I am required, at my current job, to take an annual ethics refresher course. This computer-based traning module uses hypothetical scenarios to quiz employees about what is and isn't appropriate in the workplace. Intellectual property rights, conflicts of interest, insider training — they're all part of the ethical stew boiling on the burner of businesses these days. No one wants to be the next Enron.
Funny thing is, the most widely reported unethical practice reported at my company last year didn't have anything to do with stock trading or stealing secrets. It was sexual harassment.
Are people tired of hearing others make a lewd comment? Or are women being propositioned with threats of losing their job if they do not cooperate?
I'd guess that there isn't much mysterious and puzzling about a high number of sexual harassment reports.
I think that, in general, the world's filled with a bunch of perverts. We're all perverts, really. Admit it. Have you ever told a dirty joke? Or watched someone nude in a movie? It might depend on what constitutes perversion in your own world. But it's safe to say we're all human, we're all sexual beings, and we all got here because two people inserted flap A into slot B.
What gets people into trouble is lack of tact. People don't know when to shut up. Or when to avoid opening their mouth in the first place. People have trouble keeping their thoughts and, in some cases, their hands to themselves.
I've had men call me honey and sweetie and sugar at work. I once was asked whether I wanted to see some guy's pecker. Turns out it was a woodpecker statue on his office windowsill, but the innuendo oozed from that moment like pus from a boil. A police detective I worked with when I was a reporter once watched me walk through inclement weather and into a building. When I smoothed down my skirt with my palms and declared, "Wow, it's windy out there," he smirked, deliberately stared at my butt and said, "Wow. Why yes it is." Then there was the news editor who loved to create new expletives and try them out on me. My personal "favorite" was one that involved both a barnyard animal and a crude name for a sexual act.
Some of us know what's appropriate. Many do not. I thought it ironic that we call it an ethics "refresher" course. Some people should be a little less fresh.
Funny thing is, the most widely reported unethical practice reported at my company last year didn't have anything to do with stock trading or stealing secrets. It was sexual harassment.
Are people tired of hearing others make a lewd comment? Or are women being propositioned with threats of losing their job if they do not cooperate?
I'd guess that there isn't much mysterious and puzzling about a high number of sexual harassment reports.
I think that, in general, the world's filled with a bunch of perverts. We're all perverts, really. Admit it. Have you ever told a dirty joke? Or watched someone nude in a movie? It might depend on what constitutes perversion in your own world. But it's safe to say we're all human, we're all sexual beings, and we all got here because two people inserted flap A into slot B.
What gets people into trouble is lack of tact. People don't know when to shut up. Or when to avoid opening their mouth in the first place. People have trouble keeping their thoughts and, in some cases, their hands to themselves.
I've had men call me honey and sweetie and sugar at work. I once was asked whether I wanted to see some guy's pecker. Turns out it was a woodpecker statue on his office windowsill, but the innuendo oozed from that moment like pus from a boil. A police detective I worked with when I was a reporter once watched me walk through inclement weather and into a building. When I smoothed down my skirt with my palms and declared, "Wow, it's windy out there," he smirked, deliberately stared at my butt and said, "Wow. Why yes it is." Then there was the news editor who loved to create new expletives and try them out on me. My personal "favorite" was one that involved both a barnyard animal and a crude name for a sexual act.
Some of us know what's appropriate. Many do not. I thought it ironic that we call it an ethics "refresher" course. Some people should be a little less fresh.
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