Blog | 01 February 2023
Our recent training with William Reed
Laura Brennan from William Reed talks about our recently delivered Sexual Harassment In The Workplace Training and the importance of this training within their team..
We are proud to have recently partnered with Survivors’ Network to provide a programme of harassment awareness training at William Reed.
The training focused primarily on sexual harassment and managers, colleagues and HR joined together to explore:
- What is sexual harassment?
- Understanding the impacts of sexual harassment.
- Bystander Intervention and tools for challenging workplace harassment.
- Practical tips for supporting a survivor of harassment.
- Tips for creating a positive workplace culture.
The training was interactive, and we took part in group discussions in break-out sessions, which was a great way to share views and experiences from everyone’s individual viewpoints and backgrounds and the trainers made sure everyone’s voices were heard.
As part of the training programme, a smaller group then attended advanced training which covered: further practical considerations, understanding trauma and techniques to support survivors of harassment or abuse, which has led to the formation of a group of harassment ambassadors within our company. These ambassadors are spread across the company and are on hand and equipped to guide and support any colleagues in need of this resource.
As a company, we also took this opportunity to review and update our company-wide Anti-Harassment & Anti-Bullying policy to ensure a clear, transparent framework of how we would handle harassment is in place. We were able to reinforce our policy throughout the training to demonstrate that the training was the start of a conversation and our support and emphasis in this area wouldn’t just stop there.
We all recognised how crucial this training is for any company, but equally, it was frequently discussed amongst us how these tools and skills can be used outside of work too and used to create a positive impact within our communities too.
This training is a key step in our journey to create a positive, inclusive workplace with zero tolerance of bullying or harassment. With the BBC reporting recently that half of British women and a fifth of men have been harassed at work it would be wrong for us, or any organisation, to assume that it isn’t an issue. Instead we are determined to create an environment where people can speak out and be supported.
I would recommend this training to any organisation in any industry, however large or small your company is.
It’s important to be proactive in our zero-tolerance approach to harassment, don’t wait for a case of harassment to roll out training, show your commitment and put this at the top of your company’s agenda by working with the Survivors Network to roll out a training programme of your own.
Laura Brennan- HR Business Partner at William Reed