#MeToo in the Corporate World
Power, Privilege, and the Path Forward
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Economist and award-winning author Sylvia Ann Hewlett blends vivid stories with powerful new data in assessing the impact of the #MeToo movement in corporate America and provides concrete action to help executives and companies create more inclusive and safe work environments for women, people of color, and LGBTQ employees. While the #MeToo movement has exposed the enormous harm done by sexual misconduct in the workplace, the movement’s full promise has not been fulfilled, Sylvia Ann Hewlett argues. Showcasing new data on the incidence of sexual harassment and assault at work, she reveals how the movement has focused almost exclusively on white women and failed to support other vulnerable groups who are also targets of abuse. Black men, gay men and women, and Latinas experience particularly high rates of sexual harassment and assault.
In addition to exploring the movement’s limitations, Hewlett examines the collateral damage inflicted by #MeToo. She looks at hits to the bottom line (lawsuits and settlements, tarnished brands, and stock devaluations) and hits to the talent pipeline. In particular she shows how male leaders, fearful of gossip and legal action, are increasingly skittish about sponsoring young women, no matter how high performing they are. This makes it much more likely that women will stall out mid-career and will deprive companies of diversity in the C-Suite and “gender smarts” around decision-making tables. Digging deep into examples that range from Fox News, Nike, and Google to CBS, Michigan State University, and the Catholic Church, Hewlett lays bare the financial losses associated with sexual misconduct scandals. No wonder corporate chief risk officers newly have #MeToo in their line of sight!
A third of this book is devoted to solutions and Hewlett offers a three-pronged strategy, combining legal remedies with individual and corporate action steps that can be used to protect employees and businesses they work for. Drawing from companies as different as IBM and IPG she discusses “experiments at the edge” as well as more evolved initiatives that can help any corporation create a more equitable and safer environment.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A strong entry-level "but what now?" look at the #MeToo movement arrives from economist and consultant Hewlett. Making clear her personal stake in the issue of workplace harassment, Hewlett recounts how her early career was derailed when her boss's boss groped and forcibly kissed her. She then takes readers through the #MeToo movement's history, the available statistics on workplace harassment, and the financial impact on companies that harbor abusers. She has good news to report on #MeToo's effect on industry; with the silence around harassment broken, norms are shifting. But the issue is far from resolved, she notes, as demonstrated by the stories of prominent "boomerang boys" who only endured temporary ostracism for their abusive actions. Setting out a full suite of possible responses, Hewlett tells plaintiffs to seek legal redress in court, rather than through arbitration, and advises corporate boards that zero-tolerance policies, though "not for the fainthearted," are effective ways to carry out sweeping change. As such, it's not immediately clear whether the primary intended audience for this otherwise well-explained guide consists of people who have suffered abuse or corporate board members trying to protect their bottom lines, but frustrated employees in need of ideas for actions to take will find some solid suggestions within.
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