Do not address the behavior of the other sales agents, but try to work with Linda to find a solution to make her more satisfied in her work. You might be able to transfer her to another sales office, or perhaps she would be interested in being a manager instead of a sales agent.
Sexual Harassment
You are the VP of Human Resources at a large public insurance company. Recently, one of your company’s top sales agents, Linda Brown, asked to see you privately. When she came to see you in your office, she told you that when she had first started with the company in the early 1980’s, she was one of the first female sales agents the company had hired. She was young and attractive, but she was also aggressive and ambitious. She said she dealt with a lot of harassing behavior back then from her male counterparts: comments about her appearance, offensive jokes, even rumors that she was “sleeping her way to the top.” At the time, she decided that she was just going to have to put up with it to be successful. She even participated in some of the suggestive banter and learned to hold her own among her sexist counterparts.
Recently, however, Linda’s perspective had changed. Although she is in her 40’s and is married, she still deals with a lot of inappropriate remarks and jokes from her fellow salespeople. What is worse, she has seen some promising young female agents leave the business because they could not handle that kind of treatment. She did not talk specifically about “sexual harassment,” but you know what she is talking about could be considered a “hostile working environment.” At the very least, you know you could lose one of your top sales agents.
You consulted Don Adams, the VP of Sales about the situation. His perspective is that the behavior in question is all innocent and is good for the morale of his workforce. He says that those like Linda who learn to operate in a sexist environment are the ones who are the most successful salespeople. “Many of the purchasing managers they call on are typical ‘good old boys’ with sexist attitudes, and if a woman can’t stand up to that kind of behavior, she’ll never win their respect and win their business.” He warned you that trying to discipline the other sales agents would lead to decreased sales and perhaps even some resignations.
After a lot of thought, you have determined that you have two main options to resolve this situation:
- Do not address the behavior of the other sales agents, but try to work with Linda to find a solution to make her more satisfied in her work. You might be able to transfer her to another sales office, or perhaps she would be interested in being a manager instead of a sales agent.
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