NICOLA HORLICK: How do I silence the sleazy sexists in my office?

Working life today is full of constantly evolving challenges and pitfalls. When is it OK to date a co-worker? Can you tell your team to get back into the office five days a week? 

Whether you’re a baffled Boomer, a muddled millennial, or a confused Gen Z-er, our brilliant columnist Nicola Horlick can help.

Dear Nicola,

Young female members of staff are coming to me as the head of a division with complaints about a few male colleagues.

These guys are routinely making sleazy comments that could be regarded as harassment, and go well beyond banter.

One of the reasons I have not approached the human resources department is that they tend to be useless in anything that doesn’t involve saving their own jobs.

How can I get the layer of managers above me to realise this can pose a threat to a business if it’s not dealt with? Should I cite organisations that failed to deal with sexual harassment and had to face the consequences, such as the CBI and Odey Asset Management?

Yours, Andy

Unprofessional: Young female members of staff are coming to me as the head of a division with complaints about a few male colleagues

Dear Andy,

As head of your division, you have the power to deal with this yourself. You need to talk to each of your colleagues who have been making these comments and make it clear it will not be tolerated.

In my experience, if the person at the top gives a lead, team members will follow. One chat with each probably will not be enough so you should schedule further meetings with each in a couple of months to reinforce the message.

If their behaviour has improved, you can praise them for helping to create a better team environment.

If the behaviour persists, you will have to consider whether to instigate tougher action. If this takes the form of formal warnings, you will have to involve HR. Ultimately, if it still is not resolved, heads will have to roll.

You also need to talk to your senior colleagues, explain what has been happening and how you are dealing with it to get them to buy into your approach. You may also suggest that the company should have a written policy for how to deal with sexual harassment or good female colleagues will start to leave. You need to remind senior colleagues the objective is to grow the business and beat the competition and that can only be done if the workforce is unified and people enjoy working there.

Many years ago, there was a guy in my team who was making female colleagues feel uncomfortable. As soon as I realised what was happening, I told him he could not behave like that. At first, he thought it was a huge joke, but he soon realised I was serious and promised to stop. Sadly, he was unable to change and, after another warning he went through a disciplinary process and left the firm. I felt frustrated because he was so talented and could have had a great future in our business.