Image Credit: Photofunia.com
Still recovering from a late night of Super Bowl watching, I was looking forward to mailing it in today with a blog post that isn’t exactly going to break any word-count records. So today, I tip my hat to my friends at Wolters Kluwer Employment Law Daily who reported yesterday on SHRM’s “Harassment-Free Workplace Series: A Focus on Sexual Harassment.”
This is the first part of the SHRM series. It seems like nice blogging fodder. And God bless them, it’s basically a big infographic.
Dual perspectives frame part one of the SHRM series. We have HR professionals and their views on sexual harassment at work versus those of nonmanager employees.
And I’m sure that they’ll line up like evenly-spread layers of a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich.
Or maybe not.
For example, 57% of surveyed HR professionals believe that unreported sexual harassment incidents occur to a small extent in their organizations. Conversely, just over three-quarters of nonmanager employees who experienced sexual harassment within the last year did not report it. And one in five nonmanagers has no clue whether the organization has any sexual harassment policy. Fortunately, however, where the employees do know about their company’s sexual harassment policy, two-thirds of them believe it is very or extremely effective.
But how good is a policy without training? And how good is your training?
The EEOC recommends that employee training on sexual harassment be live and interactive. However, most employers use online or video training only. And only half of the nonmanagers surveyed find training with technology to be very or extremely effective in reducing sexual harassment behaviors. In other words, call in a live trainer. Maybe your favorite employment-law blogger, who happens to be speaking at SHRM’s Employment Law and Legislative Conference in DC next month.
For example.
Or not. Only 32% of organizations have changed their sexual harassment training in the past year. So, if you fear change, you’re not alone.
But, if you were to change it up, where could you use more help?
55% need more held in handling off-duty misconduct (e.g., happy hours, work travel). 44% need help to handle anonymous complaints. 39% could use advice on following up after sexual harassment investigations are completed.
Gosh, if only I knew a workplace investigator — and EEOC-approved trainer — who also has an HR investigation training module in his utility belt. I wonder who that could be.
Hey, look. I’m just spitballing here, and this isn’t communist Russia. Do what you want.
In the meantime, for more on that SHRM survey, click here.