The Workplace Band Aid And 5 Tips

Type in the word Ghomeshi to any search engine these days and you will find volumes of information about the latest shock waves that are making their way around the HR world based on the recently released report “CBC WORKPLACE INVESTIGATION REGARDING JIAN GHOMESHI.”
You can see a copy of that full report here: 
The report was written by the reputable firm Rubin Thomlinson who conducted a total of 99 interviews. The interviews included a wide variety of witnesses that were connected with the Jian Ghomeshi issue and provided wide ranging perspectives regarding Mr. Ghomeshi’s behaviour.
The atmosphere surrounding the behaviour of Mr. Ghomeshi was incredibly toxic.
Every organization can learn much from the fallout and the contents of the report but we can sum it up in 5 ‘simple’ tips for businesses to follow. Track these within your organization and you can go a long way to avoiding the nightmare that plagues the CBC.
Ghomeshi might be gone but there is going to be plenty of residual damage in the workplace with employees throughout the broadcasting industry wondering whether anything has changed and could what happened re-occur under somebody else’s watch.

Make it your goal to be the “most interested person” in your organization, not the “most interesting person” in your organization.

Top 5 Tips for Organizations:

  1. Develop and articulate a zero tolerance policy
  2. Provide a safe environment to foster open discussion about the issue of respectful conduct issues and what bullying and harassment might look like if it shows up
  3. Provide leaders and employees with training on how to identify a workplace bully and how to have those difficult conversations
  4. Provide leaders with training on conflict management and provide them with resources such as access to outside facilitators and coaches who can provide assistance to them within the organization
  5. Be authentic and spend time listening to your employees. Make it your goal to be the “most interested person” in your organization, not the “most interesting person” in your organization.

Think back to the situation within the CBC and ask yourself if these 5 steps had been taken and not just implemented, but embraced, would Mr. Ghomeshi have been able to survive and thrive like he did?
Every employer has a legal responsibility to ensure they have a workplace where it is safe for their employees to go to work. Creating change like this is never going to be easy but it is definitely the right thing to do.
Ripping the band aid from the skin is always painful, but we all understand that it has to be done for healing to occur.