Interactive Harassment Training Ideas: 5 Ideas to Consider

Implementing interactive harassment training ideas is a must for organizations that face frequent harassment issues. Harassment may not be visible enough or discussed openly in the past, but it has consequences if they go unaddressed. Today approximately 71 percent of businesses offer some kind of sexual harassment prevention training. According to a Gallup poll, in 2019, 62 percent of Americans say that sexual harassment is still a serious problem in the workplace. 

Harassment Training Ideas 

Here are a few ideas for sexual harassment training which can be learnt through the learning management system. These ideas will help you make the harassment training courses more interactive and, as a result, it will be more effective.

• Message from the CEO 

When the employees receive a mail regarding any links to sexual harassment training. They think it is just another corporate training exercise and not something serious. If the message comes from Human Resources, it will be important but not as impactful as a message from the CEO. A small video or an in-person speech from the CEO or any influential leader will set the right tone for the rest of the course. They should not explain why they have certain rules just because the law says so; instead, it is the company’s foundation and what they believe in.

• Small Training Sessions 

In some states like California, Connecticut, etc., employers must frequently provide 2 hours of sexual harassment training. Giving all the information in one go will not help the employers or employees. Instead, breaking down the course into small chunks has several benefits, like it helps employees take a break from work for a few minutes rather than hours, it helps trainees retain information better. This way, administrators can have different approaches to various issues at different times. 

• Tailoring the Harassment Training 

All the firms have different foundations, so does their harassment training. There are a lot of online courses in the market. They are relatively cheaper. The risk of these online courses is that they do not apply to all organizations. For example, harassment training in offices is different from training in factories. In such cases, the training goes down the drain. In addition, there should be detailed information about the procedures and whom to connect.

For instance, call our Human Resources director, Alicia Maxwell, at this number instead of simply writing contact Human Resources.

• Training Workers on What They Should be Doing 

During the harassment training, a lot of attention goes to defining, policing, and how to prevent bad behavior. Instead, they should include the good behavior the employees should exhibit. For example, pairing harassment training and civil training can fill the gap between civility and respect in the workplace by providing a holistic approach to tackling harassment. In civility training, employees learn about:

• How to communicate respectfully in person and via emails 
• Discussion on individual differences related to diversity 
• Praising each other
• Receiving constructive feedback and listening to complaints 
• Resolving conflict and being an effective supervisor 

• Involvement 

Eliminating harassment should be a whole company effort, with each employee doing their part. But the bitter truth about sexual harassment training is unless someone thinks they are the harasser or a victim, they can tune out.

Importance of Sexual Harassment Training 

• Employees are Protected 

Having a no-tolerance policy and providing an ample amount of training empowers the employees and makes them feel comfortable

• Training helps Improve Morale 

The issues related to sexual harassment were never filed. But now, the sexual harassment training not only allows to report a complaint but even talk about it. It makes the employees feel confident and committed

• Firms are Protected from Legal Liability 

By providing regular training, the rate of harassment decreases which results in less legal liability for the company 

• Employee Productivity Increases 

Providing effective training makes the employees feel valued. This translates into more commitment to work, and the employees work at an optimal productivity 

• Expected Behavior Achieved 

There are certain standardized training conducted by the Human Resources department. This training develops acceptable behavior among the employees, and this training inculcates discipline and culture in all employees. 

Benefits of Sexual Harassment Training 

• The Work Environment is Safer 

Because of stress at work, sexual harassment is created in the workspace. The feeling of discomfort or the fear created by the training. This eliminates the fear and assures a safer work environment with top-notch quality, efficiency, and profits

• Workplace Culture is Strengthened 

Communicating a company’s policies, goals, and values strengthen the workplace culture and motivate individuals 

• Encourages Reporting 

Many incidents go unreported, which results in a toxic work environment. This can lead to low productivity. Training can be an effective tool for encouraging employees to report their incidents or any potential problems. Companies can look into the matter and increase awareness of the company’s hotline number and email to report the incident. 

• Compliance Risk is Reduced 

When the workplace is untrained and ignorant of sexual harassment or any important issues, the business is a potential risk of legal, financial, and professional which will be way more expensive than conducting a sexual harassment training session. 

Activities to Engage Participants in Harassment Training 

• Four Corners 

Just like we used to play this game in our childhood, we can use it in making the harassment training interactive. Here the four corners are: agree, disagree, strongly agree, strongly disagree. Start with all the employees in the center and read out scenarios. Each time you read a scenario, tell the participants to move according to their thoughts. Then allow the participants to describe why they choose that corner. This activity forces participants to engage. Hence it is an effective workplace training activity. 

• Creating Videos

To do this exercise:

1. Divide the group into smaller groups.
2. After dividing them, give each group one sexual harassment video.
3. Ask them to enact the scenario in a video.
4. Once they are done filming this video, instruct them to make a different video on how they would react and handle the same situation.
5. Once it is complete, show the video to everyone.
6. Open up the floor for discussion and ask them for their input.

Once the discussion is over, the human Resource manager can tell them what went wrong and how they could better themselves. This kind of activity requires high harassment training engagement. 

• Human Continuum  

Another fun yet productive training exercise. Use masking tape to make a line on the wall. In a bowl, there are a few scenarios, instructing the participants to choose one envelope. Let them read the scenario to everyone. Then ask them if the scenario belongs to harassment, then tape it on the wall. This way, they can identify the different types of harassment and show them how to recognize mental and physical health issues. 

• Online Training

It does sound boring. The engagement is very low in online meetings. You can use the gaming feature which is available to make the session more interactive. In doing this, you guarantee workplace harassment training is a success for learning all types. 

• Point-based Games

The good old method which we played in schools. Gather all the participants. Divide them into equal groups. Ask them questions based on the scenarios. The team which gives maximum correct answers wins a gift. This activity motivates the participants to learn the necessary information. 

In a Nutshell

In conclusion, harassment, regardless of its type, is a serious matter and has consequences. It is not tolerated in workplaces anymore. All employees need to know about the sexual harassment training. It is more important that they understand and implement it when the right time comes. Sexual harassment is not just a training but a cultural problem.