Business
In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser shared best practices to follow in an investigation of sexual harassment or hostile work environment in your organization. Handled improperly, this can be one of the most critical reputational crisis situations you will ever face. Topics discussed include employing neutral, third-party investigators, investigation best practices, and the need to take allegations seriously to protect the victims and the organization’s reputation. Topics discussed include the response from leadership in your organization and the role of a neutral third-party investigator. Related Episodes & Blog Posts Episode #22 – When sexual harassment comes to the C-Suite Society for HR Management: How to investigate sexual harassment allegations Episode Transcript Hello and Welcome to the Managing Uncertainty Podcast. This is Bryan Strawser, Principal and Chief Executive here at Bryghtpath. And in today’s episode, I want to talk about something that’s been in the news a lot here in Minnesota, over the last couple of weeks. And that is the issue of sexual harassment and allegations of assault that have gone on. Here in Minnesota, there’s a number of allegations happening towards the culture at the Republican Party of Minnesota. Now, the purpose of today’s podcast episode is not to talk about the actual political scandal that’s going on. I just give you that for some context. What I want to talk about is how to appropriately manage these kinds of situations as a leader in your organization. Before I started Bryghtpath in 2014, I spent 21 years in various roles in corporate security, in a Fortune 50 organization. A lot of that time was spent in crisis management and business continuity, but I also spent time in investigations and I spent time running large security teams in the field in New England and New Jersey and in Baltimore, and in Ohio, before I wound up at a corporate headquarters environment for the last nine years of my career there. And I was a part of many sexual harassment investigations as an investigator and security leader, working with my partners in human resources and employee relations. So I want to talk just a little bit briefly here about best practices when things like this happen. In most organizations, human resources is responsible for investigating such complaints when they’re made. But often, security leaders, even physical security leaders, are often involved for a number of different reasons. It might be because HR’s not available. It might be because they need additional witnesses or they need another interviewer. It might just be because as a security professional, you have more experience in interviewing and talking with individuals in this context than an HR leader may in some cases. The professional trade association, if you want to call that for human resources is the Society for HR Management, often called SHRM. Their website is shrm.org. And SHRM has a list of best practices, which we’ll link in the show notes, about how to investigate sexual harassment allegations and these best practices with a little bit of my experience is what I want to talk about today. First, SHRM recommends that you begin by making an investigative plan when these allegations are made. The plan should outline who will investigate, preferably a neutral outside investigator. That could be you as a security professional or an HR leader or an employee relations leader. It could also be an outside counsel in organizations or where that