Stand up against workplace harassment

Virtual forum: “Don’t Stay Silent for Workplace Harassment”

On 28 November 2020, a virtual forum titled “Don’t Stay Silent for Workplace Harassment” was conducted Live via a Facebook page namely, “Step into the Light with Work Ethics & EQ”. It was organised by the UTAR October 2020 Trimester student representatives namely, Deneshwaran Raj, Wong Zhi Seng, Law Zi Yan, Chan Hui Lin, Lee Chia Suen, Tang Yee Ting and Cheong Wei Ling from MPU 34112 Work Ethics and EQ course, supported by the Department of Soft Skills Competency (DSSC) Kampar Campus.

In conjunction with the theme “Step into the Light with Work Ethics and EQ”, the forum aimed to create awareness on the seriousness of workplace harassment by sharing the right information on workplace harassment to the audiences. It also aimed to help them to identify and give a clear understanding of harassment in their respective workplace.

Deneshwaran Raj (second from top) giving a brief introduction on “Workplace Harassment”

“Employees spend one-third of their whole life in the workplace. Thus, it is important and necessary for employees to feel safe and also comfortable in the workplace. When an issue such as workplace harassment occurs, it is violating the employees’ right. Workplace harassment can come from our co-workers, superiors or even from the people outside the organisation. Therefore, we believe that it is paramount to address this issue of the workplace,” said Deneshwaran Raj, the moderator, when delivering a brief introduction on “Workplace Harassment”.

Deneshwaran Raj (second from top) introducing Baljit Gill (bottom)

Invited to be the speakers for the forum were Hitman Solutions Sdn Bhd Project Manager Baljit Gill and Success Resources Global Sales & Marketing Manager Beboshini Unnikrishnan. Baljit Gill has five years of experiences working as a Senior Manager in a Managerial position. He is equipped with handling soft skills, giving product training and a nonverbal communication training skillset. He has experienced in dealing with people from all levels within an organisation.

Deneshwaran Raj (second from top) introducing Beboshini Unnikrishnan (bottom)

Beboshini Unnikrishnan has worked for Bernama, TV3 and New Straits Times. She has five years of experienced working as Public Relations for the Kedah Government and seven years of experienced in Journalism.

Sharing his own experience from a couple of companies that he has worked for, Baljit Gill said, “Workplace Harassment is not only meant for sexual harassment, it came from all forms. It could be something as unwelcome and offensive conduct, such as an offensive remark (a demeaning remark) or joke based on skin colour or gender for instance. It does not necessarily happen to women but men do get harassed as well, especially from their bosses. It would impact the victims’ mindset; emotionally they would definitely be affected in a way that going to work in the morning is a challenge for them. Of course, workplace harassment does impact the company as well because it jeopardises the company’s reputation and will definitely impact their business as well.” 

He then emphasised the importance of education to prevent workplace harassment, “Education is the key element to prevent harassment and it should be started during our school time. Sometimes the harasser or the abuser may not know that they are actually harassing with the action they did or with the words they spoke. They could be bringing it unintentionally because most people would think that harassment is only applicable to sexual harassment. People should know what exactly is harassment and how to treat one and another with respect. If they do not know how to show respect to their employees or the people they worked with, it would be a challenge to prevent harassment, bullying in the workplace or even abuse of power.” 

“Some people became confused about what should they do when they got bullied or harassed in the workplace. Well, Human Resource (HR) is the best person to go to; they should get their companies’ HR department to be involved. I am sure they are going to listen to you. But if they don’t listen to you for any reason, the next step would be going to their boss. If the victim still does not get any support from the proper channel, then the only possible option is to get The Labour Law involved. But sometimes, it may not easy for the victim to speak about it because they could be so emotionally disturbed. Hence, if someone witnesses this situation, they should take the responsibility to bring this issue to their bosses or HR,” said Baljit Gill.

Beboshini Unnikrishnan on the other hand said, “There are many types of harassment which we might not be aware of. It can be personal harassment, for instance asking personal questions like religion, race, and marital status or making very rude jokes about that person. It can also be physical harassment, cyberbullying, sexual harassment, power harassment; for instance being told to do something in order to get the job, and to name a few.” Sharing her own experience as a victim, she said, “I personally experienced people making jokes about my appearance which has been very traumatic for me growing up. They thought it was funny, but for me, it is not. Making jokes for the first and second time may be considered funny, but when they keep doing that, it will eventually be putting someone into a traumatic experience.”

“When someone tells about their experience in harassment, we need to believe, listen and understand them, because it might be difficult for them to talk about it. It takes a lot of courage for them to actually share their experience. Do not tell them ‘this is a petty story and you just have to move on’. Instead, we should take responsibility by making a complaint to HR or at least inform our superior on this issue. Respect the victim’s privacy; do not press them for details. Sometimes, words like ‘You are not alone’ or ‘I am glad that you told me’ will actually make the victim feel comfortable; we should make them understand that it is not their fault being the victim. Show your support in a very positive manner perhaps will influence their healing process,” said Beboshini Unnikrishnan.

Speaking in terms of how to prevent workplace harassment, Beboshini Unnikrishnan agreed with Baljit Gill, she added, “To prevent workplace harassment, we also need to ensure everyone understands the process of reporting a complaint. We do have an employee handbook, and it should be clearly mentioned what kind of behaviour we can make a complaint and what is the process of filing a complaint. This is to make sure everyone understands that each complaint will be taken seriously and investigation will also take place.  We need to have a very clear-cut, zero-tolerance and anti-harassment policy in our working space. Hence, the HR Department should have an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for this issue.” 

Humor is good to maintain a very friendly environment. But, excessively making jokes about someone’s religion or gender, for instance, is wrong. There are certain jokes which are acceptable but when it keeps going on and on, is kind of irritating. We should go and tell the abuser, make your message clear that you do not like the joke. If you are a friend of the abuser, you must say it out. It is your responsibility,” said Beboshini Unnikrishnan.

Meanwhile, they also shared their opinions on how to combat cyberbullying.

Baljit Gill (bottom, right) and Beboshini Unnikrishnan (bottom, left) answering the enquiries from participants 

The forum was then followed by an interactive Q & A session. Before the end of the forum, an interesting quiz session took place. Moderator was Wong. The quiz session was carried out to test the participants’ knowledge of workplace harassment. It saw the participation of more than 50 people.

Quiz session on Workplace Harassment

Wong (bottom) congratulates the winners of the quiz session

The virtual forum was attended by more than 200 participants.

Beboshini Unnikrishnan (top, right) and Baljit Gill (bottom, right) with the group members

Beboshini Unnikrishnan (top, left) and Baljit Gill (top, middle) with the group members

Some videos produced by the members on “Workplace Harassment”
(Taken from Step into the Light with Work Ethics & EQ Facebook Page)



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