VALIDATED ACROSS 40+ COMPANIES • ILO CONVENTION 190 ALIGNED
Innovative leadership transforms organisations with our groundbreaking, data-driven harassment risk assessment. We help prevent catastrophic failures, reduce losses, boost productivity, and retain top talent, all while shielding workers and their families from the devastating effects of workplace harassment.
Our Founding Mission
The Resilient Workplace Institute is a non-profit organisation with Public Benefit Status dedicated to making workplaces safer and more dignified whilst preventing catastrophic governance failures. Our mission is to make harassment risk visible, measurable, and preventable on a global scale—protecting both human dignity and organisational integrity.
We discovered that harassment systematically silences the voices that could prevent disasters—whilst simultaneously destroying the lives of those who tried to speak up.
Our Solution: The Harassment Risk Index
The HRI is the world's first diagnostic tool providing 12-18 months early warning of governance collapse whilst simultaneously protecting workers from immeasurable suffering.
For Governments, Companies & Institutions: We transform workplace harassment from an unmeasured liability into quantifiable competitive intelligence that drives profitability, retention, operational excellence, and Enterprise Risk Management.
40+Companies
79k+Data Points Analyzed
3 out 10Report High Harassment
"Culture is not a mystery—it's measurable."
The 10 Golden Nuggets That Transform Workplaces
01
Predict What's Coming
Detect early warning signs 18 months ahead.
02
Target With Precision
Pinpoint harassment hotspots by team, level, or demographic.
The Silent Risk
Harassment isn't just an HR issue; it’s a measurable early warning sign of systemic governance failure.
03
Benchmark Your Culture
Compare across departments, industries, and national averages.
04
Protect Strategy
Neutralize the cultural toxins that undermine your strategy.
05
Make the Invisible Measurable
Quantify workplace toxicity with a risk index grounded in real data.
Beyond Sentiment
We measure concrete behaviors, not just feelings, transforming vague cultural assessments into predictive, quantifiable intelligence.
06
Turn Risk into ROI
Track savings in absenteeism, turnover, and productivity.
07
Build ESG Credibility
Prove your "S" in ESG with metrics that align with ILO C190.
08
Boost Resilience & Innovation
Psychological safety drives adaptive, high-performing teams.
09
Empower Leaders with Truth
Bridge the gap between leadership perception and employee reality.
10
Diagnose Culture
Understand the root causes of issues, not just the symptoms.
Who We Help
We provide tailored tools and insights for leaders across all sectors. Click a role to learn more.
Set the Standard
Benchmark ILO C190 and SDG 10.3.1 progress using aggregate data
New Data. New Research.
Access anonymised harassment risk patterns and prevalence heatmaps.
Equip Inspection Systems
Apply risk insights to national enforcement and employer compliance.
Measure What Matters
Reduce harassment, improve culture, and report on psychological safety.
Get an Investment Edge
Get a leading indicator that reveals more than what is obvious.
For POLICY INFLUENCERS & ILO TECHNICAL STAFF
A Robust, Scalable Approach
The Harassment Risk Index (HRI) offers policymakers and international institutions a robust approach to measuring workplace harassment. Developed using anonymised data from over 40 companies, the HRI enables countries to:
Monitor alignment with SDG indicator 10.3.1.
Operationalise Convention 190 reporting using empirical benchmarks.
Compare sector- or gender-specific harassment trends.
Support labour law reform, enforcement, and resource planning.
For ACADEMICS & LABOUR RESEARCHERS
Access Research-Grade Data on Workplace Harassment Risk
Seeking novel data on workplace well-being? The HRI offers a rich, anonymised dataset with segmentations by gender, race, sector, and job level from 40+ company assessments.
Provides prevalence data from 40+ company assessments
Allows for comparison of top harassment types across demographics
Enables pattern analysis across time, geography, and industry
Collaborate With Us
We're working with leading South African universities and welcome proposals for joint publications.
FOR GOVERNMENT POLICYMAKERS & LABOUR INSPECTORS
Equip Your Inspection Framework with Risk Intelligence
Labour departments and national authorities can use the Harassment Risk Index to proactively identify, address, and monitor workplace risk across sectors. Our government toolkit includes:
Templates for integrating HRI data into employer reporting
Policy briefs on C190 operationalisation using quantifiable benchmarks
Sample visual reports and dashboards for oversight bodies
Insights into how South Africa is building a national harassment risk baseline
FOR CORPORATE DELEGATES & HR EXECUTIVES
Reduce Risk. Boost Culture. Quantify Impact.
Companies lose millions each year due to workplace harassment—through sick leave, disengagement, and turnover. The Harassment Risk Index helps:
Measure the extent and types of harassment risk employees face
Prioritise interventions based on real-time data
Monitor improvements over time and align with ESG goals
Insights into how South Africa is building a national harassment risk baseline
Clients report measurable improvements in culture and accountability.
For Investors & Portfolio Managers
Three Levels of Risk Management Blind Spot in Your Due Diligence
Management Control, Legal & Risk, and External Auditors can only control what is obvious. Our Harassment Risk Assessment identifies and quantifies the toxicity red flags that are often overlooked by management, legal teams, and external auditors:
Air India: Pilot retaliation, union restrictions, 18 months of harassment patterns → Boeing 787 crashes, June 2025
Boeing: John Barnett harassed to suicide → $60B destroyed 18 months later
Airbus: "Respect and Protect" culture → 37% outperformance
Titan: Safety director silenced → Submersible imploded
VW: Engineers intimidated → Emissions scandal
Steinhoff: Accountants bullied → €6.5B fraud
"Traditional defences catch disasters after bodies and billions fall. Harassment patterns reveal the underlying culture that permits them to occur before any harm is done. Companies that disregard their truth-tellers inadvertently cause harm to their shareholders."
Articles
Our affiliate courses are designed by experts who have years of experience and proven results in the affiliate marketing industry.
The ILO and your Company
Understanding the International Labour Organisation (ILO): The Global Authority on the World of Work
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is a name frequently encountered in discussions about international treaties, workplace standards, and human rights. As the specialised agency of the United Nations dedicated to the world of work, the ILO plays a crucial role in establishing the global benchmarks for employment practices and worker dignity.
ILO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland
Here is an overview of what the ILO is, how it functions, and why its mandate is so important for governments, employers, and workers worldwide.
Identity and Core Mission
The ILO is mandated to drive a human-centred approach to the future of work. This core mission is achieved by focusing on four principal areas: employment creation, rights at work, social protection and social dialogue.
The foundation of the ILO’s work rests upon deeply held principles. Its efforts are anchored in the Declaration of Philadelphia (1944), which affirms that all human beings, regardless of race, creed, or sex, have the right to pursue both their material well-being and their spiritual development in conditions of freedom and dignity, of economic security and equal opportunity. The protection of human dignity has been intrinsic to the work of the ILO since its outset.
Furthermore, the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work acts as a key promotional instrument, committing member states to respect and promote four core labour principles.
“Across 187 member states, the International Labour Organization stands as the world’s leading voice for dignity, equality and safety at work.”
The Unique Tripartite Structure
A distinctive characteristic that gives the ILO its authority and strength is its unique structure. The Organization brings together governments, employers and workers—its tripartite constituents—to shape policies and standards.
“The ILO spans all global regions — from Africa (with 54 member states under its African office) to Asia & the Pacific, Arab States, Europe & Central Asia and the Americas — uniting 187 countries in the mission for decent work.”
This tripartite model is fundamental to consensus-building in the world of work. For instance, the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (MNE Declaration) is the only international instrument addressed to enterprises that has been agreed upon by governments, employers', and workers’ organizations.
Key Actions and Standard-Setting Role
The ILO establishes standards through international instruments, such as Conventions (binding treaties for ratifying members) and Recommendations (non-binding guidance). Through these standards, the ILO addresses global challenges in the labor market.
“An ILO Convention becomes legally binding only on those member states that ratify it — and once ratified, they are obligated under international law to implement and uphold its provisions.”
Some examples of the ILO's crucial areas of action include:
• Combating Forced Labour: The ILO estimates that 21 million people are currently victims of forced labour worldwide. The ILO helps combat this "abhorrent practice", which is universally condemned as a violation of human rights and international labour standards. The vast majority of ILO member States have ratified Conventions 29 and 105 on forced or compulsory labour. To combat this crime, the ILO launched the Global Alliance against Forced Labour in 2005 and runs the Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour (SAP-FL).
• Promoting Decent Work and Dignity: The organization continuously updates and expands its international labour law. The adoption of the Convention on Violence and Harassment (C190) and its accompanying Recommendation (R206) in 2019, during the Organization’s Centenary session, reaffirmed its standard-setting role and included a clear commitment to end violence and harassment in the world of work. This established the right of everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment in international law.
The ILO’s binding international treaties and complementary non-binding guidance instruments provide authoritative blueprints for addressing major issues in the world of work, allowing employers, workers, and governments to align their practices with the highest global consensus.
The Relationship Between Companies in a Member State and the ILO
The relationship between companies, often represented by employers' organizations within a member state, and the International Labour Organization (ILO) is fundamental and multi-faceted, stemming primarily from the ILO’s unique structure and its global standard-setting role.
Involvement through the Tripartite Structure
The most distinctive aspect of the ILO is its unique tripartite structure, which gives it authority and strength. This structure requires the organization to bring together three distinct constituent groups to shape policies and standards: governments, employers, and workers.
• This model is fundamental to consensus-building in the world of work.
• The ILO's crucial role is directed toward governments, workers, and employers worldwide.
Direct Engagement and Specific Instruments
The ILO creates instruments—both binding treaties (Conventions) and non-binding guidance (Recommendations)—that provide authoritative blueprints for addressing major issues in the world of work.
• The ILO’s commitment to companies is formalized in the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (MNE Declaration).
• The MNE Declaration is significant because it is the only international instrument addressed to enterprises that has been agreed upon by governments, employers', and workers’ organizations.
Aligning Practices with Global Standards
The ILO’s standard-setting function allows employers to align their practices with the highest global consensus. Companies within member states are guided by standards rooted in the ILO’s core mission to drive a human-centred approach to the future of work.
This alignment relates to four principal areas:
employment creation,
rights at work,
social protection, and
social dialogue.
Companies are expected to adhere to international labour standards that protect human dignity, a principle that has been intrinsic to the ILO’s work since its inception.
For instance, the ILO actively works to combat the "abhorrent practice" of forced labour. Furthermore, the organization establishes standards that commit companies and employers to end violence and harassment in the world of work, establishing the right of everyone to a workplace free from such issues in international law.
In essence, the ILO acts like a global building code authority for the world of work, where the companies (builders/employers) are not just required to follow the code set by governments, but are actively involved in writing the code itself through their representatives.
Why does it matter?
The International Labour Organization has spent more than a century shaping the foundations of decent work. With the adoption of ILO Convention 190 and Recommendation 206, the global community has made it clear: violence and harassment are incompatible with the dignity of work.
These instruments do more than set standards.
They create a pathway for employers to build workplaces where safety, respect, and fairness are non-negotiable — and where the wellbeing of workers is seen as core to organisational performance.
C190 recognises every worker’s right to a world of work free from violence and harassment.
R206 provides the practical roadmap: prevention, protection, training, monitoring, remedies, and accountability.
Together, they call for action — not awareness alone.
What are Employers to do?
Employers have a legal, ethical, and governance responsibility to ensure full alignment with ILO Convention 190 and Recommendation 206.
This includes assessing harassment risks, implementing preventive measures, strengthening reporting systems, supporting survivors, and monitoring progress over time.
Compliance is not passive.
It requires measurable action, transparent processes, and evidence-based decision-making.
Organisations that take this seriously:
✔ reduce harm
✔ strengthen governance
✔ protect vulnerable groups
✔ build trust and
✔ demonstrate leadership in a moment where it matters most.
In a world where workplace toxicity directly impacts wellbeing, performance and even national priorities such as GBV, employers cannot afford to rely on assumptions.
They need visibility. They need data. They need systems that work.
Learn more on how to comply
If your organisation is ready to align with C190 and R206, protect employees, and lead in a time of national urgency, the Resilient Workplace Institute can support you with:
* A digital Harassment Risk Assessment aligned with C190
* Benchmarking across industries
* Support on prevention, training, and monitoring
* Insights that surface hidden risks and guide meaningful action
Creating safer workplaces is not just a regulatory expectation — it’s a leadership imperative.
Frequently Asked Questions
Have questions? We have answers.
"Isn't this just another expensive consulting fad that will be forgotten in two years?"
What we've developed is a data measurement system—like a financial audit, but for workplace culture. Our 18-question assessment maps directly to established ILO Convention 190 standards that 50+ countries have ratified into law. We're providing measurement tools for existing legal obligations, not creating new requirements.
The validation comes from 40+ South African organisations across multiple sectors, with measurable results showing correlation between harassment patterns and organisational failures 12-18 months before they become public scandals. This isn't theory—it's predictive intelligence.
"How can you possibly claim that workplace harassment predicts governance failures?"
We've analysed major corporate disasters—Titan submersible, Boeing 737 MAX, Wells Fargo fraud, Enron collapse, VW Dieselgate, Steinhoff accounting fraud, Theranos, FTX, and Wirecard—and found the same sequence every time:
1. Someone tried to raise concerns about safety, ethics, or compliance
2. They were systematically harassed, intimidated, or fired
3. Critical information was suppressed
4. Leadership operated on false data
5. Catastrophic failure occurred
David Lochridge at OceanGate warned about safety flaws and was fired within 3 days. John Barnett at Boeing faced "campaign of harassment, abuse and intimidation" until he developed PTSD. At VW, engineers questioning emissions software were silenced. Steinhoff whistle-blowers were intimidated before the €6.5 billion fraud collapsed the company.
The academic foundations are robust: Amy Edmondson's research on psychological safety, Morrison and Milliken's work on organizational silence. When you measure harassment systematically, you're measuring whether your organisation can process critical information effectively—the fundamental prerequisite for sound governance.
"Our employees will never answer honestly about harassment. They'll be too scared."
That's why our entire system is built around anonymity from the ground up. Responses are linked only to randomly generated machine codes—no personal identifiers. Yet we can still analyse patterns by department, employment level, demographic segments, and harassment sources (senior management, peers, contractors, clients) without compromising individual privacy.
We deploy assessments in multiple languages (currently five, expandable to any language) and consistently achieve 70%+ participation rates across sensitive sectors including government and mining.
Even if some don't participate, the organisational patterns emerge clearly. When 60% of a department reports intimidation from senior management, that tells you something actionable about your environment.
"This could create legal liability. What if we discover problems we didn't know about?"
Let's flip the question: Would you rather stay in the dark about risks that could destroy your organisation, or make those threats visible so you can address them proactively?
Which scenario creates more legal liability:
Scenario A: Discover harassment patterns through systematic assessment and take proactive action
Scenario B: Get blindsided by a major lawsuit, regulatory investigation, or governance scandal you could have prevented
Courts and regulators increasingly expect systematic approaches to workplace risks. Having assessment data strengthens your legal position by demonstrating due diligence. Our anonymisation approach provides risk intelligence without creating discoverable individual complaints.
"We already have HR policies and reporting mechanisms. Why do we need another system?"
You can only manage what you can measure. Your HR policies may be addressing problems that don't exist in your context, while real problems remain undetected because they have no policies.
Without systematic measurement, you operate on assumptions. You might have extensive sexual harassment policies while your actual problem is systematic intimidation from senior management. You might focus on peer harassment while missing contractor-based issues entirely.
Our assessment provides unprecedented granular intelligence:
- Department-by-department risk mapping
- Source identification (senior management, colleagues, contractors, clients)
- Demographic pattern analysis across employment levels and groups
- Policy gap identification showing what harassment types are actually prevalent vs. what your policies address
Traditional HR systems tell you "someone reported harassment." Our system tells you "harassment in Department X comes from senior management affecting recent graduates, while Department Y shows peer-to-peer patterns among mid-level employees." That's actionable intelligence for solving your actual problems.
"How do we know your data applies to our country/culture/industry?"
It's not about whether our data applies—it's about using proven methodology to gather real-time insight wherever you are.
Workplace harassment is a human phenomenon. The ILO's global study of 74,000 workers across 121 countries found 23% experience harassment worldwide.
Our culturally adaptive methodology generates localized intelligence through multilingual deployment and detailed analysis specific to your context: department-by-department mapping, harassment source identification, and demographic patterns unique to your organisational reality.
Think of it as a thermometer—it works the same way globally, but your results are your unique intelligence, delivered in your language, analysed through your cultural lens.
"Isn't this just political correctness disguised as business intelligence?"
This isn't about ideology—it's about bottom-line performance. Organizations with psychologically safe cultures significantly outperform toxic competitors: +28% profitability, +47% innovation output, +39% productivity, +56% employee retention. Companies with highest harassment rates underperform the stock market by 19.9%.
Harassment victims take 58% more sick leave, while 67% of harassment targets lose their jobs, creating massive recruitment costs (21% of annual salary) and knowledge loss. Organizations addressing harassment patterns see 35% productivity improvements in affected departments.
Sector-specific returns are substantial:
- Financial Services: +34% client satisfaction, +28% compliance
- Manufacturing: -47% accidents, +32% quality
- Mining: -51% safety incidents, +23% productivity
- Government: +38% service delivery, +43% retention
This isn't about feelings—it's about conditions where talent and capital generate maximum returns.
"What if this stirs up issues that were manageable before?"
This is like asking whether medical diagnostics create problems by identifying diseases. The problems exist whether you measure them or not—measurement makes them visible for systematic action.
Unaddressed harassment escalates over time. What seems "manageable" today becomes tomorrow's lawsuit, regulatory investigation, or talent exodus. Early intervention is always less disruptive and less expensive than crisis management.
Our approach helps you address issues gradually and strategically rather than waiting for public explosions. You control the process and outcomes.
"We're not a large corporation. Is this overkill for smaller organisations?"
Size makes this more important. Large corporations could possibly absorb losses; smaller organisations cannot.
When you lose a key employee to harassment (67% of targets leave), smaller organisations feel immediate impact. The operational impacts hit harder: 58% higher absenteeism and 35% productivity decline in one department affects your entire bottom line.
Our detailed analysis shows exactly where problems originate—senior management, peers, or external sources—enabling precise interventions. Having demonstrable healthy culture with data becomes your competitive advantage in talent markets.
Smaller organisations often see faster, more dramatic improvements because every person's enhanced performance is immediately visible.
"What if we get bad results? Will you publish that our organisation is toxic?"
Absolutely not. Assessment results belong to you, period. We maintain strict client confidentiality and never publish individual organisation results.
Our approach provides detailed organisational intelligence while maintaining complete anonymity. You receive unprecedented insight into where risks are concentrated and what's driving them, but all data remains confidential.
We do publish aggregated, anonymised research (e.g., "harassment from senior management affects 40% more women in financial services") without any organisation identification. Many organisations choose to share results for policy research value, but this is entirely voluntary.
"How long does this process take? We don't have time for lengthy implementations."
Total timeline: 6-8 weeks from start to actionable insights.
- Weeks 1-2: Platform customisation and communication strategy
- Weeks 3-4: Assessment deployment (2-week participation window)
- Weeks 5-6: Data analysis and report generation
- Week 7: Results presentation and action planning
Assessment takes 10-15 minutes per person. Most heavy lifting is done by our team.
Compare this to months or years recovering from harassment lawsuits or governance scandals.
"What if we measure everything and then nothing changes?"
Measurement without action is pointless. Our methodology includes specific intervention frameworks tied to assessment results. We provide prioritised action plans, resource allocation guidance, and follow-up assessment cycles to track progress.
The assessment is only valuable if you're committed to acting on results. If you want a shelf report, this isn't the right tool. If you want actionable intelligence to build a more resilient organisation, the assessment provides the roadmap.
Organisations seeing most benefit view this as systematic cultural risk management, not a one-time exercise. Like financial auditing—the value comes from regular organisational oversight..
Learn how the Harassment Risk Index is reshaping how governments, researchers, and companies act on workplace dignity.
Useful Links
© 2025 The Resilient Workplace Institute. All Rights Reserved.