Jared Pope of Work Shield On How Managers & Team Leaders Can Help Eliminate Workplace Bullying and Harassment
Never stop learning. — Leaders should continually offer training programs on the warning signs of harassment and educate individuals on how to report it.
Workplace bullying and harassment are unfortunately prevalent in many organizations, affecting the mental health and well-being of employees. These issues can lead to decreased productivity, high turnover, and toxic work environments. Managers and team leaders have a crucial role to play in addressing and preventing these situations, fostering a culture of respect, inclusion, and support. In this interview series, we are talking to speak with experts, such as HR professionals, psychologists, organizational consultants, team leaders, and successful managers, who can share their insights and experiences on “How Managers & Team Leaders Can Help Eliminate Workplace Bullying and Harassment.” As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Jared Pope.
Jared Pope is a Benefits and Employment Law specialist with over a decade of experience in human resources, ERISA, benefits and employment matters. Recognizing drastic issues within the “system” for managing workplace harassment and discrimination, Jared founded Work Shield in 2018, as the first and only start-to-finish workplace harassment and discrimination solution and technology platform. Work Shield gives employees a real voice through unbiased, third-party reporting, while giving the employer visibility to their cultural health and the peace of mind that the situation will be resolved efficiently.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
After graduating from the SMU Dedman School of Law, I knew that I wanted to make a difference in this world. From witnessing the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, I recognized first-hand the need for a better way to report harassment, discrimination and misconduct. Hotlines and internal reporting were simply not working as they put the onus of the investigation back on the employer, and there was no capture of the culture data at the ground level. In 2018, my wife, Jennifer, and I, along with my business partner Travis Foster decided enough was enough and founded Work Shield to solve the ever-growing problem.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
There may be too many to provide, as I think any entrepreneurial journey has tons of interesting stories to tell, but more importantly, the lesson learned from such stories. I think the one underlining aspect to the stories and the lesson for me, however, is to “control what you can control, and not worry about anything else.”
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Work Shield is the first-of-its-kind incident management platform to report, investigate and resolve misconduct by giving employees a voice to be heard and providing peace of mind to the employer. While internal reporting structures allow for potential bias and inefficiency, not to mention a fear of reporting due to the onus being put on the employer to complete the investigation, Work Shield utilizes a team of third-party investigators — guaranteeing unbiased and efficient reporting. One story of our efficiency relates to a client of ours based in the south of the US. Prior to Work Shield, their internal investigation timeline would take nearly 70+ days to complete, and often required the internal HR team and/or managers/supervisors to get involved and handle the investigations (all while trying to complete their normal job functions). When Work Shield was implemented mid-year, we dropped their investigation completion timeline by 80%+, all while increasing organizational culture, retention and productivity. Sometimes it is the easy solution right in front of us that make the biggest difference and impact!
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Persistence. In short, success takes time, but be persistent. No matter what you embark on, whether knowledge, experience or growing a company, it takes time but it also takes motivation to be persistent. That time can be shorter on some, but longer on others. Success is not something that happens “overnight.” It takes planting your “seeds” and allowing them to grow. I think so many people read about this company or that company which sold for millions or even billions in what appears to be that “overnight” success. What they don’t realize is that the person who “started” that “overnight success” company experienced failures or learned lessons that proved to be a “seed” to their success of today and, underlining it all, stayed persistent in their pursuit of their goal.
Gut Instincts. Sometimes we ignore our instinct, that little voice in our ear or that gut feeling. Instead, we rationalize why we shouldn’t act on instinct, listen to that voice or trust your gut. Although not all the time, but a majority of the time your instincts are generally correct or reflect the nature of what is true. When we don’t listen or trust, the key then is to remember and note that feeling, and be sure to use it as a barometer in the future. We’ve all been in these situations.
Be Curious. Curiosity is something that will always help leaders to understand, acknowledge and learn. For example, everyone is a connection and has a purpose to your faith-driven life. The question is whether or not you are curious to understand why or know how? If in sales, don’t worry about whether someone says yes or no, but be curious of their decision, why they came to that decision or reason or even how. Focus more on the process and understand that each yes and no is the same, as each answer provides a learning ground to take with you. For some, the “no’s” will lead you to the next “yes” because you were curious about your process and why they said “no”, or maybe you thought about the approach to the sale, learned from it, and then adjusted your pitch (i.e., you were curious). More importantly, a lead or prospect may lead you to your next connection that has tons of business for you — but you have to be curious about them, the process they are in, etc. In summary, understand that there is a path and each person serves a purpose in that path, as long as you are curious to yourself, them and/or the process/reason. Treat each one equally, because you don’t know what is hiding around the corner.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Let’s start with a basic definition so that all of us are on the same page. What does “Workplace Bullying and Harassment” mean?
Workplace bullying deals with unwanted, repeated behavior that is meant to harm individuals physically and/or emotionally — but is not based on protected characteristics like race, religion, age and more. Workplace bullies might be clients, bosses or fellow coworkers who belittle others, take credit for another individual’s work, intentionally leave people out of meetings and make individuals feel unsafe, anxious and powerless. Harassment in the workplace is intentional behavior based on the factors above (race, religion, age, etc.) — and can happen psychologically, physically or sexually.
This might be intuitive to you, but it will be helpful to clearly express this. Can you please explain why it is so important for leaders to help eliminate workplace bullying and harassment? Why should this be a priority over many other wonderful workplace initiatives?
It is imperative for leaders to eliminate workplace bullying and harassment for a multitude of reasons. When unwanted behaviors, actions and instances of harassment become normalized by organizations, workplace culture takes a huge hit — affecting an individual’s workplace productivity, and more importantly their happiness — in the office and even outside of it. While other workplace initiatives are important, if not properly handled, workplace bullying and harassment will bleed into an employees’ quality of life, increase employer stress and quickly create a negative reputation for your organization. Workplace bullying and harassment also put an organization at great risk for increased cost from litigation and reputational damage.
On the flip side, what happens to a work culture when there is not an effective way of mitigating harassment? How does it impact employees?
Without an effective way of mitigating harassment, the first thing affected is an employee’s trust. No longer feeling safe, individuals will begin to fear speaking up about the misconduct they face — or worse, not speaking up at all. Workplace satisfaction will decline, directly impacting retention rates and setting the stage for voluntary employee turnover.
In your opinion, why is sexual harassment and bullying in the workplace and in our schooling systems still so hard to prevent in a modern and advanced society? What are the root causes of workplace harassment?
From children to individuals established in their careers, there are usually barriers to reporting sexual harassment and bullying — and situations are not taken as seriously as they should be. Power dynamics make it increasingly difficult to prevent instances of sexual harassment and bullying, especially when the perpetrator comes from a position of authority. When promotions, reputations and even just job titles are on the line, individuals can easily feel trapped in abusive situations — flying under the radar, even in the advanced society we live in. Workplace harassment is rooted in people’s unjust drive for superiority over others.
On a societal level, what can we do to help rectify those root causes that lead to bullying and harassment?
On a societal level, we must stop normalizing toxic, offensive and abusive behavior towards others. To fix the underlying issue of harassment, organizations need an unbiased incident management platform where employees can safely and securely report incidents of misconduct. This ensures bullies and offenders are held accountable, those affected reach a fair and just resolution and organizations maintain a positive reputation.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “Five Ways Every Team Leader Can Help Eliminate Workplace Bullying and Harassment”?
Provide a psychologically safe place for employees to report harassment, discrimination and misconduct.
When employees feel protected from harm, job satisfaction will increase and employers can reduce stress caused from handling misconduct internally.
Pay attention to people analytics.
Real-time cultural data and analytics provide a behind-the-scenes look at what misconduct is happening within an organization — allowing team leaders to target the problem at its source.
Reward upstanders.
By rewarding those that speak up about negative actions or behaviors towards others, a message is sent that positive behavior is valued, and toxicity is not.
Encourage open, honest and transparent communication often.
By modeling honest communication, team leaders can frequently listen to employee concerns. Employees will begin to trust that they can come forward about the misconduct they’re facing, and those harassing and/or bullying others will stop their harmful behavior(s).
Never stop learning.
Leaders should continually offer training programs on the warning signs of harassment and educate individuals on how to report it.
What measures or indicators can leaders look for to know their efforts in combating workplace bullying and harassment are successful?
A spike in reporting could suggest that employees feel more comfortable and confident vocalizing their concerns and the harassment and/or bullying they face. Reduced voluntary employee turnover and improved job satisfaction can also be telling that toxic behaviors are now acknowledged and workplace bullying and harassment are being mitigated.
How important are company policies in preventing workplace bullying and harassment, and what should these policies entail?
Company policies are vital to preventing workplace bullying and harassment — but only when they are clearly accessible and enforced constantly, as enforcing policies inconsistently sends a message to those at the respective organization that instances of misconduct aren’t always going to be taken seriously. Policies should clearly state that workplace bullying and harassment will not be tolerated, and have clearly defined disciplinary actions in response to the severity of the incident. As part of an organization’s commitment to this, annual or bi-annual training on company policies are beneficial to educate individuals and prevent future misconduct from occurring.
Can you discuss the importance of bystander intervention in cases of workplace bullying and harassment? How can leaders encourage this practice among team members?
Bystander intervention is critical to cases of workplace bullying and harassment. When employees witness this unfair or abusive treatment and decide to speak up, they can help support the individual being harassed/bullied. When an authoritative figure is the bully or harasser, a witness to the situation can help bring situations to light. In the case that individuals affected were too scared to bring up the harm they faced, bystander intervention could be the only path to justice.
What support mechanisms should be in place for those who experience bullying or harassment at work? How have you or your organization ensured such support?
Organizations should make sure to protect and prioritize employees’ mental health and psychological safety. To do this, employers can offer employee assistance programs or counseling services — providing coping mechanisms, emotional support and more. In addition, this where having a platform like Work Shield allows for psychological safety to report, know that someone is listening to you and understands the situation. We practice what we preach!
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I believe simple pleasures are the key to life. A great amount of good for a great amount of people would include the ability for employers to offer a standard vacation policy and require employees to leave their work email/phone behind. With the recognition of mental diseases and the buildup of unused vacation days, we are becoming a society where you cannot leave work without checking your email and working during vacation. I understand that some people “have to” or “need to” given their position, but each individual gains immense clarity, rejuvenation and energy by leaving the work behind for 3–5 days. It should also require that co-workers not shame employees on vacation for not working.
How can our readers further follow you online?
Readers can find Work Shield on our LinkedIn, Instagram or website at www.workshield.com.
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
