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A Step-by-Step Guide to Responding to Allegations of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Leaders often feel uncomfortable and unprepared to respond to these allegations when they arise.

We hear a lot these days about creating a "speak up" organizational culture, but we don't hear nearly as much about how to listen and truly hear the messages our employees may bring to us. It's never good news; it's always a bad time; it's often costly; and it's doesn't reflect the way we want to see our organizations and our leadership.

Recently, this challenge of listening for values has received a lot of attention around the alarming number of allegations of sexual harassment and abuses of power that have surfaced in business, in the sports arena and in the realm of politics. The good news is that this misbehavior is getting attention and being roundly condemned. The bad news is that it appears to be more prevalent than anyone wanted to believe. The challenging news is that leaders often feel uncomfortable and unprepared to respond to these allegations when they arise.

Research and experience have shown us that if we want to encourage individuals to voice and enact their values in the workplace, an effective strategy is "rehearsal": that is, pre-scripting, practicing and peer coaching around the words and actions that will be successful when we want to correct an errant practice. In my work at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, specifically the Giving Voice to Values platform, I have recognized that leaders require the same sort of rehearsal when it comes to the question of how to "hear" these difficult messages when they arise.

There are a few strategies that can be useful. Recognize that there are two components to an effective response when an employee raises an allegation of sexual harassment: first, managing ourselves and second, responding effectively to the employee.

Regarding managing ourselves, recognize that the first response may well be emotional for all the reasons mentioned above (bad timing, bad news, fear of costs, fear of reputation damage, even concern whether the allegation is genuine). There are a few tips for managing these emotional reactions, regardless of the nature and severity of the allegation:

1. Pause.

Breathe before you speak.

2. Affirm the issue's importance.

Let the messenger know that this is an important issue and that we take it seriously: I appreciate your raising this issue. It is important and critical to our organization that we treat each other with respect.

3. Buy time, if necessary.

If the messenger has caught you off-guard, in a public place or at the end of a meeting, you can tell the employee that you want to give the issue the attention it deserves and set a time for a dedicated conversation about it.

4. Commit.

Assure the messenger that you want all the information; that you are assigning a dedicated and appropriate individual to investigate. Explain that you may not be able to share every detail along the way, due to legal requirements and a responsibility for fair treatment and privacy, but you will make sure that the messenger knows everything that you can share and that you will "close the loop" with him or her.

5. Set expectations about timing.

Give the messenger a sense of what sort of timing they can expect with regard to your circling back with any updates and the closing of the loop, so they are not left wondering about your seriousness.

6. Set expectations about public communication.

Explain what you can and cannot say during the process of investigating the allegation, so the messenger does not "fill in the gaps" with their own -- perhaps inaccurate -- interpretations.

7. Repeat step two.

Affirm that this is an important issue and that you take it seriously: I appreciate your raising this issue. It is important and critical to our organization that we treat each other with respect.

And most importantly, mean what you say! Often, we find ourselves reacting emotionally, defensively or fearfully, and then say things that we don't really mean. As a result, we can feel caught in our words and find ourselves digging in our heels and going down a path that we never meant to travel. By literally rehearsing what we can say and thinking through what we truly feel, we can be both less emotional and more genuine.

This "rehearsal and pre-scripting" is not intended to be a rote exercise, or a memorized speech. It is intended as a way for us to connect with our true commitment to the health of our organizations and our respect for our employees, so a momentary emotional reaction does not over-shadow our true best selves. The most important message we can give the employee who reports sexual harassment is that of authentic concern and a commitment to address any misconduct that may exist.

Create a successful content marketing strategy

Content marketing is creating, publishing and promoting value-based content to attract your target audience so they get to know, like and trust you. But content marketing should not be done without a well-thought-out content marketing strategy.

All major marketing activities require a well-planned strategy. Without a strategy, marketing activities become random and unfocused. Not having a strategy wastes resources on tasks that don’t help you achieve your goals. And many times, without a strategy, your marketing activities are not focused on the things that help you reach your ideal client.

What is a content marketing strategy?

A content marketing strategy is about creating a plan to provide relevant, valuable content and promoting it on the marketing channels that best reach your target audience. You need to match your content to the needs and desires of your audience so that you educate them and become memorable.

By providing quality content, you become known as a trusted expert and advisor in your industry. This helps to build your online brand presence, making your business more visible. And one of the most important aspects of content marketing is that it helps attract new visitors and turn them into qualified leads.

Before you start creating content, answer the following and create your content marketing strategy.

What do you want to achieve?

Determine the goals for your content marketing efforts. Do you want to:

• Attract new visitors
• Generate more leads
• Grow your email list
• Develop an expert reputation
• Build brand awareness

By knowing what you want to achieve, you can align the content with those goals so that it delivers actionable results.

Well written blog posts shared on relevant social media sites can drive more traffic to your website, help you build brand awareness and develop an expert reputation. Blog posts are good for visitors in the early part of their buyer’s journey.

Ebooks and whitepapers are more useful for visitors who have learned about your business and want to get further education on how you can help them.

Creating a content marketing strategy will help ensure that you focus all your time, energy, and money on reaching a goal that is important to your business.

What does your target prospect want?

Creating content that connects with your audience is hard. What does your target audience want to know? What challenges or pain points are causing them to look for a solution?

You need to intimately understand your audience and the buyer’s journey and your content needs to be aligned with steps along that path.

Perform a content audit and organize it by type (blog posts, articles, white papers, videos and presentations) and by topic to determine where you need to fill in the gaps. Use this information to lay out your editorial calendar that will be your content road map going forward.

How often will you publish?

The challenge for most small businesses is to provide engaging content on a consistent basis. Finding the time to implement a regular and consistent strategy is very difficult. The key to success is to do what works for you base don your time and resources. Small businesses need to focus on providing quality content on a regular schedule, even if that schedule is only once or twice a month.

Set the schedule for publishing new content in your editorial calendar. Having set dates for publishing can help remind you that it’s time for new content. Otherwise, time will pass and no content will get published.

Be realistic. Plan a schedule that can work for you and stick with it as best possible.

Where will you promote your content?

Great content that is hidden is not supporting your strategy. Determine where you will promote it, based on where you can reach your target audience. Make it easy for others to share your content broadly.

• Add a visible subscribe button on your blog and don’t
forget to allow visitors to subscribe via email.
• Sending content in the form of a series of emails to your
list
• Add social share buttons to your website so visitors can
share your content to their friends and followers.
• Share your content on the social sites that you use.
• Syndicate your content to sites

How will you measure your effectiveness?

Measure your results based on how effective you are at achieving your goals. If you want:

• More inbound leads, is your content helping?
• To grow your email list, is your lead magnet attracting the
right audience?
• To become known as an expert in your industry, is your
content projecting that image for you?

Track and measure your efforts so you can adjust if necessary.

Content creation is the basis of inbound marketing

Remember that content creation is the core of your inbound marketing strategy and needs to be done regularly for it to be effective. Good content gets found, consumed and shared, fueling more traffic to your website and giving you an opportunity to build trust, credibility, and authority for your business.

Are you going to create a content marketing strategy for your business?