Canadian HR Reporter

Canadian HR RepoRteR January 26, 2015 FeAtures 19 EmploymentSource™ New to WestlawNext® Canada EmploymentSource is your fastest route to the employment and OH&S law you need to expertly advise clients, employers and unions. Be more effective and efficient in your research with the right mix of resources in one online research tool. EmploymentSource combines exclusive expert commentary, case law, legislation and dismissal notice periods, with functionality that is easy to use. Experience the benefits • Prepare winning dismissal litigation strategies • Defend occupational health & safety charges • Advise clients/employers regarding health and safety compliance Visit westlawnextcanada.comemploymentsource or contact us at 1-866-609-5811 for more details 00224VB-A47772 Melanie Kerr director of HR shared services at KPMG in Toronto The financial ser vices firm has just over 5,000 employees in Canada w hy does sexual harassment continue to be a challenge in the workplace even today, de- spite years of rules and recommendations? It's a good question and an issue KPmG has been working on for a number of years, according to mel- anie Kerr, director of hr shared services at KPmG in toronto. "Today's workplace tends to be far more informal in our interactions with people and colleagues in the work- place and the nature of our interactions, coupled with the widespread use of social media — those are the key contributors." Social media definitely makes the situation more chal- lenging for HR, she said. "(Sexual harassment is) no less prevalent with younger generations than it is with older generations." KPMG's policy covers all forms of harassment, including cyberbullying, said Kerr. And it doesn't always involve a superior and subordinate. "I've certainly heard and seen harassment occur at a peer-to-peer level and from top- down so it doesn't always have to be a power imbalance situation." And there are repercussions when it comes to sexual harassment, such as pro- ductivity issues, said Kerr. "Employee well-being and employee wellness is important to us — it certainly has an impact on productivity. If people are not feeling safe in the workplace, then obviously that's going to impact their well- being and their productivity. "And then, as an employer, we do have a legal obligation as well to create a safe environment for our people." KPMG's respect-at-work policy is combined with mandatory employee training to define acceptable and unacceptable behaviour and the conse- quences that will occur if an incident does take place. With 36 locations across the country, the 5,000-employee firm delivers much of the training electronically, she said. ere is specific training for all employees and additional training for anyone who's a people manager so, as part of onboarding, everyone reviews the policy and completes the training. And while it's important to have a policy as sort of baseline, the policy is only as good as the enforcement mechanism or compliance that accompanies it, she said. "If you have a policy and nobody abides by it, then the policy is useless, so enforcement is certainly a critical part." An organization might have a policy and it might even enforce that policy, but if the issues still stay underground because people don't feel comfortable, "that doesn't mean you've got an enforcement issue, that means you've got a culture issue," said Kerr. "So we have the policy, we try and create the culture and then we certainly enforce it when there are issues that are brought to light." It's about creating an environment where people are encouraged to come forward, she said. "Our policy encourages people, it gives people a variety of mechanisms to voice concerns: ey can talk to HR, they can talk to our hotline, a whistleblow- er line, they can talk to anybody in a management role who they're comfortable with. And anytime that happens, people in a management role have duties and obligations to then deal with whatever is brought to them. So we're trying to cre- ate a culture where people are comfortable bringing it forward and sharing it." It always starts at the top in terms of leadership being supportive, being a role model for behaviour and actually instilling that in the people below them, said Kerr. And KPMG's policy applies to all employees, regardless of their level, location or performance. "It doesn't matter. Our executive sponsor of our policy is our chief human resources officer so she is aware of any and all incidents that need to get ad- dressed, and it's irrelevant in terms of who the individual is."

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