timeTo: Accelerating progress in ending sexual harassment by training our teams

By Kerry Glazer

One in five UK workers – a staggering 1.5 million people – suffered some form of sexual harassment in the workplace during the last year. This shocking statistic was published in October as the Worker Protection Bill to enshrine sexual harassment protections in law received its second reading. The ad industry, including many of you reading this report, is ahead of the curve with its support of the timeTo initiative compared to many sectors, with 300 companies signed up as timeTo endorsers.

But there is still a need for action. timeTo’s most recent research found that 49% of us thought sexual harassment would be ‘more of an issue’ and increase when businesses returned to the office after a long period working from home. 89% said that it was ‘very important’ for the industry to continue to focus on stopping sexual harassment, with a desire for employers to provide some form of refresher reminding people about the behaviours that are unacceptable. The best way that agencies can help to keep their people safe is to book the timeTo training workshop. The training is a game-changer and empowers people to find the language to have difficult conversations, to call out behaviour that makes them uncomfortable, to challenge a culture of what can so easily be dismissed as ‘banter’, and to hold us all accountable. The AAR team has experienced the training and fully endorse its long-lasting positive impact on business culture.

If you haven’t yet booked the training for your teams, please contact timetotraining@nabs.org.uk for more information and get your session booked for 2023. ●