Harassment Training For Managers

Harassment training for managers exists mainly for one moment. The first time someone tells them something, usually informally and without warning.

Three failures are common in that conversation.

Promising confidentiality. A manager cannot contain a serious matter, and the promise breaks trust the moment it has to be escalated.

Assessing whether it counts. That judgement is not the manager’s to make on the spot, and getting it wrong ends the matter there.

Taking no action because the person asked them not to. The obligation to act does not disappear on request, though how you act should reflect what the person wants.

Managers also need to know clearly which matters they must escalate rather than resolve themselves. Harassment is not a dispute to mediate, and putting the two people in a room together compounds the harm.

The Australian Human Rights Commission sets out the employer duty. This is general information rather than legal advice.

See Sentrient’s sexual harassment course for managers and workplace bullying course for managers.