Are More Companies Taking a Stand on Offensive Behaviors occurring Outside of the Office?
One of the more sensitive elements of Human Resources' role can be the need to address offensive behavior. What constitutes offensive? Where do the boundaries lie?
As evidenced by Morgan Stanley's recent firing of four employees after they accompanied a client to a strip club (click here to read Morgan Stanley Fires Four After Strip Club Visit as posted on today.reuters.com) the boundaries clearly extend well beyond the workplace. This has been reinforced numerous times by court rulings in hostile work environment cases.
Clearly, "looking the other way" in the name of "just having a little fun" is not acceptable. Yet, time and time again I have found myself across the table or desk from individuals at all levels, male and female, who were shocked that anyone could be offended when they were just trying to have a little fun and even more shocked that the company felt that it was its business.
Does this action by Morgan Stanley indicate that executives and companies alike are getting less tolerant of potentially offensive behavior and more sensitive to the need to protect the company's assets and image? Or, is this the exception and is there a pervasive belief that "what happens outside of the office stays outside of the office"?
What are you seeing in your company? Are there discrepancies in what is seen as acceptable behavior in the office compared to behavior outside of the office? What boundaries are being set by your company?
Posted by Denise Knutson, Senior Consultant, The H.S. Group
As evidenced by Morgan Stanley's recent firing of four employees after they accompanied a client to a strip club (click here to read Morgan Stanley Fires Four After Strip Club Visit as posted on today.reuters.com) the boundaries clearly extend well beyond the workplace. This has been reinforced numerous times by court rulings in hostile work environment cases.
Clearly, "looking the other way" in the name of "just having a little fun" is not acceptable. Yet, time and time again I have found myself across the table or desk from individuals at all levels, male and female, who were shocked that anyone could be offended when they were just trying to have a little fun and even more shocked that the company felt that it was its business.
Does this action by Morgan Stanley indicate that executives and companies alike are getting less tolerant of potentially offensive behavior and more sensitive to the need to protect the company's assets and image? Or, is this the exception and is there a pervasive belief that "what happens outside of the office stays outside of the office"?
What are you seeing in your company? Are there discrepancies in what is seen as acceptable behavior in the office compared to behavior outside of the office? What boundaries are being set by your company?
Posted by Denise Knutson, Senior Consultant, The H.S. Group
posted by The H.S. Group at
11:01 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home