I have been really heartened recently by the number of organisations that have implemented anti-discrimination and workplace bullying programs on-line and come back to me admitting it really doesn’t work on its own. They have told me that the on-line training approach is fine for reinforcing policies, reporting processes and responsibilities but on its own doesn’t challenge employees on the question of ‘what behaviour is ok and not ok in the workplace?’ It also fails to give employees the opportunity to reflect on their own behaviour.
This is welcome feedback for the iHR Australia concept of anti-discrimination and workplace bullying training programs. Nine years ago we went to market with programs that were a little more expensive but a whole lot more effective in explaining what is ok and not ok in the workplace. Using actors and highly experienced facilitators (business experience that is!) we developed programs that allowed participants to learn from observing, analysing and practising. It was something of a risk but has now become a highly accepted way of conveying the message and the feedbck we get is continually extraordinary. These days our anti-discrimination and anti-bullying training programs are advertised on the Australian Human Rights Commission’s annual calendar and are delivered to many small, medium and large corporations in all parts of Australia.
Our training style is now used across the world including Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, as well as Australia, to explain a range of HR related skills and concepts required by the modern manager. These include recruitment, performance management, courageous conversations and coaching.
And what satisfies me most about this great success is that our training is face to face, human to human training and that organisations are clearly demonstrating their commitment to such an educational approach. iHR Australia and iHR Asia customers have a commitment to culture and agree with us that behaviour ultimately builds culture. In my view they are supporting the idea that you can’t effectively teach beahviour and culture exclusively using on-line interventions. Please share your thoughts.
Stephen Bell's Blog 