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

Exercise 24

You were recently hired as assistant manager at one of the four branch offices of a regional, privately owned insurance company. As you get to know the business's operations, you realize that the company has no sexual harassment policy. You mention this fact to your boss, the branch manager, and she agrees that this is a problem. The company was an all-male operation (except for secretaries) for many years, but several female agents-and even one female manager, your boss-have been hired over the last 10 years or so, and the company is now about 12 percent female. An official sexual harassment policy is overdue.
"Our founder, Sam Jenkins, is a pretty old-fashioned businessman, though," she says. "He likes to think that we're one big happy family, and he may worry that adopting a sexual harassment policy will offend some of the employees and hint that there are problems where there are none." Together, she and you decide to write a carefully prepared proposal to Jenkins and his HR director that will convince them to adopt a sexual harassment policy. You'll do sufficient research on the topic to be able to provide convincing reasons for this move. You'll also prepare the policy that you want the company to adopt and offer suggestions for its implementation.