A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Thursday, May 25, 2017
My Experience: How To Deal With Sexual Harassment, Glass Ceiling & Bullying At Workplace?
My article is open to arguments, discussions and questions.
Most
women become silent victims of harassment in workplace. Particularly,
the women who may not have the backing of a family, any male or other
political backing are seen, easy targets. In Sri Lanka, the importance
given to diversity and law is very less compared to that of a developed
nation. The purpose of my article is to help vulnerable females in
identifying characteristics of glass ceiling and to guide them on how to
handle it. Most women become silent victims of men who are suffering
from low self-esteem, poor education/skills and the crippled mindset.
I
will explain my experience as a fresh female graduate. I started my
first job at a leading multinational company in Sri Lanka which has won
many awards such as, Best Employer etc. I was left with three choices in
hand and I picked the one with the highest learning potential based on
the information I have received at the interview. The job was in
marketing and my goal was to move into sales which is my passion. The
job title was, “Research and Information Analyst” in which at the
interview I was briefed on the job role as well as on the path of career
progression. However, my
boss who was a great trainer left the organization shortly. I was
without a boss for 3-4 months in which my teammate took the maximum
advantage of harassing me intensely.
I was told in the first week of work by the teammate that marketing in the respective field is not for a female. He
also stated that if I wanted to be retained in the organization I need
to move into another function to which I refused. As my passion was in
marketing, hence I was sticking to the same field right throughout
regardless of all the harassment, marginalization and bullying.
Eventually I recognized that the teammate is adjusting my job role which
would differ from what I was recruited to do so. He started
continuously giving me the type of work I had no skill in or any
interest in. In addition to this, I was not given any training by the
teammate even though he was instructed to do so. As a result of the
absence of training, if I make an error, he will ensure that the error
gets noticed by the entire marketing leadership team instead of
addressing my training needs. His objective was to ensure that I never
get retained in the organization. Whenever I used to speak to him on the
training needs, he would state that it’s on the job training but on the
other hand he would train only the male fresh employees. I was
insisting him to contact the previous employee for me to get training on
the role yet he kept on ignoring. I was also bullied by him on my
attire or the appearance which was harming my self-esteem at a large
scale. Another form of harassment I experienced was that the
employees I was working with would take things from my personal life
and attack me in my professional life. There was only one female
employee who was retained in the organization but she had been in the
organization for years yet never was promoted. She too kept on laughing
at me taking personal things which was a form of bullying. In fact,
supporting all the harassment, bullying and the glass ceiling, I further
I realized every female employee who had been working in the particular
department had left for some reason. The female employee who had been
there before me I learned was to be an extremely talented employee but
she has been subject to sexual harassment. The
teammate threatened me not to complain regarding the harassment and
also he ensured that I never get to contact with the senior marketing
leadership. He did this by telling the others that I am trying to “sleep
with them” to progress in the career which I was overhearing. These
comments embarrassed me and since I did not know how to handle the
situation I kept quiet and distant.
Unable
to bear with the harassment and the glass ceiling I decided to speak to
the newly appointed HR manager when the teammate was not in the office.
The discussion with HR manager with this regard was useless since he
seems to be a good friend of the teammate at personal level. The HR
informed that I will be given any type of work which could contrast with
what I was recruited to do. He informed it is not a matter of choice.
In seeing the strong personal network among the senior employees left me
in a very helpless situation. The solution given by the HR manager was
that I will continue to be trained by my teammate. I cried so hard and
another female manager in Finance noticed me crying so hard in the
washroom and instructed me on speaking the Director, HR. However, I was
scared and did not speak up. As I was living alone and my teammate was
continuously threatening me against complaining I decided to keep quiet.
The teammate kept on insisting me to move to a different department
stating no female will be retained in the department.
The
experience was deathly to the extent that I was diagnosed with severe
depression and attempted suicide. The company doctor was aware of the
situation and tried helping me. He once asked me if he can complain to
the Director, Marketing for me but I was scared to speak up thinking how
it could affect my personal safety since I was living alone.