Interview on harassment in the workplace

April 23, 2012

New interview with Ariane Bilheran, by ELLE magazine, on harassment in the workplace, describing the conduct to adopt internally, particularly for HR, following a complaint of harassment.

Read the case raised by ELLE

Read the expert interview by ELLE

Ariane Bilheran, Psychologist, business consultant, manager of the company Sémiode, author of Harcèlement. Famille, Institution, Entreprise (Armand Colin 2009) Harcèlement en entreprise (Armand Colin 2010)

First, we need to improve the training of people who are faced with cases of complaints of moral harassment, such as human resources. Because France is lagging behind. These cases are handled much too late, with an unfortunate tendency to hush up the cases, which end up taking on sordid proportions, which could have been avoided.

Then, companies must learn to manage these situations and react more quickly when the social link is dysfunctional. It is necessary to protect the person who makes the complaint in the company, and to know how to sanction.

Upstream, codifying internally "the handling of a complaint" is essential. Currently, it is often panic when this happens. The method: involve someone from outside the company and adopt a neutral position, as long as nothing is clearly identified.

This can happen in all companies. Moreover, these cases are often very complex. Just because there is a complaint does not mean that the complaint is real. Cases of moral harassment meet specific criteria and should not be confused with other forms of psychological violence or conflicts. In other words, saying that you are being harassed does not necessarily mean that you are. It also happens that managers are harassed by their teams... Harassment cannot be reduced to a simplistic tormentor/victim approach and it always impacts the work collective.

Sexual harassment is even more taboo. Victims are often ashamed and prefer to leave the company, rather than report it internally. I have met women who were constantly humiliated, who kept repeating: "It's not serious" and preferred to run away. More training and prevention are needed in this area.

Interview by Charlotte Lazimi