HR Acuity #MeToo Study Shows Workplace Harassment Allegations Continue to Rise
Organizations Are Reacting to Change Workplace Culture
FLORHAM PARK, N.J., Oct. 17, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- HR Acuity, the employee relations case management solution that companies trust to help them track, investigate, and analyze issues the right way, has released a special report,#MeToo in the Workplace, an excerpt of the 2018 HR Acuity Employee Relations Benchmark Study. The report highlights the actions that companies have taken or plan to take to improve the workplace in response to heightened awareness around the #MeToo movement. Over 150 organizations, representing more than four million employees worldwide, participated in the 2018 Benchmark Study.
Volume of Reported Allegations Continues to Rise
The study shows the number of sexual harassment allegations continues to rise as 53% of organizations reported an increase in claims and 45% expect the number of claims to increase again in the next 12 months. HR Acuity CEO, Deb Muller, observes, "It's not a huge surprise that harassment claims are up in the wake of #MeToo. Employees are starting to feel empowered to report. But our 2017 Benchmark Study reported a 43% spike in harassment complaints over the previous year, so clearly, this upward trend shows that much needs to be done to adequately respond to harassment in the workplace."
Purposeful Initiatives will Drive Change
While 55% of organizations have made some changes to address sexual harassment allegations, only 15% have actually developed specific program initiatives aimed at #MeToo since the hashtag went viral.
The study shows that most organizations reacting to #MeToo have focused on added or improved sexual harassment training across all levels of the company. Many organizations have also enhanced programs targeted at developing investigation skills, unconscious bias, and bystander training.
"Additional training is a good first step, but organizations really need a paradigm shift in their approach to the complex and sensitive issue of sexual harassment," said Deb Muller, CEO of HR Acuity. "We hope that the study results will encourage organizations to become more intentional and consider innovative ways to transform workplace culture, as they educate employees, establish consistent processes and incorporate technology to help manage harassment claims and investigations the right way."
The number of organizations adopting required investigation processes continues to grow, a trend which began in 2016. According to the study, 41% of organizations have required investigation processes (up from 33% last year), with another 10% indicating they will follow suit in the next 12 months.
The annual HR Acuity Employee Relations Benchmark Study helps companies understand what's going on inside their organizations and identifies and defines best practices in employee relations management. It is also the only resource of its kind that captures information that enables mid-market and enterprise organizations to compare how they manage employee relations. The complete findings of the Benchmark Study will be published later this year.
About HR Acuity
You can't prevent every employee relations issue. But you can control how your organization responds. Achieve consistency in the way you track, investigate, and analyze with HR Acuity — the employee relations case management solution. We empower you with structure, content, and tools around documentation, investigations, and analytics in ways that provide accurate, reliable, and uniform experiences for your people. All with software that equips you with built-in expertise to make best practice your process. Visit us at hracuity.com.
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SOURCE HR Acuity
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