Many people think of quid pro quo harassment as something that can only happen in an organizational hierarchy. However, harassment fueled by power imbalances can occur at all levels, creating harm that is overlooked and unreported. Workplace control can manifest in many forms—through access to opportunities, scheduling privileges, or even office social influence—making it difficult to pinpoint where imbalances happen and how they may be used to pressure others into acting against their will. Given the widespread impact of workplace harassment in all its forms, it is crucial to understand not only why it happens but also what steps organizations can take to prevent it. Acknowledging and preventing workplace harassment can create healthy work environments that are more productive, supportive, and enjoyable.
How Power Imbalances Show Up At Every Level
Power dynamics are not specific to supervisor and employee relationships. Multiple qualities can become factors when collaborating with peers, such as gender, race, age, and even sexual orientation. When identifying harassment in work power dynamics, it is important to understand the ways in which various employees hold power in their own organizations. A project lead that controls scheduling and dividing tasks, a mentor who aids in professional development, or even a peer who has access to valuable resources are all potential positions that can create a power imbalance in the workplace. It is crucial to recognize how power imbalances can fester in even low-level workplace positions in order to prevent unhealthy dynamics from occurring.
Workplace dynamics are successful when employees effectively work together to divide tasks and take on large projects as a team; however, what happens when an employee with access to valuable information, or responsible for their coworkers, uses this responsibility to threaten and coerce their peers? Organization hierarchy is not necessary for workplace harassment to occur, and when these everyday interactions are overlooked, victims may feel their experiences aren’t “serious enough” to report, allowing harmful behavior to persist against themselves and others.
Intersectionality of Power Imbalances:
Intersectionality is the way in which various facets of a person’s identity work together to make a person who they are. One is not defined by just their race, but also by their gender, age, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, and disabilities. However, while these factors make someone who they are, they can also be used against an employee to make them more vulnerable to harassment and coercion.
An example of how intersectionality may affect a workplace is that an employee who is a woman of color may experience both racialized and gendered harassment simultaneously. She might be facing inappropriate comments based on her gender, but also be subject to stereotypes rooted in racial bias.
Gender and race are not the only ways that intersectionality can be at play in workplace harassment. Employees with disabilities, LGBTQ+ identities, or those who are younger or older than the majority of their peers may encounter unique forms of harassment tied to their social positioning.
The compounding factors of identity can make various employees vulnerable in vastly different ways. This can make reporting and policing harassment very challenging for employees. They may feel that their social positions may prevent them from reporting harassment for fear of not being believed, being dismissed, facing retaliation, or being labeled as “difficult”. These fears often silence those most affected by intersectional power dynamics.
The Many Forms of Workplace Control
There are many ways employees can have control over their workplace and peers. These forms of control can exist at all levels of the workplace, not just among executives—meaning even peers or mid-level employees may hold significant power over one another.
Control Over Scheduling and Hours: Employees who have scheduling control are responsible for dividing work hours, overtime hours, or vacation time. However, this position can be used to gain control when favorable work hours, options for paid time off, task assignments, and even the threat of taking away work hours or responsibilities are in the hands of one employee. Harassment from someone in control of scheduling and hours can influence one’s work-life balance, long-term goals, pay, and overall mental health at work.
Access to Opportunities: Professional development and opportunities are important to any employee who is looking to further their personal career; however, peers can hold control over access to these opportunities through many different forms. This can include information regarding training and scheduling, mentorship, holding specialized knowledge that others depend on, which can be leveraged for influence, promotions, or access to high-visibility projects.
Resource Control: Along with access to opportunities, resource control and access can be just as damaging in an unhealthy work environment. Deciding who gets the necessary tools, budgets, or workspace is crucial to professional success, and can be incredibly damaging to withhold when coercing or harassing fellow peers.
Information Control: Coworkers with access to knowledge in the workplace can greatly impact other coworkers’ performance by withholding, filtering, or selectively sharing important information. Whether this is fully explaining how the boss wants a job to be done, or withholding when to come into the office, information can be a tool for peers to gain workplace control.
Reputation Power: A colleague with a strong reputation and relationship with supervisors is an employee with power. This colleague may have been working at this company the longest, has the best relationship with the boss, or may just be someone who can spread rumors in the office, are all examples of workplace social capital. Having the ability to shape how others are perceived by leadership or colleagues may give this employee coercive abilities due to their control over who is promoted or even demoted.
Building Awareness/ Redefining Quid Pro Quo to Protect All Employees
Reporting harassment of all forms is crucial to making a workplace better for yourself and your peers. While this step may feel uncomfortable, it is important to do so to protect yourself from harm and to bring awareness to the presence of workplace harassment of all forms. This can also bring attention to supervisors, to create more effective policies regarding forms of workplace harassment.
In order for these new policies to be effective, organizations must expand their understanding of harassment to include informal power holders, such as low-level employees and peers. When harassment is viewed only through the lens of organizational hierarchy, these everyday abuses of influence often remain invisible and unaddressed. Building awareness around the multi-faceted nature of workplace harassment can look like reshaping training, policies, and reporting mechanisms so that employees understand quid pro quo harassment is not confined to their superiors. It also involves empowering and educating workers at all levels to recognize coercion in any form.
Redefining quid pro quo more broadly helps break the misconception that only “serious” or “high-level” cases qualify as harassment. Every employee deserves to feel safe from coercion and exploitation, regardless of their role or who is targeting them. By acknowledging the intersectionality of power, as well as the many different ways employees in the workplace can generate control, organizations can better protect their workforce, encourage reporting, and foster a culture where harmful dynamics are not tolerated at any level. Ultimately, by creating awareness and effective HR policies, workplaces can foster an environment that leads to greater company growth.
