The bulk of Canadian executives surveyed during the height of the #metoo movement last month believe that sexual harassment is simply not a problem at their respective companies, according to the latest “C-Suite survey” conducted by KPMG and consultancy firm, the Gandalf Group.153 senior managers at top Canadians companies were surveyed between November 11 and December 6 — only five percent agreed that sexual harassment was indeed a problem at their companies.About a third of the executives surveyed did however say that they were aware of specific cases in their own company. Yet, when presented with a forced choice, most executives were more likely to say sexual harassment in the workplace was “infrequent and rare” than “common and frequent”.“It is just so dishonest,” Muneeza Sheikh, a senior partner with employment law firm Levitt LLP told the Business News Network. “Those responses, they are absurd in the face of what employment lawyers know about what is going on in Canadian workplaces.”It is worth noting that the 153 senior managers surveyed were at the top of their career game, holding positions that shape and govern company culture — 50 percent were CEOs and 39 percent were CFOs.The attitude observed by Canadian executives towards sexual harassment stands in sharp contrast with the actual evidence.A public consultation conducted by Employment and Social Development Canada in early November found that workplace harassment was a common occurrence, with 30 percent of respondents experiencing sexual harassment in particular. In fact, most respondents who experienced sexual harassment in a two year period indicated that they experienced those behaviours more than once.An Insights West poll released in early December corroborates these findings — 50 percent of all women working in Canada have at some point in the course of their careers experienced sexual harassment.In the wake of the surge in high profile allegations of sexual harassment in the media, film and tech worlds, companies across North America in particular are scrambling to beef up their Human Resources policies. Vox Media, for example is making anti-harassment training mandatory, and setting limits around the consumption and survey of alcohol at company gatherings and meetings.Ironically, almost every single executive in the C-Suite survey believes that “leadership and corporate culture” are the most important factors in responding to, and helping prevent sexual harassment — 93 percent claim that their company already has a culture of preventing sexual harassment.Follow Vanmala on Twitter
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