Hostile Work Environment

A hostile work environment exists when one’s behavior within a workplace creates an environment that is difficult or uncomfortable for another person to work in, due to discrimination.

Some employees believe that a bad boss, an unpleasant work environment, a rude coworker, failure to qualify for a promotion, a lack of teamwork, or the lack of perks, privileges, benefits, and recognition can create a hostile work environment.

And, yes, admittedly, many of these issues do contribute to an environment that may not be especially friendly or supportive of employees. The environment without employee-friendly offerings can be awful. A bad boss contributes particularly to an environment that employees may see as hostile.

Prevent a Hostile Work Environment

Implement a Zero-Tolerance Policy – An incident such as a joke or mockery might be harmless to some, but can be offensive to others. A way to prevent this type of inappropriate behavior, is by implementing a zero-tolerance policy. In this policy, the company must clearly define what constitutes as harassment and the consequences that are connected to this kind of behavior. To avoid confusion, the policy must be communicated directly to all employees within the company. This can be achieved by having a team meeting, creating an employee handbook or providing the employees with updated guidelines for the workplace.

Train Your Employees – Another way to avoid a hostile work environment is by training and educating employees on a regular basis. By providing annual harassment training, employees will get a better understanding of what harassment is and which steps they need to take when they want to report an incident. It is important to note that managers should receive a more specific training on this subject. The harassment trainings for management levels should focus on identifying hostile behavior and handling incidents that get reported to them.

Take Action – When it comes to harassment, the company needs to take a firm stance to prevent this type of behavior in the workplace. That is why, every reported incident must be taken seriously. Human Resources should start an investigation promptly, to ensure that the problem gets resolved before it escalates. Additionally, each incident should be treated on a case-by-case basis. The policy that is put into place can refer as a guide to find a fitting solution.

Eliminate All Grey Areas – You don’t want your employees to think that they can never crack a joke or poke harmless fun at one another for fear of being reprimanded, but they should understand where the line is. By laying out what is deemed inappropriate, you can steer employees away from potentially hostile situations before things have a chance to escalate.

Beyond providing employees with a handout of your policies, it is good practice to make any and all-important information readily available and visible. Stick a copy of your harassment policy up in the break room, on a bulletin board, or in a common area. This serves as a gentle reminder, without the need for constant surveillance.