Transforming HR from a Compliance Enforcer to a Culture Shaper in Harassment Prevention

Introduction

In our day most of the time we have spent in the work environment. Each and every employee in the workplace has a separate role to play in cultivating a safe and conducive work environment. Many people in the world experiencing harassment at their workplace on a regular basis. In this blog explore workplace harassment and What is HR role in preventing them.

What is Workplace Harassment?

Harassment in the workplace refer to any behavior that undermines an individual’s or group’s self-respect, causing harm to their reputation or creating a negative work environment. This includes conduct based on age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or other protected characteristics. Such behavior is unacceptable and should never be tolerated.

Harassment can happen in many forms, both inside and outside the office. It usually involves actions or comments that make someone feel isolated or mentally hurt in their work environment. Harassment can happen between two people or involve a group. 

Calls for equal treatment are often seen as calls for 'special treatment' in situations where discrimination has become the norm (Hill A, 2017). 

According to a survey by the Workplace Bullying Institute, 30% of workers have directly experienced harassment while at work. People who work remotely were more likely to report such harassment, with 43.2% responding that they had been harassed on the job (Gordon, S, 2023).

In the workplace, Harassment can occur in different ways, including:

• Any form of abuse
• Physical or verbal violence
• Written communication, such as emails or texts
• Face-to-face actions

Type of Workplace Harassment

1. Verbal Harassment

Using hurtful or aggressive language towards someone is define verbal abuse in the work environment. Which can origin emotional or psychological damage. This is typically consist things like insults, name calling, unreasonable criticism, hurtful comments, unwanted jokes, gossiping and rumours and slurs.

• Name calling – Based on the gender, race and appearance using abusive name to insult someone.
• Insult – Based on someone’s accent, body or background making jokes that target someone’s identity or features.
• Threats or verbal abuse – Threating someone with harm

2. Physical Harassment

Psychological harassment is one of the hardest types of harassment to recognize because it affects the mind rather than the body. It involves repeated negative words, actions, or behaviors that are hurtful, humiliating, or insulting. Examples include constant criticism, bullying, or making someone feel worthless.

3. Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment takes place when an individual experience unwelcome or inappropriate sexual actions, advances or comments. Sexual harassment is one of the most common and familiar forms of workplace harassment. This behavior can manifest in various way, including

• Unwanted touching
• Unwanted sexual gestures
• Sexual Jokes, comments or questions
• Request for sexual favors

The most effective way to tackle this widespread form of harassment is to make it known. Unwanted sexual advances and inappropriate comments between employees do occur, and while sexual harassment is most often directed at women, individuals of all genders can be both victims and perpetrators.

4. Discriminatory harassment

Discriminatory harassment refers to offensive, unwelcome behavior or actions directed at an individual or group based on protected demographic characteristics. This type of harassment can be verbal, written, or physical. Discrimination in the workplace is illegal and should never be accepted, but unfortunately, it still happens.

According to the 2023 Workplace Harassment and Misconduct Insights, black employees are more likely to encounter racial discrimination, with 61% having encountered discrimination, compared to only 40% of total employees (Muller D, 2025).

Other forms of discriminatory harassment in the workplace include harassment based on disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, age.

5. Racial or Ethnic Harassment

Religious harassment in the workplace involves targeting an individual because of their religious beliefs, which is a protected characteristic. An employee practicing a religion different from most of their colleagues may experience this type of discrimination.

Religious harassment in the workplace can include:

• Stereotyping someone based on their religion
• Intolerant remarks about religious holidays, traditions, customs, or clothing
• Making inappropriate jokes related to religion
• Pressuring someone to change or abandon their religious beliefs

6. Cyber Harassment

According to Deb M, 2025, many organizations transitioned to a remote or hybrid work model since the height of COVID, which means that employees are communicating digitally more than ever.  Cyberbullying, or online harassment, consists of an action such as posting threats or demeaning comments on a social platform, bullying the victim, often via a fake persona, and making false allegations online. But it can also include an offensive statement via work messaging platforms or email. It’s also important to note that while other forms of harassment typically require repeat offenses, a single instance of cyberbullying may be enough to count as online harassment.

7. Personal Harassment

Personal harassment targets an individual based on their personality, appearance, or work performance. This type of behavior can occur both in and outside of the workplace, such as during work-related events.

While personal harassment is unacceptable, it is generally not illegal unless it involves a protected characteristic. Depending on the severity, even a single incident may be considered personal harassment.

Examples of personal harassment include:

• Making disrespectful or inappropriate comments
• Intentionally embarrassing the individual
• Shaming someone for their personal beliefs
• Purposefully intimidating the person

8. Power Harassment

Power harassment is a form of workplace harassment where a superior uses their authority to harass subordinates. It can take various forms, including:

• A boss offering a position on a prestigious project in exchange for sexual favors (sexual + power harassment)
• Setting unrealistic work expectations and deadlines (psychological + power harassment)
• Making inappropriate comments about a subordinate’s race (discriminatory + power harassment).

Impact of workplace Harassment

Workplace harassment can lead to enduring consequences for individuals, such as:

• Mental Health issues - Depression, Anxiety and stress
• Physical health issues - Headache, Sleep problem, High blood pressure
• Career impact – Dissatisfaction, increase turnover, decrease career growth
• Performance and Productivity - impact to focus motivation and overall output

Bullying's pernicious nature creates long-lasting scars that have an effect on the victim's sense of self-worth, self-assurance, and general mental health," (Marshal A,).

What employers and HR can do to prevent workplace harassment?

In the modern workplace, fostering a safe and inclusive atmosphere is important, Human Resources is plays key role in preventing them. This responsibility extends beyond mere compliance with regulations, it involves cultivating a culture in which every feel respected and appreciated. This also allows employees to focus on their work, confident that their employer is dedicated to creating a safe and professional environment for them to do their best in workplace.

To effectively respond to workplace bullying, it’s important to adopt an assertive and direct approach. Confronting the issue head-on and establishing clear consequences for unacceptable behavior is a must (Lev A,).

There are many actions can be implemented in terms of prevent the workplace harassments. 

• Developing strong reporting mechanism

To effectively address workplace harassment, it is crucial to create systems that allow employees to report incidents safely, without the worry of revenge. These systems should be user friendly, easily accessible and offer various reporting methods to suit different needs.

• Implementing and enforcing an anti-harassment policy

Organizations should implement anti-harassment policy and provide employees with guidelines and trainings for preventing and addressing workplace harassment. As remote work and virtual teams become increasingly common, the policies extend to behaviors outside the traditional office environment and encompass online interactions as well.

• Cultivating a safe and favorable organizational culture 

HR should take proactive steps to foster a workplace environment that rejects harassment and ensure that all employees feel secure and valued.

• Training and Awareness

Implement ongoing training sessions for all staff members, including management and supervisory personnel to enhance their understanding of how to identify, prevent and report harassment.

• Providing opportunities for employees to increase understanding and interaction with each other. 

Creating opportunities for employees to enhance their understanding and engagement with one another among several strategies like, team-building Activities, Diversity and Inclusion Training, Cross-department Collaboration, Cultural Celebrations and Events, Open Communication Channels

• Investigation, confidentiality and appropriate action

When a complaint is received, HR must conduct a timely, thorough, and unbiased investigation, maintaining confidentiality, protecting against retaliation, and taking appropriate disciplinary action based on the findings, in line with company policies.

• Spearhead proper legal action when needed

Harassment should never be dismissed, particularly in cases of sexual harassment in the workplace, which may require legal intervention. After gathering sufficient evidence and information, appropriate legal action should be taken.

Tips for you to protect yourself and stay away from potential harassment situations

• Familiar with harassment related procedures and report potential cases to the management immediately.
• Confidence in your body language
• Keep a distance from individuals who display unacceptable behaviors.

Workplace violence, harassment costs Sri Lankan businesses millions: IFC Study

According to the International Finance Corporation (IFC, 2022), workplace violence and harassment has cost nine Sri Lankan businesses surveyed 1.7 million US dollars in work hours lost. The report recommends the need for Sri Lankan businesses to adopt policies and implement good practices to proactively address workplace violence and harassment. The importance of managing risks of online violence—an emerging workplace issue—as well as encouraging staff to use available support in the community has also been highlighted. The report also recommends steps to improve workplace diversity and inclusion

Conclusion

Workplace harassment is a serious issue that can have lasting emotional, psychological, and professional effects on employees. It can take many forms, including verbal, physical, sexual, discriminatory, and psychological harassment, affecting people of all genders, races, and job roles. To address this, companies need a clear plan that includes strong policies, easy ways to report harassment, and regular training to create a safe and respectful work environment. By raising awareness, encouraging open communication, and holding people accountable, organizations can build a culture of respect and inclusion, where all employees feel safe, valued, and able to do their best work.

Reference list

EconomyNext. (2022). Workplace violence, harassment costs Sri Lankan businesses millions: IFC Study. [online] Available at: https://economynext.com/workplace-violence-harassment-costs-sri-lankan-businesses-millions-ifc-study-99922/.

Gordon, S. (2023). How Workplace Bullying Negatively Affects the Victim and Profits. [online] Verywell Mind. Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-are-the-effects-of-workplace-bullying-460628.

Hill, A. (2017). TOP 25 QUOTES BY ANITA HILL | A-Z Quotes. [online] A-Z Quotes. Available at: https://www.azquotes.com/author/6694-Anita_Hill [Accessed 31 Mar. 2025].

Lev, A. (n.d.). Avigail Lev, PsyD. [online] Bay Area CBT Center. Available at: https://bayareacbtcenter.com/dr-avigail-lev/.

Marshall, A. (n.d.). Creative Arts Therapy | Downers Grove Counseling | Drama Therapy. [online] creativeartstherapy. Available at: https://www.c4creativeartstherapy.com/.

Muller, D. (2025). The 10 Most Common Types of Workplace Harassment. [online] HR Acuity. Available at: https://www.hracuity.com/blog/workplace-harassment/#num5.

Vyond (2023). Anti-bullying and Harassment in the Workplace Explainer. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAH_H5pk__E [Accessed 22 Jul. 2024].