Not only should HR professionals know what works when it comes to assembling a compliance training group for sexual harassment, they should also know why such training fails. Such information can be instrumental in facilitating a safer workplace where employees feel they are heard and one in which employees are well-educated about acceptable behavior regarding sexual harassment. When approaching such a major issue, it’ s best to be well-aware of both sides of the spectrum.
More Focus Is on Sidestepping Legal Liability
Rather than fully explaining and working on stopping sexual misconduct, there are instances of companies putting more emphasis on avoiding the legal liability that comes with some sexual harassment reports. What’s wrong with this is the fact that it can send the message that employers care more about protecting themselves instead of their employees. While it’s understandable that employees want to avoid a lengthy and potentially expensive lawsuit, still the fact remains that employees need to feel they’re being taken seriously and feel like valued members of the team.
Training Is Over Too Quickly
Because some companies might be under the impression employees are aware of what constitutes sexual harassment, there are instances in which harassment training is sped through rather than discussed and explained at length so employees have the most up-to-date and reliable information regarding sexual harassment. Rushing through training does additional harm by sometimes making it seem as if women had a part to play in the harassment and thus encouraged the improper behavior. Some studies even show evidence that poor training makes employees feel women aren’t competent when it comes to issues surrounding sexual harassment.
Employees Don’ t Take Training Seriously
Due to the occasional cartoonish nature of sexual harassment training, employees sometimes see training as something to make fun of. It’s not unusual to hear of employees making jokes, engaging in sexist behavior and ridiculing anyone who doesn’t join in with their joking or takes training more seriously than they do. Something else that might make employees think the issue isn’t one to give serious consideration to is the fact that some companies only have sexual harassment training every other year or so. Even if training is state law, it might help if companies went above and beyond to create a healthy work environment by offering mandatory and yearly training.
Workers Aren’t Encouraged to Report Harassment or Intervene
Another fault found in most sexual harassment training is the fact that many sessions don’t encourage employees to intervene when they witness sexual harassment or report it. Even better than having employees who feel they’re valued and respected by their employers is employees who know they’ re supported and looked after by their co-workers. Don’t be afraid to stand up for your right and hire the best sexual harassment lawyer to help you resolve the issues.
Taking a One-Size-Fits-All Approach to Training
Just as there are different work environments, there should be a more customized approach to training workers on the nuances of sexual harassment. For instance, someone who works in construction is unlikely to connect with and relate to sexual harassment training that focuses only on corporate office settings. There’ s also the fact that the specific work environment in which harassment takes place can also impact how harassment is reported. No matter the industry, employees need to know common instances and examples of sexual harassment unique to their work setting as well as who to go to should they feel they are a victim of sexual harassment.
Supervisors, Managers and Company Leaders Don’ t Attend Training
Just like a child is likely to take matters seriously in the presence of her or his parents, the same is true of employees seeing their managers, supervisors and company owners attend sexual harassment compliance training. What this does is let employees know no one is above sexual harassment or immune from the consequences of such harassment, which current events are most certainly demonstrating. When those at the top of the totem pole are present at training, it also demonstrates how seriously a company takes sexual harassment and how seriously its employees should take it as well.
With the above information in mind, HR professionals can have a better idea of why some individuals fail to grasp the nature of sexual harassment and how to deal with it should it come up in the workplace. Just like you can determine how to repair an appliance by narrowing down what’ s wrong with it, a similar approach can be applied to compliance training.
