Here’s Google CEO Pichai’s memo re changes to sexual-harassment policy

Hi everyone,

At Google we try hard to build a workplace that supports
our employees and empowers them to do their best work. As CEO,
I take this responsibility very seriously and I’m committed to
making the changes we need to improve. Over the past few weeks
Google’s leaders and I have heard your feedback and have been
moved by the stories you’ve shared.

We recognize that we have not always gotten everything
right in the past and we are sincerely sorry for that. It’s
clear we need to make some changes.

Going forward, we will provide more transparency on how we
handle concerns. We’ll give better support and care to the
people who raise them. And we will double down on our
commitment to be a representative, equitable, and respectful
workplace.

Today, we’re announcing a comprehensive action plan to make
progress.
It’s detailed here and I encourage everyone to read it.
Here are some of the key changes:

We will make arbitration optional for individual sexual
harassment and sexual assault claims. Google has never required
confidentiality in the arbitration process and arbitration
still may be the best path for a number of reasons (e.g.
personal privacy) but, we recognize that choice should be up to
you.

We will provide more granularity around sexual harassment
investigations and outcomes at the company as part of our
Investigations Report.

We’re revamping the way we handle and look into your
concerns in three ways: We’re overhauling our reporting
channels by bringing them together on one dedicated site and
including live support. We will enhance the processes we use to
handle concerns—including the ability for Googlers to be
accompanied by a support person. And we will offer extra care
and resources for Googlers during and after the process. This
includes extended counseling and career support.

We will update and expand our mandatory sexual harassment
training. From now on if you don’t complete your training,
you’ll receive a one-rating dock in Perf (editor’s note: Perf
is our performance review system).

We will recommit to our company-wide OKR around diversity,
equity and inclusion again in 2019, focused on improving
representation—through hiring, progression and retention—and
creating a more inclusive culture for everyone. Our Chief
Diversity Officer will continue to provide monthly progress
updates to me and my leadership team.

I hope you’ll take the time to read the full range of
actions we’re announcing today.

Thank you all for the feedback you’ve shared with us. This
is an area where we need to continually make progress and are
committed to doing so. We often hear from Googlers that the
best part of working here is other Googlers. Even in difficult
times, we are encouraged by the commitment of our colleagues to
create a better workplace. That’s come through very strongly
over the past few weeks.

-Sundar