10TV: OhioHealth efforts to combat sexual harassment in the workplace

The Me Too movement has prompted many organizations to take a hard look at what they are doing to raise  awareness about sexual harassment and efforts they are making to combat it.

 OhioHealth, the fourth largest employer in central Ohio, has a robust program aimed at addressing not only sexual harassment but harassment of any kind in the workplace.

10TV reporter Shelby Croft interviewed OhioHealth Chief Human Resources Officer, Johnni Beckel, Chief Diversity  & Inclusion Officer, Todd Corley, and local attorney, Lisa Kathumbi, from Bricker and Eckler ​to learn more. 

At OhioHealth...
At OhioHealth, first and foremost, it all starts awith culture. From day one at orientation and throughtout an associate's career, there is a culture based on honoring the dignity and worth of every person. That means treating your co-workers with kindness and respect, regardless of their color, sex, religion or anything else. That’s the foundation and we start that at first day orientation of every associate. We evaluate our associates not just on WHAT they do HOW they do it and how they treat others around them.

In addition to early and ongoing training, there is:

• an Ethics and Compliance hotline where people can feel free calling to share any complaints they may have about anything, including sexual aggression. They can do that anonymously if they so choose. And we follow up on every single call. We encourage associates, if they “see something, say something.”
• a “Code of Conduct” document, reviewed annually, that contains a section on sexual harassment.
• the “WE L.E.A.D. Business Resource Group (BRG) which focuses on all aspects of being a woman in the workplace, including sexual harassment and sexual discrimination. We also have BRGs for the LGBTQ community, administrative assistants and others.
• a unique approach to education that we call "unconscious bias theater." It's actually a series of presentations, actual scenarios, acted out by professional actors. It attempts to make people of aware of biases and attitudes that they may be totally unaware of. This “unconscious bias applies to racial situations, LGBTQ issues and sexist behavior.
• a Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer” so that there are always eyes looking at how we can create an even better working environment.

OhioHealth has been on FORTUNE’s list of the “100 Best Places to Work For” 12 consecutive years but we are always striving to do better by living our culture every day.