HRM Report: Addressing Workplace Harassment and Bullying Issues

This report delves into the critical issues of workplace harassment and bullying in Australia, emphasizing the vital role of Human Resource Management (HRM) in addressing these challenges. It highlights the importance of equal employment opportunity policies and ethical conduct within organizations. The report examines various forms of harassment, including sexual harassment, and their impact on employees and organizational culture. It explores the legal framework, including the Fair Work Act, and the need for robust HRM strategies to mitigate these issues. The report stresses the significance of creating a safe and secure workplace through strict policies, employee training, and the use of technology like CCTV cameras. It underscores the need for a positive work culture and ethical operations to ensure employee well-being and organizational productivity. The report references several sources, including academic research, government reports, and news articles, to support its findings and recommendations, emphasizing the importance of proactive measures by HR managers to foster a healthy and productive work environment.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Human resource management is considered to be one of the most important
departments of every organisation as it is seen to manage one of the most important
stakeholders of an organisation who are the employees. According to scholars, human
resource management do not only work for the recruitment and selection process but have
several other important duties which are vital to manage employee efficiently like providing
training and development, employee discipline, performance management, rewards and
recognition, introducing policies that encourage equal employment opportunities and comply
with several laws, encouraging positive and healthy work culture and many more (Hecklau et
al, 2016). However, it has been seen that there are issues in terms of workplace harassment
and bullying in Australia. This paper will be focusing on the issues of workplace harassment
and bullying which often fall under equal employment opportunities because of the reasons
of harassment and bullying and steps that human resource managers can take in order to
mitigate this issue which is a huge concern for most of the organisations.
The equal employment opportunity is the attempt of the government to ensure the fact
that every individual is provided with equal opportunity when it comes to employment
irrespective of various characteristics like gender, colour, case, national origin or religion
(Baker, Ali & French, 2019). It has been seen that many employers and organisations have
developed equal employment opportunity policies in order to promote diversity in the
workplace and also to create a healthy and a safe place to work for the employees.
One of the major issues equal employment opportunity issues that organisation in
Australia have been facing is sexual harassment. This is considered to be a part of equal
employment opportunity policies as sexual harassment is seen as a type of discrimination
along with harassment in the workplace. Sexual harassment is one of the most critical issues
that employees in Australia have to face. According to research, over the last decade, it has
been seen that there has been a significant rise in the reports of sexual harassment, an even

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more issue which can be seen is that majority of the victims are scared and are uncomfortable
to report the horrific incidents which they had to go through shows that our society needs to
reflect on these issues (Humanrights.gov.au., 2019).
Sexual harassment does not only follow under the equal employment opportunity but
also under ethical misconduct. According to research, it has been seen that women have
likely experienced unwanted sexual advances however there are various other forms of
bullying and harassment which are psychological which are experienced by many employees
in Australia like being yelled and sworn at, negative comments due to their ethnicity and
race, unfair treatment and also being humiliated in front of other colleagues
(Safeworkaustralia.gov.au., 2016). There are many organisations that have been seen to have
violated the laws when it comes to harassment and bullying which has caused them huge
trouble. One of the classic examples of this according to me is the Australian Defence Force
facing around 105 compensation claims for sexual and physical abuse (ABC News., 2016).
Moreover the report suggests that many new and young people have claimed that they were
sexually abused and molested during after they were employed by the Forces. This piece of
news was one of the most shocking and unexpected news which showed the adversity of the
issue of bullying and harassment in the workplace.
Workplace bullying and harassment has been one of the most prominent issues in
organisations in Australia which has been considered to be ethically wrong which harms
people and thus the government has come up with strict measures in order to mitigate these
issues like the introduction of the Fair Work Act which helps in providing the legal advice to
the ones affected and also ensures legal steps will be taken if one does not comply by what
has been stated in the act (Fair Work Ombudsman., 2020).

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However, it has been seen that the employers and the human resource departments of
organisations have been coming up with policies and procedures that adherers to the
legislations introduced by the government and also ensures that the culture of the workplace
is ethical and moral. According to the perspective of the employers behaviour of any kind of
sexual nature is not solicited (Notelaers & Van der Heijden, 2019). Physically inappropriate
behaviour is always not termed to be sexual harassment but making inappropriate comments,
requesting a colleague for a date repeatedly and risqué jokes also are a type of harassment
and constitute sexual assault under criminal laws. The employers also introduce policies that
encourage managing people in organisations ethically and ensuring the fact that they are not
harassed in any form or discriminated in the organisation in order to keep the workplace
healthy.
I believe that the employers have started considering the importance of eradicating the
issues in terms of workplace harassment and abuse so that they can create a healthy
workplace however despite of the introduction of these policies it has been seen that many
employees in Australia are likely to experience bullying and harassment. One of the major
reasons of this is the employees’ perspective on the issue which is their fear of power.
According to scholars, many employees who are sexually harassed and bullied do not
complain about these incidents is because of the power of the organisation and the person and
the fear of losing their job (Hill, 2018). This perspective of the employees to some extent has
been the reason why bullying and harassment is still prevalent in organisations in Australia.
Workplace bullying and sexual harassment in the workplace is seen to violate the
equal employment opportunity which organisations these days have been promoting in order
to hire best and the most talented employees. However, it has been seen that majority of the
employees face workplace bullying and sexual harassment which leads to psychological
stress among the victims but also affects the organisations as well. According to scholars,

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workplace bullying leads to high rate of employee turnover. Other than employees leaving
their job, workplace bullying and sexual harassment paves way for negative reputation of the
organisation which can later have negative impacts on the operations of the organisation and
also impact their sales and profit.
Human resource managers should understand that it is important to introduce efficient
polices that help in looking after the employees and also ensuring the productivity of the
workplace. Calk & Patrick, (2017) states a safe and secured workplace is one of the
motivational factors for employees to work in an organisation and be productive. In order to
mitigate this issue, the HR managers of organisations should come up with strict policies and
procedures which will help in reducing the issue. Installation of CCTV cameras in different
angles and places need to be in the office so that no employee dares to behave in an
inappropriate manner. I believe that huge compensation needs to provide if one is found
guilty in any such cases. I believe that the work culture of an organisation is important to
ensure that issues like these do not crop up in the company.
Organisations in Australia are seen to have a poor work culture which is evident from
the reports of sexual harassment and bullying in the workplace which hinders equal
employment opportunity and also ethical operations. This issue I believe is highly important
as it leads to a poor working environment which is negative for both employees and
organisations and affects the work cycle. It is important for human resource managers to look
into the matter and come up with fruitful strategies and policies which will help in eradicating
these issues and make the workplace safe and secured so that the employees can perform
nicely and contribute to the productivity and growth of the organisations.

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Reference
ABC News. (2016). ADF faces more than 100 compensation claims for abuse, praised for
handling. Retrieved 3 April 2020, from
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-20/gang-rape-sexual-harassment-bullying-
among-claims-against-adf/7100088
Baker, M., Ali, M., & French, E. (2019). Effectiveness of gender equality initiatives in
project-based organizations in Australia. Australian Journal of Management, 44(3),
425-442.
Calk, R., & Patrick, A. (2017). Millennials through the looking glass: Workplace motivating
factors. The Journal of Business Inquiry, 16(2), 131-139.
Fair Work Ombudsman. (2020). Welcome to the Fair Work Ombudsman website. Retrieved
3 April 2020, from https://www.fairwork.gov.au/employee-entitlements/bullying-and-
harassment
Hecklau, F., Galeitzke, M., Flachs, S., & Kohl, H. (2016). Holistic approach for human
resource management in Industry 4.0. Procedia Cirp, 54(1), 1-6.
Hill, A. (2018). Reporting sexual harassment: Toward accountability and action. The Gender
Policy Report, 19.
Humanrights.gov.au. (2019). National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian
Workplaces. Retrieved 3 April 2020, from
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/submission_301_-
_consult_australia.pdf

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Notelaers, G., & Van der Heijden, B. I. (2019). Construct Validity in Workplace Bullying
and Harassment Research. D'Cruz, P.; Noronha, E.; Notelaers, G.(ed.), Concepts,
Approaches and Methods. Handbooks of Workplace Bullying, Emotional Abuse and
Harassment 1.
Safeworkaustralia.gov.au. (2016). Bullying and Harassment in Australian Workplaces:
Results from the Australian Workplace Barometer Project 2014/2015. Retrieved 3
April 2020, from
https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/system/files/documents/1705/bullying-and-
harassment-in-australian-workplaces-australian-workplace-barometer-results.pdf