Workplace Training: A Time-Wasting, Teaching of the Obvious?
How could one person interpret the words “God bless you” after sneezing as a courtesy, yet someone else would act as though hearing them is a death threat?
Some people from older generations believe that the ethics and behavior of younger generations are rapidly eroding. If this were true, then odds are, civilization would have self-destructed a long time ago. It is easy to reach a blanket judgment about an entire generation based on the actions of a select few individuals; this is just like judging all police officers based on the actions of one.
A few years ago, I had the honor of talking with a Korean War veteran. At the end of our conversation, he said that he admired the members of the military today who are trying to fight wars given the circumstances.
The only constant among generations is that they represent every kind of personality – no amount of computer-based training is going to polish a turd.
Trying to discourage sexual abuse is a much bigger problem.
Watching videos, taking quizzes and engaging in group discussions will not alter years of distorted programming or change an inherently evil person. Also, if someone – whether it be an executive, a salesman, a member of the military, or even a Senator — has to watch a one-hour video that tries to explain why exploiting a fourteen year-old prostitute in the Dominican Republic is not a good idea, then odds are that he or she is already a sex offender.
Perhaps the push for increased anti-abuse training is not to try and correct destructive behavior, but to offer an organization a legal space cushion against liability regarding future unethical and criminal incidents. Cover thy collective backside? Maybe, but this does not offer protection from the offshoots of a corrupted moral backbone, both individually and culturally.
In short, it seems as though trying to define the obvious via ancillary training is little more than trying to reach a select few who have no concept of the laws of unintended consequences due to their upbringing – or by choice.
Topics: Workplace Training, Sexual Harassment Training, Safety Training
