If your business is serious about eliminating the risk of sexual harassment — and it should be — you need to approach the problem comprehensively. This means recognizing that sexual harassment is part of a continuum of interconnected behaviors that range from gender bias to incivility to legally actionable assault. All these kinds of misconduct should be addressed collectively because sexual harassment is far more likely in organizations that experience offenses on the “less severe” end of the spectrum than in those that don’t.

There’s no one-size-fits-all program for eliminating inappropriate gender-related behaviors; the best programs specifically address the characteristics of each workplace’s culture. The vital first step, then, is to get an accurate picture of yours. How? Ask your employees directly. Do they see disparities in career opportunities? Are colleagues or supervisors rude to each other? Is there inappropriate sexual conduct? Do employees feel uncomfortable or unsafe at work?

The best way to find all this out is with a carefully designed employee survey. In this article, we’ll offer some key principles for fashioning one, along with a model survey that you can adapt (which incorporates some of the recommendations the EEOC made for surveys in its 2017 proposed enforcement guidance on harassment). Our advice is based on insights we developed while working with major business organizations and conducting several hundred gender-focused workshops and moderated conversations around the United States.

Though we think a workplace climate survey can be immensely valuable, we caution that managers and leaders should proceed only if they’re fully committed to thoroughly and quickly addressing inappropriate behavior in their organizations. Once the surveys are undertaken, they’ll create expectations of remedial action. They might also attract unwanted publicity or be used against the company in future litigation. Those risks, however, are substantially outweighed by the opportunity to develop a work environment that’s free of sexual misconduct, gender bias, and incivility.

STEP 1: COMMUNICATE WITH EMPLOYEES

Inform your employees that you’re undertaking an effort to understand how fair, courteous, and safe their workplace is. The goal is to encourage engaged and completely candid answers to the survey. For that reason, it should be anonymous and administered by a third party, not your HR department. Employees won’t have faith that their answers are confidential if the survey is conducted in-house, and if you don’t offer true anonymity, their responses are less likely to be honest.

It’s crucial for employees to believe that management considers an unbiased and harassment-free workplace a priority and is sincere in its commitment to that objective. That will happen only if senior management openly endorses the initiative, communicates the importance of supporting it to the entire management team, and periodically speaks to all employees about it.

Employees also need to believe that the end result will be better policies for everyone. This last point can’t be emphasized too strongly. If the steps you take to combat inappropriate gender-related behaviors are seen solely as efforts to “protect” women because of their vulnerability, the initiative will backfire.

The first organization-wide letter to employees might begin with a statement like this:

We are gathering information on a confidential basis to better understand our business’s workplace climate. Our goal is to ensure that all employees receive equal opportunities, respect, and resources in a workplace that is free of incivility and does not tolerate inappropriate sexual conduct.

The survey that you’ll receive shortly is the first step toward achieving that objective.

We have hired a third-party administrator to conduct the survey on a strictly anonymous basis. Your answers and identity will be carefully protected from disclosure.

The administrator will contact you separately and detail its procedures for preserving anonymity.

The survey you’ll receive is divided into four parts: gender bias, incivility, inappropriate sexual conduct, and overall workplace climate. All four areas are important, so please be as candid as possible in giving your views.

 

Employees should also be told that only the third-party administrator will see the raw survey results and that it will provide an analysis of those results to management. Once management receives that report, employees should be advised of the nature of and timetable for next steps.

We suggest that you emphasize that because the survey is anonymous, your organization cannot investigate or remedy specific claims raised by respondents — unless the incidents are separately reported in accordance with existing company procedures. Urge your employees to use those procedures if appropriate.

STEP 2: DRAW UP YOUR SURVEY

Whether you start with the assessment that we provide in this article or create your own questions, you should tailor your survey to your organization’s culture and climate. Keep in mind the following:

• Avoid questions that could be used — or thought to be used — to identify participants, such as those about title, age, tenure with the company, responsibilities, and workplace location.
• Don’t ask about marital or domestic status, sexual preference, children, or prior involvement in sexual misconduct investigations or proceedings. An inappropriate question in a job interview is equally inappropriate in a workplace climate survey.
• Keep the survey on point. Resist the temptation to use it as an opportunity to ask employees more broadly about their experiences, expectations, and future plans.
• Make the survey short and unambiguous. It should take no more than 10 minutes to finish. You may use true/false, multiple choice, or open-ended questions, but in our experience, the most useful approach is to incorporate a scale. Develop a series of statements that participants will be asked to indicate their degree of agreement with, using a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). With statements that are intended to examine the frequency of specific behaviors, use a scale of 1 (very frequently) to 4 (never).

STEP 3: EVALUATE

A workplace climate survey needs no statistical evaluation beyond a simple tabulation. You’re just attempting to determine whether some of your employees believe there are gender-related problems in your work environment and what those problems are.

Bear in mind that the survey is not an end in itself; it’s a tool to identify whether you need new policies, practices, and procedures to eliminate inappropriate behavior and protect your employees against sexual harassment. Your results may indicate additional steps are necessary. You might need to assemble focus groups, conduct personal interviews, or host roundtable discussions. Since your goal is to ensure you have a welcoming, supportive, and productive workplace, the real work begins once you have a clear picture of your business’s actual climate. Below is a template you can use when constructing your survey:

MODEL WORKPLACE CLIMATE SURVEY

Complete the following survey about your experience at XYZ Company, without referring to experiences at any prior organizations. The value of this survey depends directly on getting an accurate view of our workplace culture, so please answer all questions as honestly as possible.

1. Which of the following describes your gender?
• Male
• Female
• Prefer to self-describe (specify)
• Prefer not to say

Gender Bias

2. I feel valued by the organization.
(1) Strongly disagree
(2) Disagree
(3) Slightly disagree
(4) Neither agree nor disagree, or have no opinion
(5) Slightly agree
(6) Agree
(7) Strongly agree

3. I believe my opportunities for career success are negatively affected by my gender.
(1) Strongly disagree
(2) Disagree
(3) Slightly disagree
(4) Neither agree nor disagree, or have no opinion
(5) Slightly agree
(6) Agree
(7) Strongly agree

4. The people I work with treat me with respect and appreciation.
(1) Strongly disagree
(2) Disagree
(3) Slightly disagree
(4) Neither agree nor disagree, or have no opinion
(5) Slightly agree
(6) Agree
(7) Strongly agree

5. My views are encouraged and welcomed by my supervisors and senior leaders without regard to my gender.
(1) Strongly disagree
(2) Disagree
(3) Slightly disagree
(4) Neither agree nor disagree, or have no opinion
(5) Slightly agree
(6) Agree
(7) Strongly agree

6. Career-enhancing assignments and opportunities are disproportionately given to men.
(1) Strongly disagree
(2) Disagree
(3) Slightly disagree
(4) Neither agree nor disagree, or have no opinion
(5) Slightly agree
(6) Agree
(7) Strongly agree

Civility

7. My coworkers are courteous and friendly.
(1) Strongly disagree
(2) Disagree
(3) Slightly disagree
(4) Neither agree nor disagree, or have no opinion
(5) Slightly agree
(6) Agree
(7) Strongly agree

8. I’m aware of unpleasant and negative gossip in the workplace.
(1) Strongly disagree
(2) Disagree
(3) Slightly disagree
(4) Neither agree nor disagree, or have no opinion
(5) Slightly agree
(6) Agree
(7) Strongly agree

9. I’m aware of abusive, disrespectful, or hostile treatment of employees.
(1) Strongly disagree
(2) Disagree
(3) Slightly disagree
(4) Neither agree nor disagree, or have no opinion
(5) Slightly agree
(6) Agree
(7) Strongly agree

10. I’m aware of bullying behavior in the workplace.
(1) Strongly disagree
(2) Disagree
(3) Slightly disagree
(4) Neither agree nor disagree, or have no opinion
(5) Slightly agree
(6) Agree
(7) Strongly agree

11. There are adverse consequences for senior leaders who are abusive, disrespectful, or hostile.
(1) Strongly disagree
(2) Disagree
(3) Slightly disagree
(4) Neither agree nor disagree, or have no opinion
(5) Slightly agree
(6) Agree
(7) Strongly agree

12. I have been criticized for my personal communication style or appearance.
(1) Very frequently
(2) Somewhat frequently
(3) Not at all frequently
(4) Never

13. All individuals are valued here.
(1) Strongly disagree
(2) Disagree
(3) Slightly disagree
(4) Neither agree nor disagree, or have no opinion
(5) Slightly agree
(6) Agree
(7) Strongly agree

Inappropriate Sexual Conduct

14. I have experienced or witnessed unwanted physical conduct in the workplace or by coworkers away from the workplace.
(1) Very frequently
(2) Somewhat frequently
(3) Not at all frequently
(4) Never

15. I have witnessed or heard of offensive or inappropriate sexual jokes, innuendoes, banter, or comments in our workplace.
(1) Very frequently
(2) Somewhat frequently
(3) Not at all frequently
(4) Never

16. I have witnessed or heard of the electronic transmission of sexually explicit materials or comments by coworkers.
(1) Very frequently
(2) Somewhat frequently
(3) Not at all frequently
(4) Never

17. I have received sexually inappropriate phone calls, text messages, or social media attention from a coworker.
(1) Very frequently
(2) Somewhat frequently
(3) Not at all frequently
(4) Never

18. I have been asked or have witnessed inappropriate questions of a sexual nature.
(1) Very frequently
(2) Somewhat frequently
(3) Not at all frequently
(4) Never

19. I have been the subject of conduct that I consider to be sexual harassment.
(1) Very frequently
(2) Somewhat frequently
(3) Not at all frequently
(4) Never

20. Managers here tolerate or turn a blind eye to inappropriate sexual conduct.
(1) Strongly disagree
(2) Disagree
(3) Slightly disagree
(4) Neither agree nor disagree, or have no opinion
(5) Slightly agree
(6) Agree
(7) Strongly agree

21. I feel unsafe at work because of inappropriate sexual conduct by some individuals.
(1) Strongly disagree
(2) Disagree
(3) Slightly disagree
(4) Neither agree nor disagree, or have no opinion
(5) Slightly agree
(6) Agree
(7) Strongly agree

22. I’ve seen career opportunities be favorably allocated on the basis of existing or expected sexual interactions.
(1) Strongly disagree
(2) Disagree
(3) Slightly disagree
(4) Neither agree nor disagree, or have no opinion
(5) Slightly agree
(6) Agree
(7) Strongly agree

23. I would be comfortable reporting inappropriate sexual conduct by a coworker.
(1) Strongly disagree
(2) Disagree
(3) Slightly disagree
(4) Neither agree nor disagree, or have no opinion
(5) Slightly agree
(6) Agree
(7) Strongly agree

24. I would be comfortable reporting inappropriate sexual conduct by a supervisor.
(1) Strongly disagree
(2) Disagree
(3) Slightly disagree
(4) Neither agree nor disagree, or have no opinion
(5) Slightly agree
(6) Agree
(7) Strongly agree

Overall Workplace Climate

25. My productivity has been affected by inappropriate gender-related behavior in the workplace.
(1) Strongly disagree
(2) Disagree
(3) Slightly disagree
(4) Neither agree nor disagree, or have no opinion
(5) Slightly agree
(6) Agree
(7) Strongly agree

26. I have considered leaving my job because of inappropriate gender-related behavior in the workplace.
(1) Strongly disagree
(2) Disagree
(3) Slightly disagree
(4) Neither agree nor disagree, or have no opinion
(5) Slightly agree
(6) Agree
(7) Strongly agree

27. Star performers are held to the same standards as other employees with respect to inappropriate gender-related behavior.
(1) Strongly disagree
(2) Disagree
(3) Slightly disagree
(4) Neither agree nor disagree, or have no opinion
(5) Slightly agree
(6) Agree
(7) Strongly agree

28. I have experienced or witnessed inappropriate gender-related behavior by third parties (such as customers, vendors, and suppliers) associated with our organization.
(1) Very frequently
(2) Somewhat frequently
(3) Not at all frequently
(4) Never

29. The organization’s policies and processes with respect to prohibiting and reporting inappropriate gender-related behavior are easy to understand and follow.
(1) Strongly disagree
(2) Disagree
(3) Slightly disagree
(4) Neither agree nor disagree, or have no opinion
(5) Slightly agree
(6) Agree
(7) Strongly agree

This article originally appeared at Harvard Business Review as part of their Managing #MeToo series on January 29, 2018. The entire series can be downloaded here.