Sexual harassment is a complex subject. Explicit pictures sent via e-mail can clearly constitute sexual harassment, but what about a joke the teller perceives as innocent? Or a well-intentioned neck massage between co-workers? Given the subtleties associated with the sexual harassment and individual interpretations, traditional methods of learning may not be effective at changing behavior. Therefore, many businesses are turning to online sexual harassment training as a way to educate their employees about this complicated subject.
The key to the effectiveness of online sexual harassment training is the instructional design. The training generally includes common examples of situations potentially containing harassment that employees may encounter. Online sexual harassment training can also be interactive, requiring users to evaluate the situations. Feedback and information is provided, based on the responses of the users. The objective is to create a learning experience in which users reflect on their behavior and decide to make changes if appropriate. In fact, the effectiveness of the training has been confirmed by many users who have reported they intend to change or have changed their behavior based on what they learned in the course.
While online sexual harassment training is effective, for legal and other management reasons, it is also important to track employee participation in harassment prevention training. By training employees in sexual harassment issues online, employers can receive management reports showing an employee’s completion status. Another benefit of online sexual harassment training, as opposed to more traditional methods, is that online course contents can be updated regularly to reflect changes in the law or other relevant information. By far the largest cost of sexual harassment training is the time lost in attending scheduled classes and the disruption of normal work routines. Therefore, online learning is the most convenient and cost-effective way to educate employees who find it difficult to interrupt their busy schedules with training classes. Enabling employees to access online sexual harassment training when they have time available can significantly reduce total costs and overall time to complete harassment prevention training for the entire work force.
