While only certain states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, New York, and Washington) require sexual harassment training, it’s still a good idea for businesses in other states to offer anti-harassment training. In our HR Benchmark Report, we found that fast-growth companies were far more likely to offer this kind of training program. These businesses deliberately cultivate a sense of trust and respect in the workplace, which impacts how well their workers perform.
Once you’ve decided to offer anti-harassment training, the next step is figuring out the best method. While large companies may choose to do group training sessions, a small business may opt for on-demand or one-on-one training courses. Each business is different, so the best method depends on your company’s unique needs.
The Benefits of Anti-Harassment Training
Offering anti-harassment training at your workplace can benefit your company in a few important ways.
- Maintain legal compliance.
- Prevent sexual harassment.
- Encourage bystanders to take action when they notice harassment.
- Create an inclusive, respectful workplace culture.
- Reduce the risk of lawsuits.
- Develop a positive workplace culture.
- Make it easier for employees to focus on their work.
- Improve overall productivity.
Recently, Mike Vannoy brought up the topic of anti-harassment training in Mission to Grow’s “HR Compliance” episode. “It needs to be done, whether it’s mandated or not, because it’s against the law to discriminate,” Vannoy said. “If you’re providing anti-harassment and anti-sexual harassment training in a non-mandated state, what is it that you’re telling your employees?
“You’re telling your employees that you respect them. You trust them. You want to have a safe working environment for everybody, regardless of how you view the world.”
Methods for Offering Sexual Harassment Training
Depending on your company’s needs and your state’s requirements, there are a few different ways you can incorporate sexual harassment training into your normal training programs, handbook, policies, and company culture.
Virtual, Live Training Programs
Whether you have a remote workforce or simply don’t want the difficulty of getting everyone into the same space, virtual, live training programs are an excellent option. In this type of program, workers can easily ask questions and get immediate feedback from an HR professional.
On-Demand Videos
On-demand videos are an easy option if you don’t want to pull all of your workers for training at the same time. Instead, employees can complete their anti-harassment training during their downtime.
Plus, you don’t have to hire an instructor or spend company time creating each video. Asure has an entire library of training materials that are available as a subscription. You can access high-level training programs on important compliance topics with the push of a button.
Employee Handbook Inserts
At many organizations, employee handbooks and onboarding materials are used for anti-harassment training. The handbook includes key policies, which each employee must read or get trained on before they can start working.
Employee handbooks aren’t just important for training purposes. They also serve a key role in documenting your legal compliance. By getting the employee to sign off on their training and documenting it, you have proof if there is ever a dispute in the future.
No-Cost Outreach Programs From the EEOC
Depending on your needs, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) may be able to help. They provide limited training options for free to businesses. They even have specific liaisons available to answer questions from small businesses.
Role-Playing and Interactive Options
As a part of your training program, you may want to include interactive components, like role-playing. Interactive elements are easier to remember and can improve your employees’ comprehension of the topic.
Online Courses or Webinars
An alternative option is to use online courses or webinars to train your workers. Online, standardized programs help you ensure consistency. They are also ideal if you have multiple branches and need a convenient way to train everyone on the same information.
In-Person Training Sessions and Seminars
Companies can also host in-person training sessions or seminars. If you don’t have a large HR department, you can outsource an HR professional to discuss anti-harassment training.
Best Practices for Training Workers About Sexual Harassment
When training workers on sexual harassment, it’s important to be consistent. You want every employee to have the same understanding of the rules. Additionally, you should always document your training sessions so that you can demonstrate your compliance with anti-harassment and anti-discrimination statutes.
Clearly Define Your Policies
No matter how you design your anti-harassment training program, it’s important to clearly define your policies. For example, you should discuss the definition of harassment and give examples.
Workers should never be in doubt about how they are expected to behave. In addition to discouraging potential violators, these measures will demonstrate to the rest of your employees that you value a workplace environment that is based on respect and safety.
Make Sure All Workers Understand the Policies and Procedures
There are many ways you can perform the training program, but the ultimate goal is the same. By the time the program is complete, every worker should have a solid understanding of your policies.
In research studies, the number one thing workplaces can do to prevent harassment from happening is to communicate to workers that it is a high priority. If you care about a policy and demonstrate how important it is to you, your employees will care as well.
Separate Training for Managers and Employees
While everyone should go to the employee training session, managers should get an additional session on ways they can prevent sexual harassment training. They need to learn more about reporting requirements and other management-specific topics.
If you normally do in-person sessions, you can always start by having everyone listen to a shared session that’s intended for your average employees. Afterward, you can have employees leave so that you can give managers an additional training session.
Use Realistic Examples
Role-playing and realistic examples help workers understand what harassment looks like so that they can speak up or report it. Because of this, it’s important to make the examples as realistic as possible.
Offer Interactive Options
People learn in different ways. While some people learn best by writing and reading, other workers will learn better through physical movement, listening to someone speak, or watching a video. By using discussion-based training, role-playing, and other interactive options, you ensure every worker is able to access the type of training style they need.
Do You Conduct Sexual Harassment Training?
At Asure, we recently completed our 2024 HR Benchmark Report. As a part of our survey, we interviewed 1,065 small businesses on their HR practices. We asked 40 questions about eight different topics. In the end, we asked companies what their growth was like during the previous year.
While there was a 17-point difference between all fast-growth and zero-growth companies, this spread jumped to 33 points when we only looked at companies that had under 25 workers.
42% of zero-growth businesses with under 25 workers conducted sexual harassment training.
75% of fast-growth businesses with under 25 workers conducted sexual harassment training.
We’ve also found that small businesses are far more likely to report using HR compliance measures if they’re also a fast-growth company. From fostering a culture of respect to attracting top workers, HR compliance and anti-harassment training help build your business in important ways.
Prevent Sexual Harassment in Your Workplace
Whether you’re running a Fortune 500 company or a shoestring startup, sexual harassment training is important for your company’s culture, profitability, and success. When workers feel safe and cared for, they are happier and more productive. In turn, this helps your company achieve faster growth.
Asure’s small business HR experts can help you improve your HR compliance, we can help. Reach out to Asure’s team of small business HR experts today.