Creating an Effective Sexual Harassment Training Although sexual harassment training is required in many states, there are workplaces that cannot seem to find an effective way to administer this training. This is often a sensitive subject and there are many people that struggle developing an effective training strategy. When your workplace creates barriers that make it difficult to follow sexual harassment law, these barriers should be recognized and taken care of. Taking those barriers out of the picture can ensure that your sexual harassment training is more effective.
Failure to report One of the most common barriers to sexual harassment laws is a failure to report. There are many victims that are reluctant to report when they feel that they have been sexually harassed and it is important that you create an environment that is conducive to reporting. For many years, when the workforce is surveyed, there is an overwhelming response that those in workplaces across the nation do not believe that anything would come of their report. There are a large portion of workers that feel that they will be blamed for their harassment. These barriers can be hard to tear down in the work place. It is important to institute a system for reporting and an effective way of investigating and punishing to ensure that your employees are confident in reporting sexual harassment. When you have created this plan, you should be sure that it is explained thoroughly in your sexual harassment training. Every employee should understand exactly who to talk to and what to do should they feel that they have been sexually harassed. Talking about the most common reasons for people not reporting sexual harassment may help victims understand that it is okay and important to report sexual harassment. When a victim feels like nothing will be done with the report, they might be blamed or that they will cause harm to the harasser they often tend not to report.
Talking openly
Talk openly about these reasons in your sexual harassment training. Being open about these reasons and discussing them with each employee may enable you to conquer many of the barriers that are inherently present in many workplaces. When you have created your sexual harassment complaint mechanism, it should be a priority to have it maintained. There should also be a policy that prohibits any retaliation against complaints to ensure that those that make a complaint feel safe making their complaint. Although it may be time consuming, it is important that each of your employees understand the importance of this training. You may want to have each employee retrained to ensure that everyone understands any new system that you have put into place. Effective sexual harassment training is not an easy task. Investing time and money into this process can help you ensure that your work place is a safe place for your employees and that every employee understands how important they are to the company. If you feel that your sexual harassment training should be revisited, don’t hesitate to take care of this program. You will be glad that you invested in this process. Photo credit: UnderPuppy, Loop_oh