Partners - Workplace Harassment, Governance & Risk

Recent media reported incidents of workplace sexual harassment across parts of the Indian IT ecosystem-including cases reported in delivery centres in cities like Nashik and Pune-serve as an important moment of reflection for the industry as a whole. While individual organisations handle these matters through due legal and internal processes, the broader lessons are relevant to every enterprise, regardless of size, geography, or brand strength.

The IT industry has long been admired for its professionalism, process maturity, and people centric culture. Yet these incidents remind us that policies alone do not create safe workplaces-behaviour, leadership accountability, and institutional courage do.

1. Compliance Is Necessary, But Culture Is Decisive

Most IT organisations today are compliant with the letter of the POSH Act-having Internal Committees, policies, and annual disclosures. However, incidents continue to surface not because systems don’t exist, but because employees don’t always trust them.

A true culture of safety is reflected when:

  • Employees feel confident reporting concerns without fear of retaliation
  • Managers are trained to respond responsibly-not defensively
  • Harassment prevention is treated as a leadership issue, not merely an HR process

Lesson: Organisations must invest as much in behavioral norms and leadership role modelling as they do in compliance documentation.

2. Tier 2 and Tier 3 Locations Need Equal Governance Attention

Several reported cases have emerged from non metro delivery centres. As companies expand into tier 2 and tier 3 cities for talent and cost advantages, governance frameworks often struggle to scale at the same pace.

Common risk factors include:

  • Inconsistent training penetration
  • Limited external IC member engagement
  • Higher power distance and social pressures
  • Inadequate oversight of local leadership conduct

Lesson: Distributed delivery models require centralised standards with local rigor, not diluted oversight.

3. Internal Committees Must Be Independent-and Seen as Independent

Even well constituted Internal Committees can lose credibility if they are perceived as being influenced by hierarchy, business pressures, or reputational concerns.

Best in class organisations are now focusing on:

  • Strengthening the role and independence of external members
  • Clear case handling timelines and transparent communication
  • Periodic third party audits of IC processes (not case content)

Lesson: Trust in the redressal mechanism is as important as the mechanism itself.

4. Manager Capability Is the First Line of Prevention

In many incidents, early warning signs were reportedly visible but not acted upon-often due to discomfort, lack of training, or fear of escalation.

Managers must be equipped to:

  • Recognise inappropriate behaviour early
  • Intervene responsibly and document concerns
  • Escalate without attempting “informal resolutions”

Lesson: Harassment prevention training should be role specific, with deeper focus on people managers and leadership layers.

5. Reputation Is Built by Response, Not Absence of Incidents

No organisation can credibly claim zero risk. What stakeholders-employees, clients, and partners-watch closely is how cases are handled:

  • Speed and seriousness of response
  • Protection of complainants from backlash
  • Willingness to act, irrespective of seniority or performance

Lesson: Ethical response strengthens brand trust more than quiet damage control.

Moving Forward: From Policy to Practice

For the IT industry, this moment should not be viewed as reputational threat, but as an opportunity to reset the conversation from compliance to conscience.

Organisations that will lead the next decade successfully will be those that:

  • Treat workplace safety as a strategic risk and culture priority
  • Measure trust, not just training completion
  • Engage external expertise for assessment and course correction
  • Hold leadership accountable-not just employees

A safe workplace is not only a legal requirement-it is a business imperative and a moral one.

Author:

Gyanendra Kumar Mishra, Partner

Disclaimer:

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.