Last year, we released a new harassment course that was inspired by the #MeToo movement. The interactive, story-based course brings to life the real impact of bullying and harassment at work through hard-hitting stories, connects users to a global movement, and gives them a chance to have their story heard too.
We have now released a new linear version of the sexual harassment course. The new course takes users through four key sections, with questions along the way to test users’ knowledge and understanding of the topic. The course is fully compliant with US federal and local harassment laws.
Harassment and bullying don’t occur because people don’t know any better. People know what’s inappropriate and what’s not. They know what’s harassment, and what’s not. Predators and bullies choose to ignore it because they can and because they think they can get away with it. We want that to stop.
The four key sections: Laws and Policies, Experience, Explore and Share
We’ve built the course with four main components: Laws and Policies, Experience, Explore and Share. The sections lead into each other in a linear format and can be completed at the user’s own pace.
Laws and Policies
At the beginning of the course, users are asked to select their state/s. This ensures that in the Laws and Policies section, users only learn the regulations most relevant to their jurisdiction. Once selected, the correct course will automatically be built and delivered to the user.
Experience
In Experience, the user is presented with a series of short, sharp and hard-hitting personal accounts of harassment, bullying or sexual harassment at work. While these are fictional accounts, they are drawn from the very real, all too common workplace experiences that at least half of all employees will go through in their working lives. After each story, users are asked one simple question about the subject, such as how many people do not report harassment. This anchors the stories in their real-world context. The stories are all narrated by professional voice actors, giving a powerful impact to the story.
Explore
Here, users can scroll through and explore the tweets, articles and videos which launched the #MeToo movement and helped it spread across the world. It’s crucial for people who are undertaking sexual harassment training to be conscious of the real world context of harassment. Someone working in an office cubicle has every right to benefit from the cultural shift of #MeToo as an actress in Hollywood. By bringing some of this tailored, curated content directly to the user, it helps them feel part of the tide of global change.
Share
In Share, users are offered the opportunity to anonymously and securely share their personal story, and, separately, can agree for what they share to be used in future versions of the course. #MeToo is about people taking the brave step to openly and publicly share their personal experience, but it’s a very hard thing to do. We wanted to give users the opportunity to share, but without the added complexity and pressure of having to do so publicly, which not everyone can or wants to do. By offering the option to have their experiences included (anonymously) in future versions of the course, users feel their contribution can help others in the future.
The “seek help” function
We have included a Seek Help tab at the bottom of every menu. This tab is always available no matter where someone is in the course. It has a few functions. It includes links to various local organizations and helplines which can assist someone who has experienced any of the issues covered in the course, from getting advice about being discriminated against at work to reporting a crime.
Secondly, the Seek Help tab can be customized to include a direct link to your company’s harassment reporting system. If you don’t have one, we can help you set one up, along with an OmniTrack register to help you track and deal with complaints.
Reporting harassment – VinciWorks’ online whistleblowing portal
In a world where suspicious or inappropriate behaviour often goes unreported, Omnitrack’s whistleblowing portal is a solution designed to capture all breaches, complaints, and issues in one secure framework to mitigate organisational risk in real time. Creating an interdependency between ethics and compliance, Omnitrack transmits an ultimately powerful message to employees and management that their corporate culture is truly transparent and ethical.
MyStory – the message
The act of speaking up challenges the kinds of behaviors that turn workplaces into arenas of abuse. This training incorporates the powerful lessons of the #MeToo movement; that sharing a story, telling a personal experience, confronting the abusers and the workplace dynamics that protect them is how we can start to change workplace culture for the better.
