Are you making this faux pas at work?

It’s not uncommon for HR pros to find themselves navigating sticky situations—it comes with the territory of a people-centric function—but some of these scenarios may be more easily avoided than others.

During a webinar hosted by compliance training platform Ethena on Oct. 24, Lisa Horgan, an employment lawyer at Littler Mendelson, shared a common trap she’s seen HR pros fall into—and how to avoid it.

Horgan told a story about an HR pro who had developed a friendship with a coworker. It was just like any other workplace friendship until the coworker confided in the people pro about experiencing harassment on the job—and asked them not to tell anyone. It created, Horgan said, a “perfect storm.”

“[The employee] told her friend, who was in HR, that she didn’t want HR to intervene. She was like, ‘Let me try to handle it by myself.’ And so, this HR person wasn’t thinking with their HR hat on, necessarily, and they [said] ‘Okay,’” Horgan said. “They never followed up with her even to check in and be like, ‘Hey, were you able to resolve that issue?’”

Horgan said the harassment worsened, but neither HR nor management were “supporting the employee or putting a stop to the behavior,” despite the HR pro’s awareness of the situation. The coworker eventually filed a formal complaint, but an investigation didn't take place for another two months, she said. In the end, the employee resigned.

While the HR pro couldn’t have foreseen this outcome, Horgan said they had a responsibility to take action as soon as they heard about the harassment. This is why Horgan recommends that people leaders try to maintain a healthy balance between being cordial yet professional, and always dedicated to their job.

“You start out being friendly with everybody, and then eventually you’re just like, ‘I need a level of separation,’” Horgan said.