The bomb goes tick-tock.................

It is one area I watch with morbid fascination. I watch with a sense of awe and expectancy,impending doom, because I can see, bit by bit, piece by piece the explosive being readied for detonation and when it does happen, it is going to be painful, cause a great deal of hand wringing and life in the work place is never going to be the same again or workplace dynamics are going to change for ever. If you think I'm alluding to Pokhran III, then you have got me wrong.I'm talking about 'Sexual Harassment' at the work place. By default we assume that the harassed are generally women, but that need not be. However its an area I'm not going into here. Sexual harassment is in the air, literally, these days due to the spat on Air India Sharjah-Lucknow-Delhi flight IC-884 on October 3rd,where an air hostess accused the Captain of harassing her, which in her opinion was sexual in nature. The charge, has since been dismissed and the air hostess suspended post an in house disciplinary enquiry.I watch these charges with morbid fascination, because in this area, we are babes in the wood. The Macho Indian man, high on Power Distance, thinks it his divine right to lord it over all women, at home and otherwise. The young, independent, Indian women, single and wanting to live life, are exploring a new path and on occasion are guilty of flirting with the wrong types, giving wrong signals which then leads to charges and counter charges.Unfortunately both men and women in India are new to the game, are exploring areas not visited before and therein lies the challenge. The bomb is waiting to go off because women are flooding the work place and most organizations have not the faintest clue as to how do deal with any kind of harassment and many a HR would run hearing the word 'Sexual' ( It takes an effort to discuss the issue in class ) Sexual Harassment as an issue, is a serious subject for discussion and must be dealt with in academic institutions if the force of detonation is going to be softened. Who & what is the type of harassment? There is usually more than one type of harassing behavior present, so a single harasser will often fit more than one category. These are brief summations of each type. Power-player - Legally termed "quid pro quo" harassment, these harassers insist on sexual favors in exchange for benefits they can dispense because of their positions in hierarchies: getting or keeping a job, favorable grades, recommendations, credentials, projects, promotion, orders, and other types of opportunities. One-of-the-Gang - harassment occurs when groups of men or women embarrass others with lewd comments, physical evaluations, or other unwanted sexual attention. Harassers may act individually in order to belong or impress the others, or groups may gang up on a particular target. Serial Harasser - Harassers of this type carefully build up an image so that people would find it hard to believe they would do anyone any harm. They plan their approaches carefully, and strike in private so that it is their word against that of their victims. Groper - Whenever the opportunity presents itself, these harassers' eyes and hands begin to wander, engaging in unwanted physical contact that may start innocuous but lead to worse. Opportunist - Opportunist use physical settings and circumstances, or infrequently occurring opportunities, to mask premeditated or intentional sexual behavior towards targets. This will often involve changing the environment in order to minimize inhibitory effects of the workplace or school or taking advantage of physical tasks to 'accidentally' grope a target. Bully - In this case, sexual harassment is used to punish the victim for some transgression, such as rejection of the harasser's interest or advances, or making the harasser feel insecure about himself or herself or his or her abilities. The bully uses sexual harassment to put the victim in his or her "proper place." Situational Harasser - Harassing behavior begins when the perpetrator endures a traumatic event (psychological), or begins to experience very stressful life situations, such as psychological or medical problems, marital problems, or divorce. The harassment will usually stop if the situation changes or the pressures are removed. Pest - This is the stereotypical "won't take 'no' for an answer" harasser who persists in hounding a target for attention and dates even after persistent rejections. This behavior is usually misguided, with no malicious intent. Intellectual Seducer - Most often found in educational settings, these harassers will try to use their knowledge and skills as an avenue to gain access to students, or information about students, for sexual purposes. They may require students participate in exercises or "studies" that reveal information about their sexual experiences, preferences, and habits. Incompetent - These are socially inept individuals who desire the attentions of their targets, who do not reciprocate these feelings. They may display a sense of entitlement, believing their targets should feel flattered by their attentions. When rejected, this type of harasser may use bullying methods as a form of revenge. Stalking - The persistent watching, following, contacting or observing of an individual, sometimes motivated by what the stalker believes to be love, or by sexual obsession, or by anger and hostility. Unintentional - Acts or comments of a sexual nature, not intended to harass, can constitute sexual harassment if another person feels uncomfortable with such subjects As an HR, I watch with interest, the drama unfold...........and hope that academicians and senior managers give the issue its due. What is at stake? The harassed suffer psychological damage which many a time is not reversible and the organization may have to live with disengaged employees and attrition rates that are not tenable, while the harasser gets off scot free.A situation that no decent organization, should be able to live with!
Interestingly in a experiential exercise in my International HRM class, I found that many of my students said that they would rather downplay the incident, than make an issue.
To me that would be suicide...............