Any good boss worth his or her salt wants to ensure that they provide a good environment for any employee they have.
However, even the best boss cannot control every circumstance or person on the premise. This undoubtedly leads to conflicts and even harassment. So how does an employer address this if it happens in their own workspace?
What harassment looks like today
The New York Times discusses the evolution of harassment in the modern workplace. These days, harassment has not really wound down so much as just changed form. It is much more common for harassment to take place in virtual areas.
For example, employees may create private channels in order to talk about co-workers behind their back. This can end up with malicious rumors getting spread, and with the targeted employees feeling alienated.
Sexual harassment also still occurs. Many harassers take advantage of private communication channels as a way to attempt to solicit sexual favors from co-workers. Some may even send unwanted exposed pictures of him- or herself, or may even expose him- or herself on live video in one-on-one chats.
What employers can do about it
Of course, the best way to stop this from happening is by keeping a close pulse on the workplace. How are people interacting? What are the workplace rumors going around? Most importantly, do you have a good system for people to report harassment, and are they actually using that system?
If you hear reports of harassment, always treat it seriously and react quickly. The more your workers know that you take harassment of any kind seriously, the sooner you can stomp it out of your workplace.