Engage in Learning launches an e-learning course on bullying and harassment
The e-learning supplier, Engage in Learning, has launched a new course focusing on identifying, and then taking steps to prevent, bullying and harassment in the workplace.
Chris Horseman, Engage in Learning’s Managing Director, explained, “Bullying and harassment can have an extremely serious impact on the individual involved. Moreover, it can spread and create a toxic working environment – leading to low performance and productivity; high degrees of worker illness and absence; poor workplace relations; increased labour turnover, and so on.”
Bullying and harassment are key issues in today’s workplace. Horseman revealed that, according to a recent Trades Union Congress (TUC) survey, 36% of those surveyed said that they had left jobs because of bullying; 22% had had to take time off work as a result of being bullied; 46% said that bullying had reduced their work performance, and the same percentage of respondents believe that bullying has affected their mental health.
The Engage in Learning programme aims to help people learn how to deal with specific incidents of bullying and harassment as well as outline the steps they can take to maintain a positive culture and workplace. The programme contains sections covering:
- Facts about bullying and harassment,
- Preventing bullying and harassment,
- Resolving an incident,
- Sexual harassment and
- Cyberbullying.
There is also a ‘Summary and next steps’ section, along with a post-course test and, to act as an aid memoir and on-going performance support aid, a downloadable e-book.
Kate Carter, Engage in Learning’s Operations and Marketing Manager, commented, “While bullying doesn’t have a legal definition, there’s general agreement that it’s a pattern of offensive behaviours usually involving the misuse of power which can humiliate, upset and/or intimidate the recipient.
“In contrast, harassment is a form of discrimination that’s defined in law in the Equality Act. Like bullying, it’s also behaviour which humiliates, upsets and/or intimidates but this will relate to ‘protected characteristics’ – which include age, disability, race and sex.
“So, harassment is unwanted conduct related to a protected relevant characteristic, which has the effect of violating an individual’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the individual.
“We believe that these e-learning materials will make a valuable contribution in helping to identify and then prevent bullying and harassment in the workplace. The consequent improvements in productivity, morale and labour turnover should more than repay the cost of the course.
“Furthermore, the course can be customised - allowing a client to include relevant information and procedures that are specific to that organisation. Moreover, the Engage in Learning e-learning materials are instantly available in a wide range of languages – to cater for international workforces,” she said.
Excerpts from the bullying and harassment course will be included in the next of Engage in Learning’s regular series of webinars. In the webinar, Chris Horseman will be discussing how ‘thorny’ HR issues, such as bias and bullying, can be tackled effectively using e-learning materials.
For further details about Engage in Learning’s extensive portfolio of e-learning materials, visit: https://www.engageinlearning.com/