Using sexual harassment prevention training to unify culture 

Challenge 

The Head of HR at a listed UK public limited company asked us to train everyone on preventing sexual harassment and help bring the organisation together following a merger. The challenges:

  • ‘One company’ | Foster a unified culture in the merged entity. 

  • No ‘tick box’ | Engage employees on anti-sexual harassment compliance in an environment where such issues were rare and a ‘tick box’ approach would have devalued the importance of the issue. 

  • ROI | Show a good return on investment for the training. 

Approach 

To meet the client’s objectives, we expanded our standard harassment prevention training to address various forms of inappropriate behaviour and how to build great culture. This lengthened the sessions slightly but was a decision that paid dividends in the feedback, and aligned strongly with the client’s goal of promoting dignity and respect at work. 

  • Customisation | We tailored the session to cover the wider objective, policies and risky scenarios. 

  • Interaction | Over a short period, we conducted interactive sessions based around filmed content and case studies. We focused on the essential knowledge and equipped people to spot problems and act confidently. 

  • All levels | We designed different sessions for the Executive Committee, managers and team members. This ensured a consistent understanding of the core issues at all levels, but gave leaders more support.

Results

  • Capability | The proportion of managers confident in protecting company culture and preventing sexual harassment rose from 75% to 95%: 57% felt very confident - up from 25% before. 

  • Confidence | Team members’ confidence to address harassment rose from 67% to 90%. 47% were very confident at the end - up from 14%. 

  • Positivity | Manager feedback included, "I thought it was excellent" and "a really useful and thought-provoking session with useful tools to use. Team members said, "interesting to recognize other perspectives and spotlight certain forms of harassment not previously considered," "a really beneficial session with lots of useful takeaways," and "I can deal with the situation now, if I come across it. THANKS!"