Workplace harassment is the belittling or bullying of an individual employee or worker in a work environment. The topic of workplace harassment has gained importance among the researchers because nowadays it is becoming a sensitive problem in the field of effective workplace management as per the views of Wang et al., (2018). Excessive work pressure is also associated with workplace harassment. Workplace harassment is mostly unseen and the leaders stay unconscious about the problems. The psychological hazards caused by workplace bullying is also considered to be a part of workplace harassment. Sexual molestation, constant criticism of culture and performance, promotion blocking are all different aspects of workplace harassment. Harassment can be of two kinds, physical and emotional. Physical abuse covers sexual harassment, forced stress and bullying. In the year 2016, the Australia airlines companies such as the Qantas Airways and Virgin airlines have been accused of committing sexual harassments on the cabin crews. More than 65% of flight attendants have found to be reporting about sexual harassment. Many reported that the harassment came from the co-workers, and others said that the passengers were responsible for these. The airlines have not taken the assault issues seriously (news.com, 2018).
According to Astrauskaite et al., (2015) it has been proven that workplace harassment also causes emotional harassment within the psychology of the victims. Workplace bullying is also called mobbing. The victims of workplace harassment are of three categories. The victims are based on sexuality, race and gender. Both men and women might get affected by workplace harassment. The US government has put anti-harassment laws based on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Keeping along with this acts Qantas has designed its own policies in the matter to avoid bullying in the workplace. There is no particular time point from where the entire concept of workplace harassment started. However, since most of the harassments are based on race, gender, cultural differences, it can be assumed that it dates back to the days of slavery and dominance. The dominance and the claimed superiority of the whites over the blacks, the patriarchal strength of the society and the subjugation of women, claimed administration of the rich on the poor and many other (Aman et al., 2016). Although the modern world can be called ‘modern’ in many ways, actual modernity is far away if these age-old traditions do not change at all.
According to Glina & Rocha (2017), sexual harassment can cause employees to deteriorate their health conditions. The bad behaviour of the boss or any co-worker can cause physical or psychological hazards of the employees and they might tend to leave the organization. Evidence of this can be found in the various psychological analysis of the employees who goes through such experiences. Workplace harassment, humiliation and bullying can even leave lifelong effects on employees. Going through workplace bullying on a daily basis can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, panic, memory loss, less sleep, depression and many others. Hypersensitivity and paranoia can also be caused by such harassments supports Malik & Farooqi, (2014). The victims can also go through physical ailments. The employees who are forced to take extra work burden have to go through extra duty hours and sleepless nights. Loss of sleep can also cause severe health problems such as a weak immune system, back pain, migraines, hormonal disorders and many others. The well –being of the workers can be affected by practising workplace harassment. The job performance of the employees gets affected the most. It negatively impacts the entire environment of the organization. The employees feel to be underestimated and do not feel the urge to accomplish tasks. Low self- esteem can also affect the accuracy of work. The rates of errors gradually start multiplying because the employees lack the motivation and passion for working efficiently.
The productivity of the organization eventually declines and the company starts facing huge difficulty in business operations. Moreover, the employees in turn become hostile towards the organization and start spreading negative words about it (Devonish, 2013). Negative feedback from the employees are highly effective and it can break the image in front of the shareholders and customers. In a nutshell, the organization face higher rates of financial and non-financial loss due to not focusing on the harassment within their workplace. It has been found that women suffer workplace harassment the most in the form of molestation. It has been seen that sexual harassment can lead to even suicidal attempt among women. It hits the victim’s psyche so much that they can’t stand it and tend towards self –destruction.
The first and foremost stakeholder in the issue of sexual harassment in Qantas Airways and Virgin airways are the victims of the harassment. It has been found that of the victims do not express their harassment due to fear of losing the job or being harassed furthermore. The latest survey says that among the 71% harassed women, 29% only reported about their harassments. The problem is severe in the United States. The women who report about their harassment, do rarely get the favor. They are hardly trusted and the issue is buried under the graves (news.com, 2018). Apart from the victims, the second victim is the perpetrators. The men who are in power such as the administrators, senior executives, managers, or the person who has conducted the harassment. It is all about power and position. Various organizations have been accused of practicing sexual harassment and many other kinds of harassments. Various stakeholders such as the managers, the employees and everyone else must take equal responsibility in dealing with the work place harassment phenomenon.
As the general form of the workplace harassments includes the sexual harassments, the harassments of the different culture, and the harassments due to the absence of the technical knowledge and competencies supports (Malik & Farooqi, 2014). As mentioned above the detrimental effects of the workplace harassments have a strong impact on the overall performance of the organizations, hence they are in need to manage the impact so that the productivity of the organization does not get affected. In order to make sure that these issues do not build a significant barrier for the firms, relevant training and counselling are to be implemented by Qantas Airways and Virgin Airways.
The first recommended solution for the harassment generated from the cultural differences will be the cultural training of the employees (McDonald, Charlesworth & Graham, 2016). For multinational organizations, it is observed that the employees of the Qantas Airways and Virgin airways belong to different cultures, regions or nationality. And with the concept of outsourcing or offshore manufacturing, the differences among the culture of the employees will be present at the host nation and parent nation for the organizations will be different. The cultural differences among the employees will be a significant barrier for the employees in order to operate as a team. Hence the training of the local and widely used language in that region will be a much-needed step from the part of the organizations in order to manage the problem of the communication gaps. Along with that the human resource management of the concerned organizations must employ cultural assimilation training in order to make sure that the outsiders of the culture of the host nation are provided with the opportunity to get connected with the culture and the societal values of the host nation. The mentioned training will significantly help the employees to overcome the harassments that are generated due to the improper integration among the employees owing to the cultural differences.
The sexual harassment is a form that is significantly visible with almost each and every organization of the modern generation. With a rapid increment in the number of the sexual harassments happening inside the workplaces, the organizations are in need to make sure that the significant impact of the mentioned harassment does not pose a notable barrier in the smooth conduction of the business operations of the organizations. The organizations are recommended to form an anti-sexual harassment committee which will monitor such cases and will have the power to implement strict disciplinary actions against the culprits. The formation of the committee will be structured with 11 members and a chairman and the selection of the 11 members will be executed on the basis of the preferences of the departmental heads. Each department of the organizations is advised to take part in the committee with the nomination of at least one member from their department so that the committee has the participation of all the departments in order to take a unanimous decision.
Apart from these two, another major form of harassment that is significantly present in the workplace is the harassment due to the absence of proper technical knowledge or in other words it is the harassment that the employees face due to their incapability in providing quality and effective service (McDonald, Charlesworth & Graham, (2016). As the organizations of the modern world are expanding their business in a significant manner, the organizations are feeling the need to recruit employees in a considerable manner. But in doing so, at times the organizations do hire some professionals without proper technical knowledge or competencies. Now their incapability of handling tasks under pressure is a major setback to the smooth conduction of the firms’ business operations. This generates frustration for the management and that results in the harassment of the employees.
In order to solve this issue, the employees must be engaged in an appropriate and adequate amount of training activities so that the employees be able to perform with the desired level of perfection as supported by Becton, Gilstrap & Forsyth, (2017). The training will help the employees to make sure that they obtain the technical skills and theoretical knowledge which will enable them to operate effectively inside the organizations. Along with the training, the management must make sure that the application of the intensive training in the business operation takes place from the part of the employees.
Activity |
Time |
Compensation |
Authority |
Language Training |
3 months on a weekly basis |
$200 per month |
A professor from Australian National University of English |
Attending Cultural Events |
6 months |
– |
|
Technical training |
6 months |
– |
Human Resource Management |
Each of the three solutions contributes to the good public policy. The first one reduces the cultural differences among the employees (Skinner et al., 2015). However, it may look like this is a mere strategy from the part of the management in order to make sure that their employee base is more integrated on a broader context the training is able to ignore the cultural shock of the employees who are the outsiders of the organizations. The solution to the sexual harassment will enable the female employees of the organizations to work without any negative concerns. And apart from this two, technical training will increase the individual competencies of the employees and that will be significant in order to improve the employees as a professional. Hence, the account of the individual growth of the employees needs to be included in the list of benefits as well.
The policymakers are liable to review the results of the developmental plan and are subjected to create documentation in the report format. This report will be submitted to the higher authority so that the senior level management be able to evaluate if there is any further need of the continuation of the training or if there is any need of any other training which needs to be introduced. On a concluding note, it can be said that the organization needs to implement the mentioned training and the form the committee in order to reduce the workplace harassment. This will enable the organization to serve in a better manner to their customers.
References:
Aman, T., Asif, S., Qazi, A., & Aziz, S. (2016). Perception of sexual harassment at workplace, knowledge of working women towards workplace harassment act 2010. Khyber Journal of Medical Sciences (KJMS), 9(2), 230-236.
Astrauskaite, M., Notelaers, G., Medisauskaite, A., & Kern, R. M. (2015). Workplace harassment: Deterring role of transformational leadership and core job characteristics. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 31(1), 121-135.
Becton, J. B., Gilstrap, J. B., & Forsyth, M. (2017). Preventing and correcting workplace harassment: Guidelines for employers. Business Horizons, 60(1), 101-111.
Glina, D. M. R., & Rocha, L. E. (2017). Understanding the process of workplace psychological harassment: differences between organizational and interpersonal psychological. Rev Med (São Paulo), 96(1), 1-13.
Malik, S., & Farooqi, Y. N. (2014). General and sexual harassment as predictors of posttraumatic stress symptoms among female health professionals. World Journal of Medical Sciences, 10(1), 43-49.
McDonald, P., Charlesworth, S., & Graham, T. (2015). Developing a framework of effective prevention and response strategies in workplace sexual harassment. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 53(1), 41-58.
McDonald, P., Charlesworth, S., & Graham, T. (2016). Action or inaction: Bystander intervention in workplace sexual harassment. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 27(5), 548-566.
news.com (2018). Former Qantas flight attendant alleges sexual harassment is ‘rampant’ in industry. [online] NewsComAu. Available at: https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/former-qantas-flight-attendant-alleges-sexual-harassment-is-rampant-in-industry/news-story/1aa8699131430cdec9916011b3bfd955 [Accessed 14 Oct. 2018].
Skinner, T. C., Peetz, D., Strachan, G., Whitehouse, G., Bailey, J., & Broadbent, K. (2015). Self-reported harassment and bullying in Australian universities: explaining differences between regional, metropolitan and elite institutions. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 37(5), 558-571.
Wang, Q., Bowling, N. A., Tian, Q. T., Alarcon, G. M., & Kwan, H. K. (2018). Workplace harassment intensity and revenge: Mediation and moderation effects. Journal of Business Ethics, 151(1), 213-234.
Devonish, D. (2013). Workplace bullying, employee performance and behaviors: The mediating role of psychological well-being. Employee Relations, 35(6), 630-647.
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