Organizations generally exist to serve a certain specific purpose or achieve some set goals and objectives. In most cases, organizations play an important role in provision of services that are needed by human beings. We can simply say that organizations seek to provide services that improve the general well-being of human beings. Compamies can broadly be classified into deferent types depending on their roles. Organizations that do not seek to make profits from its existence are known as nonprofit organizations, there are also companies which are privately owned as well as public organization also known as governmental. For firms to be successful in their operations there are a number of factors that need to be considered at all levels of their operations. Some of these factors that can affect the business either positively or negatively include its organizational structure, its goals and objectives, its culture and the environment in which it operates, the policies and ethics that guide its mode of operations also affect organizations.
The most critical part that can make any organization to succeed or fail in achieving its goals and objectives is its employees. Employment process is therefore very important, as such a firm should ensure that they always choose employees who pose the skills and knowledge that are line with its objectives and goals. Employees should also be well compensated and provided with a good working environment so as to enhance the productivity and effectiveness of the organization. In providing a safe working environment, the organization should always come up with policies that protect the rights of its employees and encourage ethical behavior at work place.
If the employees feel that the organization does not strive to provide a safe working environment for them they will become less motivated to continue serving in that particular organization. This may result in increased rates of employee turnover because the employees will chose to move to organizations that offer better working conditions and environment. This may affect organizations negatively and may end up incurring a lot of lose in hiring and training new employees. Sexual harassment in place of work has always remained a serious challenge for quite long in many organizations. For that reason, many companies have developed work place policies that guide on what consists of a sexual harassment and how to deal with it in an event an employee is sexually harassed in his/her place of work (Mayhew, 2015). This paper will therefore focus on finding out what sexual harassment is, how it affects organizations and how it can be prevented.
Sexual harassment is considered an unlawful act in many countries. It is defined as any form of discrimination in place of work based on sex (National Women’s Law Center, 2015). It can also be defined as any unwanted sexual advances of sexual nature that hinder an employee from performing his/her job effectively, are offensive and makes one to feel intimidated. It can happen through a numbers of ways which can either be verbal, physical as well as written (Thomson Reuters, 2015). Physical sexual harassment involves inappropriate touching. Sexual annoyance at place work can occur to women as well as men however, women are always more vulnerable than men due to the fact that a majority of them have lower authority in many organizations.
There are many effects resulting from sexual harassment in work place both to individual employees as well as to the whole organization. Individuals who are sexually harassed may suffer serious health difficulties that will reduce significantly their productivity (Advocacy Center for Employment Law, 2015). Such health problems include difficulties in mental and emotional well being e.g. loss of self-esteem, stress and depression. This individual effects of sexual harassment will ultimately affect the organization in that there will be low productivity due to low work morale and absenteeism from employees who have been sexually harassed. The organization will also experience a lot of employee turnover as well as loss of millions of money due to legal costs (The Advocates for Human Rights, 2010).
Works Cited
Advocacy Center for Employment Law. "The Effects of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace." San Jose Employment Lawyer - Advocacy Center for Employment Law. N.p., 2015. Web. 4 July 2015.
National Women's Law Center. "Sexual Harassment in the Workplace." National Women's Law Center. N.p., 2015. Web. 4 July 2015.
Nolo. "Preventing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace." Nolo.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 4 July 2015.
Ruth Mayhew. "How to Handle Ethical Issues in the Workplace | Chron.com." Small Business - Chron.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 4 July 2015.
The Advocates for Human Rights. "Effects of Sexual Harassment." Home. N.p., 2010. Web. 4 July 2015.
Thomson Reuters. "Sexual Harassment at Work - FindLaw." Findlaw. N.p., 2015. Web. 4 July 2015.
