Harassment Training Upgrade

Let’s be perfectly clear about sexual harassment training—it is needed more than ever, but organizations can’t continue to use outdated material to engage and make an impact on their employees. In 2021 we need an upgraded version.

 We hear of so many organizations that are conducting sexual harassment training with the same material—videos and slides—they’ve used for years. Consider what’s changed in our world as we’ve entered the digital age, like the explosion of social media that is changing communications, perhaps forever. Will outdated materials filled with examples from the ‘90’s meet the needs of today’s employee?

 It will come as no surprise to you that Cornelia and I started a business book club over 15 years ago, and it’s still going strong.  During our most recent discussion, someone brought up the very topical subject of sexual harassment and said, “It is incredible that we’re still talking about this. Shouldn’t everyone know what not to do by now?” If only that was true.

 A recent study by TalentLMS and The Purple Campaign’s, reported that 29% of people responding said they have been harassed on video calls, by text message, or on other online platforms. You can bet 20-year-old harassment training materials didn’t cover those topics.

 HRDive, in reporting on this study, included a quote from Dimitris Tsingos, CEO of TalentLMS backer Epignosis, “Many reported they were trained with videos and other material—sometimes 20 years old or more. These older videos don’t account for many aspects of modern society, including the integration of technology in our lives and a deeply ‘digital-first’ society thanks to Covid-19.”

 He added, “Many psychological studies show that people are very polite with face-to-face conversation but have completely different personalities behind a screen or keyboard.”  In addition to the digital world being new, we also have seen major shifts in attitudes toward the LGBTQ community, which also wasn’t part of sexual harassment training of old. Research shows that more than half of LGBTQ women surveyed said they had experienced sexual harassment over their careers, which is significantly more than straight women and almost twice as much as LGBTQ men.

Evaluate your approach to sexual harassment training. As you are doing so, be sure it’s up to date, and consider including more than just advising employees how to recognize harassment and how to behave. Provide guidance to employees on what to do if they encounter harassment. Bystander intervention training is a powerful way to encourage employees to speak up, take action, and address the behavior. Such training offers techniques for doing so.

 As Mr. Tsingos also advises, “Be proactive.”  Don’t wait until you get a harassment claim. Do it now.