Lesikar's Business Communication: Connecting in a Digital World 13th Edition by Kathryn Rentz,Paula Lentz

Exercise 40

Over the last 10 years, you and four friends have grown your little technology consulting business, IT Doctors, into an 80-person company. The time has finally come to hire a human resources professional rather than contracting out the payroll and benefits services. So you hire Lauren Kiser, who brings extensive knowledge and experience to the position. After working there a couple of months, Lauren comes to you with a concern. "IT Doctors doesn't have a sexual harassment policy," she says. "I see a lot of friendly teasing going on between the male and female employees, but sometimes the females seem a bit off ended. To have a welcoming company culture and to ensure that you don't run into legal trouble, I think you really need a sexual harassment policy. It doesn't have to accuse anyone of anything. But it should make clear what constitutes sexual harassment and emphasize that any such forms of behavior are grounds for reprimand or even dismissal."
To help you develop such a policy for IT Doctors, she sends you some Web links to other companies' policies and also directs you to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC's) website. Thinking carefully about the information you've gathered and the kind of response you want from your employees, send out a memo in which you announce IT Doctors' new sexual harassment policy.