'You're not going to completely stomp it out,' says one HR leader
With almost 20 years in the HR industry, Stephanie Hammerwold has dealt with her fair share of sexual harassment cases in the workplace.
Incidents have ranged from minor offenses, such as colleagues making inappropriate jokes, to more serious altercations, which have included physical altercations. At one point early in her career, a manager groped and tried to kiss an employee in the hallway. That was one of the few sexual harassment cases in her career that resulted in termination.
Now the director of HR at Irvine, CA-based tech startup Arcules, Hammerwold has worked hand in hand with the CEO to resolve issues very quickly. “Having a master’s degree in women’s studies, I came into HR to figure out how we can make a company a harassment-free environment,” Hammerwold told HRD. “How do we stop the problem before it turns into an investigation? You’re not going to completely stomp it out, but you can do a lot of things to train people and create a culture where it’s not tolerated.”
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