues to be highlighted on forums like #MeToo.