#MeToo effects: Training attendees up 300%
One result of the #MeToo movement that brought sexual harassment in the workplace into public discourse in the past year: More companies are asking for help.
The employer group MRA - The Management Association, based in Waukesha, reports large increases in its 4,000-member companies across the Midwest seeking assistance around workplace culture related to sexual harassment.
“‘MeToo’ got the attention of employers,” said Laurie Greenlees, director of MRA’s human resources hotline.
From 2017 to 2018, MRA saw its member companies:
❚ Request more respectful workplace training than ever before. The number of attendees at MRA’s training rose 300 percent.
❚ Ask for outside help when investigating claims of workplace harassment. The number of companies using a neutral, third-party in investigations rose 70 percent.
❚ Use more resources from the organization. Calls to its human resources hotline about workplace harassment increased 168 percent.
While the numbers from MRA are not representative of all companies, they do indicate that many employers have increased awareness around workplace harassment.
“All of the publicity of the MeToo movement has gotten employers’ attention over the last year,” Greenlees said. “They’re hearing about the types of behaviors that are still happening. Employers are more aware and more attentive and knowledgeable, just based on the media (coverage).”
Klement’s Sausage Co. sent its employees to MRA’s harassment training after the Milwaukee-based food company became a member this year. The company maintains a “zero-tolerance policy when it comes to sexual harassment,” said Klement’s HR manager Claire Evans.
“Our employees were not unaware of harassment and how it is handled at Klement’s, but the way it was presented by the outside party allowed them to see the training in a new light and made employees take a more introspective look at how they interacted with each other in the workplace,” Evans said in an email.
Evans said the interactive and realworld experience examples made the training relatable to everyone in the room.
The training offered by MRA has expanded from just covering company policies and definitions of harassment or discrimination to interacting with employees to provide scenarios.
“In the past, some employers approached harassment training with a ‘check the box’ mentality,” Greenlees said.
Greenlees said media reports caused employers to reexamine their own policies and strengthen them, with a particular focus on protecting employees from retaliation.
“A lot of employers were looking to strengthen (their policies) to set the stage that retaliation is prohibited and will be addressed to support individuals to come forward with a complaint,” Greenlees said.