Yesterday’s Advisor explored courts’ new attitude toward training. In today’s issue, Attorney Philippe Weiss tells what he thinks will go wrong in your training sessions, and we get a look at an extraordinary 10-minute training program.
Weiss is director of Seyfarth Shaw at Work, a legal compliance training company associated with the Seyfarth Shaw law firm. His remarks originally appeared on our sister publication, the HR Manager’s Legal Reporter.
What Can Go Wrong
Weiss suggested that trainers check to be sure they avoid the following common problems:
Training from the Bottom
If top management has not been trained, the resonating message is that the organization is not totally committed to the training and its message.
Incomplete or Inaccurate Content
Presenting incomplete or inaccurate content may actually mean the training has a negative effect. This usually happens either from failure to update training materials or from answering questions when the trainer doesn’t know the answer. Be sure your trainers are thoroughly prepared and that the material is complete and current.
Giving Legal Advice
Even if the trainer is an attorney, don’t dispense unequivocal legal advice or give legal conclusions, such as “Yes, that’s illegal harassment.” The words may come back to haunt you during a legal proceeding. Instead, say “Most situations are more nuanced and complicated than this. It might be illegal, but to tell, we would need more facts.”
Discussing Organization Situations
Similarly, avoid discussing past or current situations in your organization. These cases are interesting and often would provide relevant examples, but they risk the dangers of confidentiality, defamation, slander, and privacy issues.
When attendees bring up such questions as “One of the people in my department …”, it’s best to say that you can’t discuss specific cases because of legal concerns. Instead, use the example as a springboard to a discussion of a more generic situation.
Keeping Paper Test Results
Don’t test on paper, warns Weiss. And if you do, don’t file the tests. They often create an embarrassing record. Furthermore, you’ll be called to task on where you drew the line between passing and failing.
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Discriminatory or Stereotypical Remarks
Permitting or encouraging discriminatory or stereotypical remarks is asking for a lawsuit and providing the evidence to make it stick.
This often happens when, for example, the leader asks participants to write down two stereotypes about women or members of another protected group. These lists of stereotypes, even though they do not necessarily reflect views held by the participants, can end up in court. There, they will reflect negatively on the organization, no matter how positive the original intent of the training exercise.
Promising Confidentiality
Trainers, in an effort to encourage openness, often ask participants to agree that “What we say here stays here.” These agreements are not meaningful in legal proceedings. Whatever is said is discoverable and may be brought out in court.
Failing to Document
Documents are needed to help prove that training was actually provided, the content of the training, and which employees participated in the training. Consider: attendance sheets, participation forms, evaluation forms, and, if appropriate, policy acknowledgment or receipt forms.
Don’t Videotape Training
Some organizations videotape training sessions so that others may view the videotapes at a later date. Weiss discourages this practice for two reasons. First, the videotape will show your little mistakes, and second, there is no interaction for the viewers.
Training is critical, but it’s also demanding. To train effectively, you need a program that’s easy for you to deliver and that requires little time from busy schedules. Also, if you’re like most companies in these tight budget days, you need a program that’s reasonable in cost.
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Trains in 50 key HR topics under all major employment laws, including manager and supervisor responsibilities, and how to legally carry out managerial actions from hiring to termination. (See a complete list of topics below.)
Uses the same teaching sequence master teachers use. Every training unit includes an overview, bullet points on key lessons, a quiz, and a handout to reinforce the lesson later.
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