Blog Post: Online Harassment Prevention Training (Always) Can Be Dangerous!

We have all seen it, and most of us do it.  Why?  It's easier.  We can monitor it better.  We have the "proof" we need.  What am I talking about???  Harassment Prevention Training Online.  Don't get me wrong... I love it too... for all the right reasons... but, what gets missed when you are always doing the training online?

I have a little story for you... a true story... although; I have changed the names and general details to protect the innocent.  Sally HR Manager worked for a Country Club.  She oversaw all HR for a couple hundred employees.  When Sally started at the company all of the Managers, Supervisors, Leads and Executives had been trained on Sexual Harassment / Harassment Prevention.  All of the training was current and each of the online Harassment Prevention Training certificates were neatly placed in the employee folders. Sally felt very strongly about doing "Live" training.  She pushed and pushed until the General Manager agreed to bring in a 3rd party and do "Live Training." 

On the day of "Live Training" all but 2 made it.  Not bad for a mandatory training.  28 Managers, Supervisors and Leads gathered together to discuss harassment.  Remember, each had been through recent Online Training.  The trainer was terrific.  Made it through the most sensitive and uncomfortable material.  She did a terrific job of gaining the trust of the staff and had a great deal of interaction with them.  At the end of the training, she opened up the floor for group discussion and questions.  The Food and Beverage Director chimed in with some questions. 

He loved baseball, if he was not working he was watching baseball, playing Fantasy Baseball or physically at the games.  He worked each evening with the restaurant teams to ensure that the restaurants ran smoothly and satisfied every customer's need.  He was really a terrific manager.  He stated that he keeps the restaurant teams running with enthusiasm each evening the same as if they were on a baseball team playing a championship game. As he gave details of this "Team" attitude he mentioned the practice of smacking each other on the bottoms as they walked out of the kitchens to indicate "Go get em!" or "Good Job!"  He said that this really helped them to "Feel" like a baseball team. 

You can imagine the silence in the group.   So, here we have a bunch of employees, of all ages, both genders, etc... all hitting each other on the tushy all night long.  Great.  Of course, this opened a large discussion of what not to do and how to stop- immediately.  Luckily this practice was brought to a stop immediately and there was no further incident...

But, I wonder... how many Online Harassment Prevention Trainings would have discovered this was happening and made it stop?!  If you have been doing online training for a while, it may be time to bring in a live body.