Two thumbs up for book on harassment prevention training

I’ve been reading a book I highly recommend to anyone within the authors’ intended audience of anyone with “any responsibility to purchase, monitor, review, or deliver harassment training,” including HR, employment lawyers, and trainers.

Although it contains footnotes and extensive reference appendices, this book is primarily intended and useful not as a legal reference work, but rather as a practical guide. In fact, it reminds me of “Idiots Guides” — which I mean as a compliment.

The book is “Case Dismissed: Taking Your Harassment Prevention Training to Trial,” (buy on Amazon) by Mindy Chapman, Jeff Polisky, Carol M. Merchasin.

Like “Idiots Guides,” “Case Dismissed” is broken down into short, easy-to-read sections with headings, and includes visual icons highlighting “Lessons Learned,” “Checklists,” “Tips,” and “Teaching Points.” Truly a book one can read in brief snippets of spare time (for me, while eating breakfast).

Chapter titles are in keeping with the authors’ opinion that while maintaining the seriousness of the topic, trainers should also maintain a sense of humor:

* Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? The Legal Implications of Harassment Prevention Training (covering how harassment training fits into harassment law: “A basic understanding of the evolution of harassment law so that you can properly shape the content and structure of your harassment training program”)

* Not Another Policy: The Nuts and Bolts of Harassment Prevention “House Rules” (checklist for auditing current policy or drafting a new one)

* One Canoe, No Paddle: Developing Content for Harassment Prevention Training (outlines topics to be covered in training. Includes key points that emphasis should be on what conduct violates company policy, not what conduct violates the law, and that it is essential to cover other types of harassment besides sexual)

* Into the Blender — Hit Purée: Putting It Altogether (basic advice and principles for successful training)

* Juggling with Fire: Interactive Delivery Tools (creative and practical suggestions for training sessions that go way beyond lecturing and involve the audience in ways that promote true learning)

* No More Sweaty Palms: Tips for Dynamic Delivery (more very practical suggestions for working with the audience)

* What Could Go Wrong? Making Your Training Disaster-Proof (goes through a series of problems to avoid)

My only criticisms are very minor.

The appendices, while perhaps useful to some, appear at least partially designed simply to make the book fat enough to command its price by doubling the size (pp. 131-277). They include copies of readily available — and lengthy — Supreme Court opinions. The book would be worth the price without this material, anyway.

And the title is a bit misleading. The book is not about how to defend your harassment training at trial, but how to conduct effective training that will allow effective defense of harassment claims at trial (perhaps I’m quibbling). And important as it is, training alone will not get a case dismissed, as the title may suggest. More important is action taken once harassment comes to the attention of management.

Those comments aside, this is an extremely useful book, and I’d almost say makes entertaining reading (definitely interesting reading for anyone involved in this topic).

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