Many HR departments were likely caught off guard by the steady stream of workplace sexual harassment allegations last year. Even if an employer did not deal with such controversies, the daily media coverage of the newest and latest scandal left HR teams wondering what if it happens to us?

“It has called to attention the importance of having a work environment that is safe to speak up [in],” Mila Singh says of the #MeToo trend. Singh is a culture strategist at New York City-based CultureIQ, a culture management platform and her comments were reported in a recent Entrepreneur article. “Companies are starting to explore ways to make it easier to report these issues, and are using feedback platforms to get a continuous pulse on the organization.”

Companies are taking steps to ensure their HR teams are strong and empowered to act with authority, says Jocelyn Mangan, COO of Snagajob, an online job website. “Going forward, the head of HR will also need to serve as the ethical voice of a company, coming up with a strategic plan to create and adhere to a zero-tolerance anti-harassment culture,” she says. Mangan, who is also a Forbes human resources council contributor, writes in that publication that companies need to be serious about giving their HR director the C-Suite respect they deserve. “Unfortunately, most HR heads are treated more as ‘code enforcers’ than strategic thinkers--a missed opportunity,” she writes.

HR staff is most likely to be on the front lines, hearing complaints from employees, but the reality is that the HR head “is often overlooked when speaking on behalf of employees in C-Suite meetings or about how to define, instill and enforce ethics throughout the organization,” Mangan notes. “HR heads often have little authority to appropriately address alleged abusers.”

“An employee may tell the HR department she’s experienced harassment only to be told, ‘I’ll take that up with upper management,’ making employees feel like HR departments don’t have their backs.” In a year that saw more and more victims come forward to share stories of harassment and abuse, a powerless HR department will no longer cut it, she adds.

There is a silver lining for HR departments thanks to the large number of women who came forward with stories of sexual harassment in the workplace last year and, who in turn, emboldened many others to do the same, one expert says. “I think HR departments are going to have more credibility, I think they’ll have more responsibility,” says Nancy Johnson, human resources management program director at Madison College in Wisconsin. “I think that we’re moving into a new positive direction and we’re going to have to go through some pain before we get there.” Her comments were reported by WQOW.

But it can’t all fall on HR. “I think it’s been too much to ask that we say ‘oh well HR departments should be the cops on the beat to take care of this.’ It’s bigger than that,” Johnson says. “I think the only thing that can end sexual harassment is a culture that says we respect each other as human beings.”

HR teams that are most successful at quickly taking care of issues before they turn into lawsuits or come out in the media are those led by an HR director with a clear directive from top management, according to corporate governance experts. So reports the LA Times. 

Alexandra Coonce, vice president of people at Glint, a tech start-up, is authorized by her bosses to bring in a third-party firm to investigate internal issues if necessary. She meets with her CEO every week and with the board every quarter. This has fostered a workplace of “transparency, trust and openness,” she notes. “I don’t believe any of us are powerless."