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By Sinazo Mkoko 

“The worst form of harassment is when a bystander is silent.”

These are the words of Nene Molefi, CEO of Mandate Molefi HR Consultants, who was a keynote speaker at the 2023 Standard Bank Top Women two-day conference, which took place on October 18 and 19.

A trailblazer in the field of workplace transformation, Nene touched on her case study titled Enough is enough that she and her team have been doing with a particular organisation based in South Africa.

Touching on the issue of burnout, Nene said burnout is about the workplace and not the individuals. “When we think of burnout, we think of it as an individual problem that can only be solved by people suggesting one learn to say ‘no,’ do yoga, try breathing techniques, or learn to be more resilient.”

“I don’t have a problem with these suggestions, but how is yoga going to sort out a systematic problem? We need to put in place systemic solutions where evidence is actually mounting that applying a personal band-aid solution to a systemic problem is more harmful than anything,” she said.

Nene added that some organisations allow and tolerate toxic behaviour in order to generate income and increase revenues, and that needs to change. Here are key takeaways from her case study on how to deal with harassment, bullying, and toxicity in the workplace.

1. Push for a vigilant board.

Organisations have sustainability and ethics committees. We presented to the ethics committee the results of the case study, and when they saw the results, they committed to walk the journey with them.

2. The survey results need to be taken seriously.

The CEO followed our recommendations, and throughout the whole organisation, each exco member delivered the results of their own division.

More HR-related issues will be discussed at this year’s FOHR conference taking place this Wednesday and Thursday.See the programme here:

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 3. Implementing listening circles

Organisations need to implement a different quality of listening. Generative listening is key here, as is training Exco members on this essential skill.

4.Embed psychological safety

 Every business unit must embed their psychological safety and identify three or four strategies that they are going to embed in psychological safety and adopt.

5. Training of the role of a bystander

Equipping the organisation with an active allyship—sometimes one can be a bystander, observing a bullying situation, observing somebody being routinely excluded and doing nothing. This is the worst form of harassment, especially if one has the power to do something. Passive bystanders spread toxicity. Vocalise the commitment to suspend or dismiss bullies for who they are.

6. The DEI/transformation forum must be actively supported.

Sometimes transformation forums try to raise these issues and get dismissed. It’s important for these volunteers to be reassured that they are appreciated for the additional work that they are doing to make the organisation more inclusive. 

7. Measure progress

What is not measured is not done, so you need a dashboard to measure progress on what has been identified.

Nene Molefi will be a keynote speaker at the Future of HR Summit taking place this Wednesday and Thursday. 

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