The future of workplace training programs online

 I offer online training programs and have seen an uptick in interest in online training.

It is clear there is still a general distrust of online training in some segments, however, covid has obviously, increased interest in getting the training done – online so as not to spread disease in person. 

I think, however, that the distrust of online training is misplaced. There are a lot of benefits to doing an online training program.

The benefits of online training

Online learning, can be really efficient in terms of costs and reporting.

I work in the EEO field, though I also offer humanistic leadership development programs as well.

With EEO or any compliance training, you must prove your staff learned the material and met the time requirements of the training.  Online platforms can do this well by ensuring people are in the lessons for the required amount of time and pass a comprehension exam to complete the program.  

Compliance training also requires adequate reporting. Companies need to provide reporting that proves the training occurred. Again, online training platforms do this really well as you can generate logs for each users to prove each keystroke they make inside the learning program as well as issue certificates of completion.

With modern online training programs, it's pretty much impossible to cheat the system. People are forced to participate or they don't pass the class. This compares with in person, where people may be physically present, but ignore what is being taught.  

Another benefit is that you can purchase access to an online learning library – and not just a specific class. This allows participants to engage in personal development in excess of the required training programs – which is also a benefit to the user. 

I think for compliance training, online is where the future is specifically because it is convenient and provides such excellent compliance reporting.

The benefits of in person training

The main benefit of in person training is still – networking.  The opportunity to have casual conversations with your colleagues during breaks helps build relationships and trust which is – important for teams to develop. 

This benefit of a live training is incredibly hard to replicate online. It can be done, but it's not as easy or natural as being in person.

For personal development and leadership development, - I think whether you choose in person or online is a personal choice and it depends on your objectives. 

I do get individuals who are doing personal and professional leadership development online. It's just another form of self study. Some people read books, some people take online courses. 

But groups who want leadership training are still asking me to come out in person to do the training, because the in person networking benefits are still so important for that. But for individuals who want to improve – an online course is similar to purchasing a book. It’s a great way to improve your skills.

A hybrid approach

One of the suggestions I make to clients who do want in person is to conduct a hybrid training.   Do some of the learning, online at their own pace and combine that with an in person, workshop or discussion.  This will ensure that everyone arrives to the in person training ready to discuss implementation of what they learned online and will provide more opportunities for networking and collaboration and discussion - which in turn will help participants get to know each other and build the relationships that are so essential to their success.

A hybrid approach really will help you maximize the learning and the networking.

Ask Me For Help.

If you have any questions, just let me know. If you are contemplating doing a training, whether it is compliance training or a professional development training, please contact me and we can discuss how best to meet your organizations needs.

Here is a full list of the programs I offer. 

https://humanistlearning.com/programsoffered/

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Compliance related issues when it comes to harassment in the workplace

If you are a business owner or a manager, you are responsible for keeping your employee safe. And yes, that also means safe from harassment.

Harassment & discrimination and bullying are all about the same thing. Power and social exclusion. Social exclusion is about getting and wielding power. In the workplace it results in high turnover, the loss of good employees, lawsuits, bad decision making and more. Oh – by the way – bad decision making leads to errors. Errors are always bad for business and in some industries – can be fatal (think Deep Sea Horizon which if anyone thinks wasn’t caused by a culture of harassment that negatively impacted decision making – they are deluding themselves.)

There is a reason why companies with over 50 employees should be giving employees regular training on harassment. Notice I said employees. Some just train the managers, as if that will do any good. Train everyone.

Here's why.  Judges like it. IF you are ever accused of not protecting an employee from harassment – you can at least claim that you tried.

That isn’t enough of course and that’s not why you should conduct trainings. Ideally you should teach people not just that harassment is bad so don’t do it. But also – if it happens, here’s how to get it to stop. Not just – report it, but step by step, here is how you help us create a corporate culture of respect.

A good harassment training can actually change your corporate culture for the better. And don’t tell me – oh – we don’t have any problems. You do. You know you do. Even if no one is “breaking the law” in terms of harassment, you still have nasty interpersonal politics going on. All companies do. They are collections of people with different skills and experiences and they are all trying to get their work done. Arguments happen. Office politics happen.

Compliance training done right is a beautiful thing

Want to fix it. Use your harassment training to teach your staff how to not feed the beast and at least be part of the solution. I gave this training to a lawfirm and they reported dramatic improvements in the interpersonal dynamics. They didn’t have any bullies, but they did have inter office politics.


What a good behavioral based training did for them is it gave everyone on the staff the tools to do and be better. And they did. This wasn’t about telling people not to do things wrong. It was about telling them how to do things right. They took it from there.


If you want help and a harassment training that will actually positively impact social relationships in your workplace – contact me!  Compliance training done right is a beautiful thing.

https://humanistlearning.com/category/businesscourses/compliance/ 

Online Compliance Education

My company, Humanist Learning Systems offers online professional and personal development programs from a Humanistic perspective. The core courses I teach have to do with how to stop bullies using operant conditioning techniques. As a result, I offer compliance training, specifically sexual harassment training.


Sexual harassment compliance training is normally done in person because CA law requires instructor interaction for this sort of training.  What most compliance instructors don’t realize is that you can now get instructor interaction through an online learning system. In person trainings are no longer a requirement and even California allows for online learning provided participants have the ability to ask questions and receive feedback from the instructor.    

Instructor Interaction

Most online learning management systems now allow instructor interaction with asynchronous learning. This means participants can log in when it’s convenient to them but still talk to an instructor via email or discussion forum or even scheduled conference calls. This is good news because the logistics of getting everyone into the same room at the same time for a training is expensive and a hassle.  With online training, employees can log in and participate whenever it is convenient to them.

Even companies that provide harassment training in house can benefit from having an online option. Inevitable, someone is going to miss the scheduled group training. Perhaps the employee was traveling or sick that day. With an online option, they can make up the training remotely when it is convenient to them.

Documentation

One of the big for compliance managers regarding online training is verifying that the employee actually took the course. And this is valid. A lot of online learning is in the form of a webinar or video lesson.  Verifying that they actually logged in and participated in the course is a real concern.

In my system, I am able to document whether participants actually accessed the required content, whether they were online for the required amount of time and whether they understood the material presented through the use of online quizzes.  The HR teams I work with have all the documentation they need should they be required to prove they provided the training in court and that any particular individual did indeed take the course.

New Hire Onboarding and Orientation

The other thing that is nice about this sort of online learning for compliance requirements is that companies can make this training part of their orientation program for new hires, even if they hire one person at a time. They don’t have to have a big group to hire in an instructor to make this worthwhile. All they have to do is purchase 1 seat. And from day one they can sit their employee down in front of a computer and provide them with the compliance training they have to have and perhaps a new manager orientation program and they are done. No worrying about when you are going to schedule them for a training in the future and then forgetting to do it in the time crunch that is ever present in the HR office.

While new managers and supervisors are supposed to receive harassment training within 6 months of hire and every 2 years after, it’s very easy to let it slip once an employee is working. Knowing that your compliance requirements are taken care of before the employee starts working is valuable. and ensures that you don’t forget to provide the required training. It’s all done as part of your onboarding.

Contact me if you are in need of harassment compliance training for your company and would like to explore online options. Or visit https://humanistlearning.com/sexual-harassment-compliance-training/ to learn more about my harassment training options.

Harassment Compliance Training Done Right

If you have more than 50 employees, chances are you offer sexual harassment training to your supervisors. Such training is mandated by law in CA, ME and CT and is strongly encouraged everywhere else as a way to reduce liability if a harassment situation were to occur.

Most companies offer a legal compliance training that covers the law and basically tells supervisors – it’s against the law so don’t do it. Legal compliance satisfied. If you are ever hit with a lawsuit, you can now argue – well – we told them not to do it, it’s not our fault if it happened.

This is a REALLY cynical way of viewing harassment training.

My feeling is that since you have to offer harassment training, why not use it is an opportunity to teach your staff something useful. Like – how to deal with obnoxious people using behavioral techniques.

Bullying and harassment are normal human behaviors. They happen to be really destructive behaviors, but they work and benefit the bully, which is why they do them.  The good news is that we have decades of research on how to get unwanted behaviors to stop.

Teaching your supervisors and staff how to help shape and train your employees to behave better while at the same time teaching them how to stop harassment behavior in the workplace is a win win win!

Don’t just give your employees a boring legal training and consider your job done. Teach them how to stop harassment by teaching them useful behavioral skills that they can apply immediately to all aspects of their work.  You will be glad you did.

Check out my harassment training options at: https://humanistlearning.com/category/businesscourses/compliance/

If you are an employment lawyer or know one - consider taking this course to learn more about what specifically we should be teaching people. https://humanistlearning.com/stop-bullying-in-the-workplace-for-lawyers/

Motivated Learners

Are you teaching the right people the right thing?

I teach how to stop bullies using operant conditioning. In addition to teaching parents of kids who are being bullied how to help their kids, I also offer sexual harassment training to companies. The law requires this training occur in several states and for the rest of the states, this sort of regular training is highly encouraged.

Here is the problem. These laws general require that supervisors be trained on the law. A lot of bullying in the workplace is done by supervisors so it makes sense. If you want to stop harassment, teach the people doing the harassing not to do it. Right?

Wrong. People who bully have no incentive to stop. In fact, bullying benefits them. Telling them they could get in trouble or that it’s against the law isn’t enough to change their behavior. They haven’t had a negative consequence yet, so they aren’t worried about getting one in the future.

Most larger companies offer sexual harassment training. The supervisors or staff sit in a class for 1 to 2 hours learning about how it’s against the law. Pretty much everyone already knows this already. Most people consider these trainings a joke and are bored during them. And then once it’s over, everyone goes back to work and back to the status quo. Nothing changes. And yet year after year companies across America, Canada and Australia submit their employees to the same ineffective training. Why?

We are training the wrong people on the wrong material. 

The reason the training is ineffective at changing behavior is because we are training the wrong people on the wrong material. Someone who is not personally affected by harassment might have a professional interest in it. But since they aren’t being negatively affected by it, it’s abstract knowledge. They aren’t motivated to learn it.

Who is motivated to learn? Victims.  People who are being negatively affected have high motivation to learn how to get bullying/harassment to stop. But instead of teaching them the behavioral skills required to fix the situation, we generally teach them the same things we teach the supervisors. It’s against the law so don’t do it. And if it does happen to you, you should report it.

This doesn’t really do a victim any good. They already know it’s illegal. They also know if they report it, they are going to face retaliation. Yes, retaliation is against the law, but it still happens and everyone knows it. What victims want to learn is how exactly they get it to stop. This is why I teach what I teach and why people LOVE my trainings.

Motivated Learners make the difference

When I speak to prospective clients about my online training, they often want to know what sort of interactive elements I have in the training to keep people’s attention. In their experience, people are unmotivated to learn during your typical sexual harassment training so an effort has to be made to put some lipstick on that pig to keep people engaged.

What I tell them is that my courses don’t need all that window dressing. If you have a motivated learner and you are teaching them something they desperately want to learn, they are going to learn it. It doesn’t matter the format. A motivated learner will learn from a book, a video or through a live lesson. If they are motivated to learn and the material is helpful, they will learn it.

Teach the right people what they want to learn and they will learn it. If you really want to create change, you have to find people who are motivated to change and then teach them what they want and need to learn. In my case, I teach the victims how to get their harassers to stop using behavioral psychology techniques that are based in science and really work.

If your training program is ineffective, perhaps you aren’t teaching the right material to the right people.

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If you want to learn how to create a sexual harassment training that actually works – consider taking my free 2 hour class - https://humanistlearning.com/sexualharassment101/ which is approved for 2 ours ce through HRCI and 2 hrs pdc through SHRM.

Or check out our compliance training programs at: https://humanistlearning.com/category/businesscourses/compliance/