How to Tailor Harassment in the Workplace Training for Your Company

 

A respectful and safe work environment is essential for any organization. This is best achieved through workplace bullying training and workplace harassment training. However, to enhance the effectiveness of your program, the training must be customized to fit the needs of your company. Every workplace is unique, and a standardized approach to harassment in the workplace training might not address the specificities of the issues your employees too are facing. This is how you can customize the training for your company:

1. Assess Your Company Culture

Before any workplace bullying training or any workplace harassment training, it pays to first assess your company culture. Are there any perceived issues of etiquette in the workplace or complaints of harassment or bullying? Anonymous surveys and/or focus groups could generate input for potential improvement areas. By determining what issues your employees face, you can address those same issues in the training content.

2. Include Specific Situations Related to the Industry

Every workplace is not the same, and harassment in the workplace training should address the unique problems of your industry. For example, the corporate office may have harassment risks that look different from those of the manufacturing floor or retail store. Customize your training to include examples and situations specific to your industry, ones that employees can relate to. This will increase the applicability, engagement, and transfer implications of the training.

3. Include the Leadership

The training itself and the success of the program depend on leadership buy-in. A hallmark of tailored programs is their engagement in leadership. Leadership should not only attend but also participate in the program activities. They should be trained to identify, address, and prevent harassment; include role-specific training for managers to ensure that they deal with sensitive issues and set an example.

 

4. Active and Engaging Training Delivery

Workplace bullying training should also include hands-on activities and be fun. In this way, rather than being passive lecturers, employees would participate in roleplays, quizzes, and group discussions, which would keep their interest high. Customizing real-life situations that can go on in their workplace will help employees further grasp the behavioral and actionable aspects that constitute harassment, thereby enhancing the relevance of the training.

5. Tailor the Training for Different Levels within the Employee Group

Not all employees attend the same type of harassment in the workplace training. The frontline employees require an elementary understanding of harassment, whereas the managers and HR practitioners require advanced training to address an array of situations with complexity. Customizing the training content by levels enables all employees, regardless of their position, to be equipped to contribute to an anti-harassment workplace.

6. Clear Procedures and Policies

Once the workplace harassment training is customized for your company, make sure it aligns with your internal policies and procedures. Articulate clearly what constitutes harassment, including how employees can report it and the subsequent action taken by the company. An alignment of the training to company policies means that employees shall know what to expect and understand their rights and responsibilities.

Conclusion

Creating a safer and more respectful work environment comes with the various customization interventions undertaken for workplace bullying training, workplace harassment training, and harassment in the workplace training. Conduct a cultural assessment within your company with the experts of Sexual Harassment Disciplinary, examine industry-specific scenarios, engage leadership, and tailor the program according to the employee levels to make sure employees will relate to the training and effect real change. These strategies will put the company in a culture of zero tolerance for harassment and a celebration of all employees.