HUMAN RESOURCES: Roundtable.

• Position: Discussion

Every month, Utah Business Magazine partners with Holland & Hart and Big-D Construction to host roundtable events featuring industry insiders. This month we invited the top human resource specialists to discuss the #metoo movement, diversity in hiring, and the millennial workforce. Moderated by Jeff Herring, chief human resources officer at the University of Utah, here are a few highlights from the event.

HOW HAS THE #METOO MOVEMENT IMPACTED YOUR EMPLOYEES?

Charlotte Miller | Chief Human Resources Officer | OS Ski & Snowboard

The entire focus for US Center for SafeSport is to make sure that athletes are not treated inappropriately sexually in their team. It's been helpful being able to talk about making the workplace better. We want to make sure there's nothing that prevents somebody from being completely comfortable and engaged in the workforce.

Mike Rice | EVP | Moreton Insurance

It used to be people didn't come out because they didn't have a platform. Now there's finally a platform to come out on. We've put on seminars. We've had our in-house counsel and our HR person talk about it. We invite our clients. And that is the overwhelming topic they want to hear about. We do something on the #metoo movement and we have a hundred people there in our conference room wanting to hear about it.

Aaron Call | EVP of Sales & Operations | G&A Partners

The #metoo movement has created a very unique awareness. We've seen an uptick in awareness of people willing to just go talk to a manager or just speak out a little bit more about what's actually taking place. For a long time, employers just stood behind their employee handbook and said, "that's our guideline." If we can really talk about how that kind of behavior fits within our culture, then I think we've taken that step of being acutely aware of what's happening and incorporating good behavior into our culture to where the guideline is the minimum standard.

Bryan Benard | Labor & Employment Attorney | Holland & Hart, LLP

The #metoo movement is a watershed moment in sexual harassment and discrimination. The problem that we're seeing a lot of is unrealistic expectations. We get a complaint, we're required to fairly investigate and address this and address it appropriately. It's so critical now to explain what is and isn't a proper response by the employer.

Aaron Call | EVP of Sales & Operations | G&A Partners

One more piece is when you add in social media. Employees nowadays are more comfortable with each other because they're following each other on Instagram or Facebook. So somebody posts something on Facebook, a coworker likes it, so all of a sudden there's this thought connection. There's this comfort level at work. And maybe outside of work it was just fine. But as a work conversation, it's not okay.

Brad Jensen | EVP of Sales & Operations | Motivosity

My fear is that the things that we focus on grow. So it's creating unintended consequences. What are we doing to be proactive about celebrating the wins and the behaviors that we want others to emulate in our cultures? What are we doing to weave those into our one-on-ones and into our discussions?

WHERE ARE WE IN REGARD TO TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL MEDIA? ARE WE EMBRACING IT YET? ARE WE BANNING EMPLOYEE SOCIAL MEDIA?

Dianne Rivera | Talent Acquisition | Goldman Sachs

We have very strict rules around social media and what you can and cannot post. We...