Training Trends - Are you speaking your employees’ language?

April showers bring May flowers ... along with a garden of fresh, new training advice sprouting up at TrainingTime.com.

In the latest issue of our Training Trends newsletter you’ll learn the must-ask questions for finding the right person for every job, how to provide safety and other essential training in a language your employees understand, and how to reduce stress with a plan to balance personal and work responsibilities.

Here’s a quick look at the May issue of Training Trends:

The 5 questions they absolutely must answer!

We all know about questions an interviewer should never ask. Falling afoul of EEOC guidelines about religion, ethnic origin, family plans or genetic issues can result in lawsuits and fines, and the numbers can be staggering. Late last month, B & H Photo was fined an astronomical $4.3 million dollars for pervasive discrimination based on national origin.

But did you also know that hiring the wrong person – or letting the best choice go because of illegal criteria -- could end up costing your company real dollars because of poor performance and higher turnover. Add in the possibility of tarnishing your company’s reputation or alienating customers, and you could be looking at thousands or even millions in lost revenue. Consider this interview: (more)


Danger! I mean peligro! No, gefahr!

Why louder and slower won’t help if you’re using the wrong language for safety training

You’ve seen it on countless sitcoms. The main character meets someone who doesn’t speak English, and resorts to talking louder, speaking slowly and acting things out with elaborate gestures. On a TV show, it’s funny…but when you’re delivering employee training, the results can be tragic.

Injuries and fatalities among non-U.S.-born workers and non-English-speaking employees have been sharply increasing. Here’s what you can do to boost training effectiveness: (more)


Who comes first? When work and family needs clash

You have a big presentation due at work tomorrow. It’s almost midnight and you’re still finishing up your PowerPoint presentation in between doing loads of laundry, while mentally planning tomorrow’s lunches. And just when you think you might grab a few hours’ sleep before the alarm goes off, your four-year old wakes up with an earache and a fever. Now what?

No matter what your life includes, the challenges of blending work and family demands seem to be growing each day. Longer work hours and busy family schedules keep everyone trying to juggle three, four or more tasks at any one time.

We know we have to do it. The question is, how can we do it better? You need a Plan B. (more)

Each month, the experts at TrainingTime.com share all of the latest and greatest tips, trends and buzz from across the training industry in our Training Trends newsletter. If you’re not on our mailing list, please take a few seconds and sign up.

If you’re a training expert or HR professional and are interested in writing content for Training Trends or TrainingTime.com’s learning library, visit our “Write for Us” page for instructions on how to contribute.

Harassment training may save you millions

When is the last time your employees participated in harassment training? Are you sure that everyone is aware of your policies and what to do if they encounter harassment?

Maybe you need to hold a refresher course - it could potentially save you some big bucks.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced the settlement of a race and national origin harassment lawsuit for $1.9 million against Allied Aviation Services, Inc. The lawsuit was on behalf of African American and Hispanic workers who were targets of racial slurs, graffiti, cartoons, and hangman’s nooses at a the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport.

“It is appalling that racial harassment remains a persistent problem at some job sites across the country in the 21st century, more than 40 years after passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act,” said EEOC Chair Naomi C. Earp. “Employers must be more vigilant and make clear that race discrimination, whether verbal or behavioral, has no place in the contemporary workplace.”

The EEOC advises employers to use proactive prevention when it comes to harassment. Their list of best practices advises employers to:

• Develop a strong Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) policy that is embraced by executive management.
  
• Train managers and employees on the policy, enforce it and hold company managers accountable.
• Provide training and mentoring to give workers of all backgrounds the opportunity, skill, experience, and information necessary to perform well, and to ascend to upper-level jobs
  

Read the full list of EEOC proactive best practices (see section 15-IX).

Whether you’re an employer, manager, trainer or HR professional (or all the above), you can take the first steps to preventing harassment in your workplace.

Implement a policy and enforce it. Educate and train your employees on how to handle and prevent harassment in the workplace. Continue to train employees on all forms of harassment to keep your policies fresh in their minds.

Gender discrimination training - still lacking?

March 8th marked International Women’s Day, a worldwide celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women. The day also brings to light the constant struggle women still face in the workplace to shatter “glass ceilings” across the corporate globe.

I read an interesting blog post today on Linda Richardson’s R SalesBlog that brings up a great question regarding the perception of women in the workplace.

A recent report by Catalyst titled “Damned If You Do, Doomed If You Don’t,” surveyed 1,231 senior executives from U.S. and Europe. It found that women who act in ways that are consistent with gender stereotypes (defined as focusing “on work relationships” and expressing “concern for other people’s perspective”) are considered less competent. The research also found that women who act in ways seen as more “male,” (defined as “act assertively, focusing on work task, displaying ambition,”) are seen as “too tough” and unfeminine.

The conclusion was that women can’t win. Data also shows women don’t advance as much as men and their pay is lower on average.

Personal perceptions are a tough thing to change, but we can try to teach our companies to accept different personalities and leadership styles in the workplace.

What do you think? Is there is a void in the industry for better gender discrimination training?

Carnivores Need Not Apply from the Blog of HR Lori, Human Resources in California

A tongue in cheek look at a serious issue:

It would appear that recent court cases in California have defended a company's right to discriminate against potential employees based upon their food preferences!

In a recent case, a vegan temp was denied full time employment because he would not submit to vaccination with a product grown in chicken embryos. The court upheld the employer's right to deny the position based entirely upon this ethical belief, which is primary expressed in his food choices.

Lori then goes on to list a job posting which requires a vegetarian applicant. This too, is apparently legal in California, under current precedent.

Looking at the HR implications, and some new training materials we may need to develop:

Diversity in the Cafeteria -- When burgers meet tofu
Business casual dress without leather
When eating steak at dinner becomes a job qualification

All joking aside, although the case in question did involve a medical procedure, it's worth consideration. More and more companies are enacting rules governing employee behaviour outside of regular work hours. Rising health care costs, and lost work time are resulting in companies banning off-hours alcohol use and smoking. Recreational drug use at home is already taboo, and is checked via urine tests for potential and existing employees. Some companies offer bonuses for employees who enroll in exercise and weight loss programs.

Surely food choices cannot be far behind.

While the goal of reducing health care costs is understandable, perhaps there is more of a role for trainers and less for rule makers.

Consider stepping beyond the substance addiction issues and offering classes on healthy eating, the benefits of meditation, alternative medicine, or ...vegetarianism. While education programs are available at many hospitals and clinics, at-work healthy lifestyle programs may offer greater accessibility, plus peer reinforcement.