Sexual Harassment Training is Essential to Create a Safe Workplace for Your Employees

Most managers and business owners don’t realize the issues that can pop up until harassment becomes a problem in the workplace. Whether you are preventing harassment or working to overcome current problems, it is essential that employees know how to manage their actions and behavior to maintain a safe environment for everyone in the area.

Proactive vs. Reactive Training

How often do you find yourself reacting to problems that arise, instead of taking a proactive approach to avoid those issues in the first place? Reactive management means that you aren’t doing anything until there is an immediate problem that needs to be resolved. In these situations, sometimes it is too late to repair the problem, resulting in a messy situation for your company.

On the other hand, a proactive approach is a great way to keep employees informed about policies and expectations in the workplace before problems occur. When the right training is administered, it is possible to stop issues before they happen.

Proactive training reduces the liability of your company. You can rest assured to know that you are keeping your business protected by providing good training for each employee. In a situation where you fail to provide the necessary training, then you might be facing the possibility of an employee suing the company because of an unsafe work environment. If a company is not proactive with sexual harassment training, then the business could be facing expensive lawsuits from the employees that were harassed.

Taking an Aggressive Stance on Sexual Harassment

Is there any harm in a few off-color jokes in the break room? Even if something starts out small, it is likely that the problem will escalate over time. A few jokes can quickly turn ugly, resulting in an unsafe environment where someone feels threatened or bullied. The fallout of these issues could result in damage to the public image of your company, low employee morale, and decreased productivity.

The best approach is to draw clear expectations that there is no tolerance for any harassment. Even if it isn’t illegal harassment, it is essential to avoid abusive, insensitive, or rude behavior among employees. Supervisors and managers need to take a proactive role to identify potential signs of harassment and take action to enforce company policy if anything happens.

How to Implement Sexual Harassment Training

This training needs to be implemented with all levels of employees within your company. Job title or management position is irrelevant because harassment can happen in all shapes and forms. The best thing that you can do is provide detailed sexual harassment prevention training for new employees. Additionally, make sure that everyone receives ongoing training to keep the information fresh and relevant.

Here at Coggno, we want to make it simple for you to provide high-quality sexual harassment training to your employees. Contact us to learn more about the training programs that are available on our website.