Need tips for mandatory Human Resources training? An HR Manager at a client company sent an email to all executives and managers asking them to save a three hour block of time for training in how to prevent sexual and other harassment[1] in their workplace.
I found out later that the group was totally freaked out by the thought of spending three hours on harassment training. Fortunately for me, what set the parameters for the training session, was the video series we had purchased for the session.
Fortunately for me, too, since I was the one who watched it four times in preparation for the session, the video was great. I told the group that I was watching the series for the fourth time when my husband came home from work the night before the session; I was laughing so uproariously, I didn't even hear him come in. I also took the time, in preparation, to jot down every incident of workplace harassment I had encountered over the years. Real time stories are so critical in training sessions to make dry material come alive.
Mandatory HR Training
A couple of points today:
- Preparation for training is crucial. Especially for some of the dryer HR-related training topics such as harassment, the ADA[2], employee handbooks[3], and writing job descriptions[4], you need to find and plan ways to engage your audience. Reading the law or policy out loud does not constitute training.
- You need to do more of the HR-related training - not less. Managers and supervisors are the front line when it comes to managing employee performance and needs from work. In harassment, as well as in other law suit-fertile topics, as an employer, demonstrating that you took appropriate steps[5] is crucial. In fact, demonstrating that you took immediate action and that the consequences for the perpetrator were severe[6], is also critical. And, the front line supervisor is usually the person initiating and following through on those steps, so they have to feel confident about what they are doing.
Here are more tips about how to make your mandatory hr training rock[7].
Harassment Video Reviewed
If you are a regular reader, you know that I rarely review products. My main criteria for a review is that I must have used the product personally.
In the case of this preventing sexual harassment video, from HR Hero, I was exceptionally happy with the quality of the information, the examples, and the two narrators. As one of my session attendees noted, even the lawyers were funny and the fact that they bickered with each other over some of the recommendations, made it even better.Those of us in training and organization development have such a bad habit of wanting to appear infallible when we're really just like everyone else. We just have a different job and different experiences. So, this was refreshing.
Harassment Mandatory HR Training Video for Employees
A second video that went over well with our employees is: Sexual Harassment: A Commonsense Approach[9].
Make my day. Please share, in comments below, what you have done to make mandatory training more interesting and fun.
Image Copyright Diane Diederich
[8]References
- ^ sexual and other harassment (humanresources.about.com)
- ^ ADA (humanresources.about.com)
- ^ employee handbooks (humanresources.about.com)
- ^ job descriptions (humanresources.about.com)
- ^ you took appropriate steps (humanresources.about.com)
- ^ immediate action and that the consequences for the perpetrator were severe (humanresources.about.com)
- ^ make your mandatory hr training rock (humanresources.about.com)
- ^ preventing sexual harassment video (www.hrhero.com)
- ^ Sexual Harassment: A Commonsense Approach (www.kantola.com)
