Don't Think "It Can't Happen Here"
There has been a fair amount of press lately on things getting out of hand in the workplace and in sports. Recent coverage of the employee spanking at a training session and coverage of the Duke lacrosse scandal are only the tip of the iceberg. This story of yet another office prank which went a bit too far suggests that without the proper oversight, this kind of thing can happen anywhere, despite the belief by many that "it can't happen here." In addition, with all of the focus on Duke, this site (not for the faint of heart) shows that questionable behavior occurs in more places than you think.
As we conduct workplace investigations at my firm, we periodically find that the corporation has no idea that inappropriate behavior was occurring. The reality, however, is that remote locations, without proper oversight can develop cultures and mores of their own, some of which are not the type that the organization will want portrayed on the front page of the newspaper.
We all certainly did foolish things as kids in college. However, when this apparent lack of judgment spills over into the workplace, we often wonder what happened. The truth is that it is all around us and now is the time to start thinking about it and doing something before your firm ends up on the front page of the newspaper with people saying "what were they thinking?"
