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Paradox accepts independent audit’s findings, vows to ‘leave no stone unturned’
In late 2021, reports emerged that painted a bleak picture for Paradox Interactive, most notably a majority of the company’s female employees reporting “abuse” of one kind or another in internal investigations. Additional interviews with former employees followed, and they basically said, “Yeah, there’s something wrong with this place.”
In response, Paradox commissioned an audit of the company, Gender Balance, a Swedish company specializing in discrimination, harassment and equality issues. The various unions have agreed with this choice. The report, written by Paul Bengtsson and Anneli Häyrén, is titled “Review Paradox Interactive’s organizational capacity to address discrimination, bullying and victimization‘, now published.
I’ll go into more detail in the report below, but some of the key findings are:
- For a company of Paradox’s size, fewer particularly severe or public cases of harassment or sexual harassment were reported to us than expected.
- It is far more common for cases of grey area abuse that may violate a clear legal definition and still affect the victim. Women are more likely to be targeted than men, but men also experience this.
- Many employees and managers describe the sometimes harsh, competitive and exclusionary jargon of the workplace.
- Gender, especially female gender, was the most common ground for discrimination, both in surveys and in reported cases, although other grounds did exist.
- Race ranks second in both cases and surveys, but significantly lower than gender. However, it is unclear how many people will be discriminated against as a result, so the number may be relatively high.
While the audit “expected and also found low levels of physical harassment”, “a small number of cases” were described as “more serious”. The company said it could not describe the cases in the report due to their “sensitive nature,” but noted that “serious incidents of discrimination appear to be uncommon.”
In terms of what the report authors call “grey area abuse,” examples of such behavior given by Paradox employees include “unsolicited compliments or comments on their appearance, questioning their stance in ways that don’t happen with their male colleagues.” ability, or seeing the repeated use of gender and negative stereotypes.”
Some women reported “avoiding or minimizing contact with certain people, putting on a harsh appearance, or having to advertise that they were in a relationship to avoid unwelcome advances from male colleagues.”
From 2016 to September 2021, Paradox’s human resources department handled 16 cases, which the report’s authors said was indicative of employees’ reluctance to complain.
“While it is impossible to determine how many actual incidents could reasonably be expected, based on our data and the above-mentioned research and validated experience, 16 cases appear to be very small, strongly indicating a large number of undocumented incidents,” the report said. “It is important to note that we do not believe this is due to the intentional and willingness of HR to conceal the number of cases. It should also be noted that, in our experience, similar situations may be found in many other Swedish companies.”
Part of the problem, according to the report, was that Paradox did not have good case-handling procedures, managers were not properly trained in misconduct, and company policies were poorly communicated. As a result, employees have lower confidence in the process and therefore a lower propensity to report.
“We concluded that companies were unable to capture and manage the scope of problem behavior, and as a result top management lacked appropriate insight into misconduct issues and how employees perceive it.”
The main theme among employees who complained to managers or HR was what most felt was a “lack of visible action and feedback or follow-up,” but there were also elements of retaliation that seemed more troubling:
“[Other employees] Complain about being treated badly or being labeled a troublemaker for complaining. Of particular concern is that some employees appear to have been affected to some extent. It should be noted that we have not conducted individual investigations into allegations of retaliation, nor have we been able to substantiate them. It should also be noted that such claims are often difficult to investigate and substantiate, as retaliation is often not overt and the perpetrator is unlikely to admit it. However, the fact that several people have told us about this experience from different parts of the company is sufficient evidence that at an organizational level, retaliation or perceived risk of retaliation is a real and recurring problem that needs to be addressed forcibly. “
The gender balance audit required Paradox to implement a number of different measures, including an improved checklist of incidents that “will be more thoroughly reviewed and revised to include guidelines for protection against retaliation and transparency.” The company’s harassment and victimization policy will be revised to include To ensure protection from retaliation, a training program is being developed to “provide basic and practical knowledge about harassment and how to respond to and prevent it”. Management processes and support structures around harassment cases will be “enhanced”.
Most importantly, at least in the short term, Paradox has committed to conducting a regular standardized survey of misconduct and its prevalence among employees (gender balance is expected to be conducted annually). Gender balance will also be “used as a temporary measure and remains an additional resource for employees who may experience discrimination or other misconduct”. “While building structural capital and strengthening Paradox’s internal capabilities, this will remain the case, followed by a more advisory role for the gender balance program.”
For its part, Paradox has committed to the reported findings, and did reach out to PC Gamer to share its findings.
“We’re going after this issue right now, we’re getting a concrete understanding of it,” said Mattias Lilja, Paradox’s chief of staff. “This report is our first step toward really addressing these issues and bridging the trust gap that exists. Each Everyone deserves to feel safe and thrive at Paradox, and it’s our responsibility to make sure.” They added that Paradox has provided Gender Balance with the resources it needs to “leave no stone unturned”.
Specifically referring to the report’s findings and the original report surrounding Paradox’s internal issues, Lilja said: “Given the size of Paradox, the gender balance expected more serious cases, but found fewer than expected. However, they found It is completely unacceptable that it affects women more than men. This is the starting point of our action plan.”
As for the more serious cases of harassment: “Gender Balance and the company believe that termination of employment is not a legally permissible measure, and the severity does not justify our recourse to the police,” Lilja said. “As a result, no Paradox employees have been fired for this type of case, but other measures have come into play.”
Paradox’s press statement on the report said the full action plan is expected to be in place by the end of the year, after which the situation will be regularly monitored by an anti-discrimination committee comprising employees, management, safety representatives and unions.
Rumors and discussions about my role in this environment following a recent investigation leaked to the media cite a specific incident in 2018. In the name of transparency and clarity, I want to make this clear. Accountability starts at the top.September 13, 2021
One reason the reports attracted so much attention at the time was that, shortly after they emerged, Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester tweeted that he had subjected an employee to inappropriate behavior at a meeting in 2018 (without specifying this). what kind of behavior). Wester apologised and added: “I know this will reduce my credibility in dealing with these issues internally and will therefore not be directly involved. [the audit], it will be done by Paradox’s HR with external help, but of course with my full support if needed. “
Some may wonder how Paradox is doing, and whether employees are happy with the CEO’s acknowledgement and commitment. “Fredrik is a big part of our culture, that’s very clear,” Lilja said. “He himself has come out and said that what happened in 2018 has clearly affected the trust in him on these matters. We hope that the thoughts and feelings of our staff have been taken into account in the fall. My personal guess is that this is a factor [in under-reporting] As Frederick himself wrote. But it’s important to remember that we have many people here, including myself, as well as senior management and all managers who have a responsibility to ensure our employees have the enthusiasm and safety culture they deserve. “
Union representative Zack Holmgren said of the report and Paradox’s commitment: “We believe that clear recognition of existing issues, planned measures and transparency of the process will lead to significant improvements in working conditions and culture at Paradox.”