Coffee Talk HR

  • 7 Mar 2019
  • 7:00 AM - 8:15 AM (CST)
  • ADP (Campus North) 7651 San Felipe Dr.

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TOPIC: Sexual Harassment in the Workplace and the #MeToo Movement

Presented by: Jonathan Wagner, PHR-CA, SHRM-CP

Jonathan Wagner currently serves as Client HR Manager at ADP. Prior to joining ADP, Jonathan began his career in the energy sector where he held several roles in field operations before transitioning into HR Manager of a mid-sized geo-consulting firm. In May of 2016, he relocated to El Paso and began his career with ADP as an HR Business Advisor.

During his tenure with ADP HR Solutions, Jonathan was promoted to Senior HR Business Advisor and later to Team Lead. He has brought high engagement and leadership through his support of the HR Solutions e-mail process, his participation in the WFN HR Assist team, Associate Development Council, and support with HRO. He is also an alumnus of the ADP El Paso Lead Leader Program and Guidance in Leadership Development Program (GILD).

Jonathan holds a Bachelors’ degree in History from the University of Nebraska and an MBA in Human Resource Management from La Sierra University, in addition to multiple certifications including the PHR, PHRca, SHRM-CP, CHRS, and FPC. In his free time, Jonathan enjoys travel and outdoor activities with his wife, Elena.

Coffee Talk Description

Matt Lauer, Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Al Franken, Louis C.K. and George Takei. By now, we all know they have something in common – they have each been accused of inappropriate sexual behavior.

So prevalent has this trend become that it’s been immortalized as a hashtag #MeToo, which spread virally to denounce sexual assault and harassment. Alyssa Milano encouraged women to tweet it to publicize their experiences, and boy did they. On Twitter, #MeToo was used more than 500,000 times within a few days, and on Facebook, it was used in 12 million posts during the first 24 hours.

That goes to show how this issue resonated with people, both women and men. But what does it mean for those of us in the non-Hollywood working world? As we become more sensitive to the topic, are employers at more risk of being called to task for something that happens under their watch? The consensus seems to be yes.

As HR professionals, we all know basic sexual harassment training because many of us have either taught or even developed some of that very training in our own organizations. At best, we’ve succeeded in teaching basic information, like the definition of harassment and how to report violations. At worst, this training has made associates uncomfortable, prompting defensive jokes, or reinforcing gender stereotypes, potentially making harassment worse. Either way, we often fail to address the root problem: preventing sexual harassment from happening in the first place.

Training is essential, but not enough. To actually prevent harassment, companies need to create a culture in which women are treated as equals and employees treat one another with respect. Challenge your organization to use these evidence-based ideas on how to create a workplace culture that rejects harassment: empower the bystander, encourage civility, train seriously and often, promote more women, encourage reporting.

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