Inappropriate Behaviour & Workplace Harassment Training

Is workplace banter crossing the line? Are people the butt of ongoing jokes?

We help you tackle these behavioural “grey areas” where organisations often sustain the most damage.

The way we work with you is built around our 4 key steps:

Inappropriate workplace behaviour is often not overtly discriminatory and may not amount to bullying. The people involved are in fact often unaware of the effect they are having. Even so, there is usually something happening to make people feel uncomfortable.

Left unchecked, things can deteriorate until it becomes damaging to workplace relationships and productivity. For example:

• Workplace banter and jokes become too close to the bone, making people feel uncomfortable
• Lack of courtesy amongst team members starting to cause resentment
• Sarcastic comments which are wearing people down
• Behaviour which may be misjudged, but falls under the definition of sexual harassment

We work with you to understand what is currently happening, the underlying causes and how managing inappropriate behaviour in the workplace can make a difference.

Armed with this knowledge, we design a programme to help with managing inappropriate behaviour, to manage and prevent workplace conflict.

Approaches to help build a more inclusive and respectful environment may include:

• Workshops for team members to help individuals understand the subtle and often unconscious ways in which their attitudes and behaviours impact on the whole team
• Workshops for managers to help them clarify where “the line” is with their team and confidently step in when behaviour starts to cross that line
• Workshops that link to diversity initiatives. For example, unconscious bias training exercises to help establish how biases may play out during the working day
• Workshops to help everyone understand what constitutes Sexual Harassment and how to prevent it happening in the workplace, in line with the upcoming statutory code of conduct

The combination of approaches we suggest will always include:

• Advice on positioning (we explode a few myths around this subject area, such as “this is political correctness gone mad” and “we can never have a laugh and a joke”)
• Identifying where “the line” is in terms of appropriate and inappropriate behaviour (for example, when does “harmless workplace banter” become inappropriate)
• Raising awareness around the impact of communication – both verbal and non-verbal
• Identifying tangible actions which will make a difference
• Ensuring that sessions are led by facilitators who are able to sensitively facilitate discussions on difficult topics, where there are often “shades of grey”

Because research tells us only 15% of participants apply what they have learned, we work hard to support you in following up the workshops and ensuring learning sticks. This is a key point of difference with Focal Point.

Our approach is outcome-orientated at every stage, with a huge emphasis on transferring learning, creating new habits and embedding skills.

For a confidential discussion about how we can help your business tackle inappropriate behaviour on any level, call us on 01903 732 782 or fill in our contact form. All our sessions can be run as virtual workshops as well as face to face.