At the time of this article, details still continue to come in on the scandal at Penn State involving Jerry Sandusky. Years of alleged indiscretions by Coach Sandusky have been all over the news, the internet and water cooler discussion.
What makes this case so disturbing is the apparent years of coverup or lack of followthrough by several members of the community who knew of the alleged incidents but either didn’t see the need to followup on whether they were being investigated or whether the alleged perpetrator was involved.
After watching this begin to play out, it made me reflect on far less severe allegations that I have seen companies turn a blind eye to because they are afraid to make a decision to let a top performer go, or because they feel they’d rather let people settle their issues themselves.
I really am starting to think however, given the heightened awareness of HR indiscretions with the Penn State situation, that many companies are going to take allegations of impropriety much more seriously to avoid this type of public relations disaster. Whether it is something as severe as sexual indiscretions or something less severe as a boss who is a tyrant and biased, companies may begin to take complaints more seriously given how a multi-year pattern of bad behavior seems to have affected the reputation of Penn State.
Think of the terrible boss you may have had at one point who runs person after person out of the company because no one in HR or administration believes the allegations; for years, these kinds of people get away with their attitude, indiscretions, and poor leadership because no one is afraid to take a stand.
It’s time for organizations to have some temerity and do something about these situations!
