Getting your Board on board with Respect@Work: insights from the Harrods sex scandal

The Harrods sex scandal

Last week, 60 Minutes and the Sydney Morning Herald ran an in-depth report on what is now known as the Harrods sex scandal.

It turns out that under the sparkly lights, Harrods’ workplace culture was rotten from top to bottom.

So far, more than 250 women, including 14 Australians, allege they were sexually assaulted by the Chairman-owner, Mohammed Al-Fayed.

The details are scarifying.

Lawyers for the survivors have claimed that it may be the world’s worst case of corporate sexual abuse.

Most importantly, the Harrods case shows how extreme power imbalances within businesses can be used create a culture where not only this kind of behaviour is allowed to flourish but anyone who dares to speak out is silenced.

Why Respect@Work emphasises leadership

If you take a look at the Australian Human Right’s Commission’s Guidelines for Complying with the Positive Duty under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) (the Guidelines), you will see that one of the key tenets is ‘leadership’.

This is because you can’t achieve cultural change in an organisation unless your leaders drive and support change.

Basically, if we are going to eliminate sex discrimination and sexual harassment from Australian workplaces, leaders need to be visible in their commitment to safe, respectful and inclusive workplaces that value gender equity and diversity.

They also need to set clear expectations and role model respectful behaviour.

This doesn’t just include the C-Suite. It includes the Board.

Why I like the WGEA data 

One thing I enjoy doing is examining the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) employer data.

Why?

It tells me a lot about how Australian businesses are travelling on their journey to compliance with the Respect@Work Positive Duty laws.

More specifically, it tells me whether Boards are paying enough attention to satisfying these laws.

Gender composition of Boards in Australian companies

The WGEA data for 2023-2024 indicates that Boards in Australian businesses with over 100 employees remain male dominated with averages of 65% male and 35% female.

Only 19% of Chairs are women.

Only 43% of businesses have a formal policy or strategy to achieve gender equality in their Board or governing body.

In addition, only 18% have a target to increase the representation of women at the Board level.

Basically, Australian businesses need to do better.

Boards need to help businesses satisfy the Positive Duty

The Guidelines are clear on how Boards need to take an active role in helping Australian businesses satisfy the Positive Duty.

Boards need to:

• be educated about Respect@Work
• approve sex discrimination and sexual harassment policies
• communicate expectations on safety, respectful and inclusive workplace conduct.

They also need to be informed about:

• how the business is performing against the benchmarks in the ‘prevention and response plan’
• what is happening in education
• any incidents
• changes to policies or strategies.

How are Boards performing against the Guidelines

The WGEA for 2023-2024 tells me that, while many Australian companies have made progress in implementing the Positive Duty, quite often Boards are being left out of the process.

Are Boards being educated? 

The data on training for Boards on the prevention of sexual harassment is concerning. Only 55% of Australian businesses provide training for their Board members on induction and 44% provide training annually. Only 4% provide training multiple times a year, which is what needs to happen. All the evidence shows that successful training is an ongoing process and is often more effective when delivered in bite-size pieces.

It is unclear from the data whether Australian businesses are using external consultants to provide education, which is what they need to do if they have over 200 employees.

Are Boards approving policies?

While 99% of Australian businesses have a formal policy or strategy to prevent and respond to sex discrimination and sexual harassment, only 56% have had these policies or strategies approved by their Boards.

Are Boards communicating expectations?

Only 62% of Boards have explicitly communicated expectations on respectful and inclusive conduct.

Are businesses keeping the Board in the loop? 

While 77% of Australian businesses are reporting to their Boards on sexual harassment, the vast majority are not reporting in the detail that is required:

• 34% report on sexual harassment trends
• 69% report on consequences for perpetrators of sexual harassment
• 35% report effectiveness of their response to reports of sexual harassment.
• 50% report on the risks of workplace sexual harassment:
• 73% report on nature of sexual harassment
• 71% report on the organisational action they take to prevent and respond sexual harassment
• 71% report on the organisational action to prevent and respond to sexual harassment
• 80% report on the outcome of reports of sexual harassment
• 56% report on the prevalence of workplace sexual harassment
• 20% report on the use and context of non-disclosure agreements or confidentiality clauses

From this, it looks like most businesses report on issues that give the Board a good impression of what steps are being taken to prevent and address incidents of sexual harassment. They don't report on the issues that paint a less flattering picture. 

Don’t forget the Board

When thinking about leadership on cultural issues, I think it is easy for businesses to forget that Board needs to set direction and expectations around behaviour.

In businesses with strong cultures, there is alignment between expectations around how people behave and the structures that reinforce those behaviours.

This is why it is vital that Boards need to be educated in Respect@Work and sign off on policies, processes and procedures. They also need to be informed about how the business is travelling on the journey to compliance.

After all, as we can see from the Harrods example, it is the people at the top of an organisation that dictate the culture, whether it is good, bad or indifferent.

Do you need help implementing the Respect@Work in your business or organisation? 

Dr Genevieve Burnett specialises in helping businesses and organisations implement Respect@Work. If you want expert advice on how to build a workplace where everyone feels safe, respected and included, get in touch now.