Why harassment training is important

It can include using authority and pressure to force employees to work under the threat of being fired, suspended or left out of consideration for a promotion. Harassment from coworkers can also create a hostile workplace environment through isolation or lack of cooperation.

Workplace harassment has a wide range of effects that compromise individuals and undermine productivity. Harassed employees can develop anxiety, panic attacks and avoiding behaviors that decrease their effectiveness. They can lose motivation and experience a decline in their decision-making ability. Online courses offer the flexibility for employees to find the information to recognize harassment and act accordingly.

Using e-learning software, organizations can easily develop courses of their own, based on their training needs and company policies. Workplace harassment is a threat to functional business operations and employee health. Address it as soon as possible, and prevent it using effective policies, interventions and online training. Kamy Anderson is an edtech enthusiast with a passion for writing about emerging technologies in corporate training and education.

Stay up to date on the latest articles, webinars and resources for learning and development. Finally, the victim filed a harassment lawsuit against the employers. The employers were held accountable for failing to protect the employee.

Note — The fourth circuit court cancelled the punitive damages. As per the case analysis published on law. Employers can prevent such situations by training their employees properly.

Unfortunately, some employers train their employees only to please auditors. Their training programs meet the requirements of the law, but fail their employees.

The content of the training includes only what the law demands. The timing set only to meet legal requirements. Second, the sessions fail to deter potential harassers from engaging in such acts. In fact, such shallow training can affect employee attitude negatively.

Your training program should emphasize on your policy against harassment. The training should be strong enough to. Your harassment training should send a clear message to all employees. You are committed to provide a safe and harassment-free workplace to all employees. You should prefer to use video and audio clippings over written content as such media can be more influencing than presentations.

They were grossly insensitive to the effects of harassment over the victim. Harassment can have damaging personal effects over victims and those who witness it.

It can lead to mental health and physical health issues. The training should be such that the learner understands —. Without sensitivity training, managers may fail to understand the severity of the complaint.

They may end up taking decisions which are ineffective in deterring the harasser. A second reason why harassment training is important is the information that it has for victims. Unless you are open about how you handle complaints of harassment, the victim will hesitate in reporting incidents to you. Your training should comfort your employees that every incident, no matter how trivial, is reportable. Besides, if the person is aware of how your complaint system works, he or she can approach the right people directly.

Moreover, it helps to know which set of behaviors can constitute harassment. Not only would it help bystanders interfere and stop such incidents; it would deter employees from such behaviors at work.

Unfortunately, harassment training can also affect employee morale negatively. A sense of hesitation may develop among employees. Training programs that concentrate only on harassment, and the downsides of harassment, may end up hurting the morale of your team. The fear of a sexual harassment complaint, may force some employees to avoid working with female colleagues. Others, unsure of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors, may stop communicating with their team.

You can avoid the above outcomes by selecting a training that aims at promoting a gender-friendly work culture. Your training should concentrate upon developing gender-sensitivity among your employees. It should promote behaviors that would not hurt the feelings of their team members.

Avoid informational training. Adopt programs that emphasize group sessions. Encourage free discussion. Emphasize on what is unwelcome conduct, and which actions could be perceived as threatening. Harassment training that avoids such a discussion may create unseen boundaries and promote unnecessary tension within your workforce. Listed below are some objectives that you should consider for your harassment training program.

Some laws specify that training must be offered in languages other than English. Laws in this area are rapidly changing. States will continue to contemplate new or revised sexual harassment training requirements. Always check to see what specific training requirements are in place in jurisdictions where you have employees. Most laws have monetary or other penalties for employers who do not implement required training.

In addition to avoiding penalties related to training, effective training mitigates risk related to sexual harassment complaints. Training should be required for all employees at all levels of your organization.

Sexual harassment training should be part of your onboarding program for new hires. Review your training annually to make sure it is still relevant and complies with all applicable laws. Employers should ensure that their harassment training programs are high quality, relevant, easy to follow, and up-to-date with evolving requirements.

Strong training, whether legally required or not, is necessary to address harassment in the workplace. This webcast live on March 11 2 PM E and available on-demand after that date will provide critical insights and best practices on the importance of effective sexual harassment training. Register now or replay anytime. Get insights and best practices on the importance of effective sexual harassment prevention training.

More from this category. Business Transformations. Stay in the know on the latest workforce trends and insights. Education Does everyone in your organization know what sexual harassment is? Compliance with Laws More state and local jurisdictions are requiring employers to provide training.