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The Business Impact of a Sexual Harassment Program
Merewether Pty Ltd is the Australian owner of a variety of properties offering various levels of accommodation and has a reputation as a progressive, financially sound company, who places a high value on the human capital within the organisation. This is evidenced through the organisation’s core values and a number of better practice, family friendly polices and procedures.
The Hospitality and Tourism industry continues to operate in a state of tremendous transformation and transition within Australia and indeed globally, with Merewether having an aggressive management team poised for additional growth.
In Australia , sexual harassment continues to grow as an important and significant employee relations issue. Sexual harassment claims throughout Australia and in the Hospitality and Tourism industry continue to grow, sparked in part by increased awareness of the issue and the willingness of the victims to report harassment complaints.
Given Merrewether’s ‘no tollerance’ sexual harassment policy, the current complaint record is considered excessive by executives and represents a persistent and irritating problem.
Senior management, concerned about the stigma of sexual harassment complaints and the increasing cost of defending such claims, instructed the Director Human Resources to take corrective and preventive action to significantly reduce complaints and ultimately rid the workplace of any signs of harassment.
The HR intervention in this instance was a Sexual Harassment Prevention Program involving Middle Management and Supervisors. The Workshops were followed by meetings with all employees, conducted by the same managers and supervisors.
An objective, unbiased impact study was needed to show what was actually achieved with the Sexual Harassment Prevention Program. Several questions had been raised about the success of the program, particularly with regard to its impact on the bottom line and linkage with human capital key performance indicators.
The following is a listing of questions, which were addressed in this study:
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Specifically what has been achieved with the Sexual Harassment Prevention Program since its inception?
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To what extent has the Program influenced business measures when other factors are considered?
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What are the potential long-term benefits of the Sexual Harassment Prevention Program?
After an extensive and comprehensive data collection strategy was undertaken and all the costs and benefits (tangible and intangible) were identified the organisation received a staggering and impressive 1,052% return on investment or a cost benefit ratio of $11-50:$1-00.
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