Sexual Harassment Training: A Best Practice Approach

Employers often address workplace misconduct, such as bullying, harassment, and discrimination, through compliance-based training. Typically led by Human Resources or Legal and Compliance teams, this training focuses on policies, processes, and the organisational and legal costs of misconduct. While it raises awareness, it often falls short in changing behaviours or attitudes.

Research highlights significant issues. Traditional compliance training may provoke negative emotional reactions such as denial, defensiveness, or hostility. For instance, a study published in The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science (2001) found that men who underwent 30 minutes of sexual harassment training were less likely to perceive or report harassment and more likely to blame victims. This response likely stemmed from feelings of being attacked rather than genuine attitudinal change.

Limitations in Grievance Systems

Training often fails to build trust in grievance systems. Employees may avoid filing complaints if they perceive the organisational culture as unsupportive or fear retaliation. Without a cultural shift, raising awareness about processes does little to encourage reporting.

Enhancing Sexual Harassment Training Programs

To address the shortcomings of compliance-based approaches, researchers recommend innovative strategies for designing effective sexual harassment training. Here are key improvements:

1. Prioritise Program Design and Delivery

A 2013 meta-analysis in the Journal of Organizational Behavior found that interactive, in-person training has a stronger impact than brief or virtual sessions. Effective programs:

• Use experiential activities that promote interaction.
• Are led by supervisors or external experts rather than peers.

Other research shows training is enhanced when people are asked to set personal goals for how they will change their workplaces for the better.

2. Focus on Empathy-Focused Interventions

Empathy-based approaches foster behavioural change by engaging the emotional brain. Techniques such as perspective-taking—imagining others’ feelings and thoughts—can lower the likelihood of harassment. Sharing real-life stories of those affected by misconduct can evoke empathy and motivate leaders to act. Research shows that when men actively take the perspective of a victim of sexual harassment, there’s a lower likelihood that they will sexually harass.

3. Implement Bystander Strategies

Bystander training equips employees with tools to intervene in workplace misconduct. Effective programs position participants as allies, emphasising collective responsibility. Research shows that trainees who participate in bystander training are more likely to intervene even months later.

4. Shift to Respect-Based Interventions

Respect-based training replaces punitive approaches with a focus on fostering a respectful culture.  In an interview for the Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins, was quoted as saying the workplaces she knows that manage sexual harassment well are the ones that have a strong sense of respect. “A written policy is not the thing that protects, it’s that thing in the middle: the culture.” Research has shown that, consistent with social science research, employees are more likely to respond to a moral framework than a legal framework. Respect-based programs highlight:

• Building inclusive, respectful workplace cultures.
• Cultivating positive behaviours rather than policing misconduct.

5. Engage Leadership in Cultural Change

The only thing that prevents misconduct is a company culture that simply doesn’t tolerate it. The most effective interventions for workplace misconduct have visible and committed senior leaders who set the tone for cultural change.

Studies have examined how organisational culture factors into training effectiveness. One study found knowledge and personal attitudes were changed for employees who perceived that their work unit was ethical, regardless of their personal sense of cynicism about whether the training might be successful. In a second study, employees who already believed that their employers tolerated sexual harassment took that cynicism into training sessions and were less motivated to learn from it. That sense of futility affected their belief about whether training would be useful, more even than their own personal beliefs about sexual harassment.

Cultural change starts with visible leadership. Senior leaders must model and reward safe and respectful interactions, bystander behaviours, and a speak-up culture. Engaged leadership reduces backlash and increases the effectiveness of training.

6. Use Relevant Examples

Scenarios in sexual harassment training should mirror employees’ roles, experiences, and workplace dynamics. Tailored examples make training relatable and actionable.

7. Offer Stand-Alone Training

Separate sexual harassment training from general compliance modules. Elevating its importance signals that it is a critical part of organisational culture, not just another box to tick.