I was at a social event with a manager, “John,” who told me what he thought was a “funny” story. The story was about a former employee–who had been gone for almost a year. She had come to him to complain about coworkers who were using slurs around her.
He laughed as he explained that he knew she was just telling him that to try to get a raise. He held fast, didn’t give her a raise, and didn’t report any of this to HR. Ha, ha, so funny.
Here’s the thing: I know he received training. I know that if I gave him a quiz about what to do if an employee reports harassment, he’d get that question right. But when it came down to a messy situation, with an employee he felt he knew well, he decided her complaints were unfounded and just an attempt to manipulate him into a raise.
John knew the rules, but didn’t know how to apply them in a real-life situation
John was rather surprised when I told him he should have turned that incident over to HR. He argued she wasn’t really harassed, and it was just about getting a raise, which he didn’t give her.
This is a pretty classic example of the mismatch between training and application.
A recent study by Go1 found that this type of gap is common. HR and Compliance leaders say, confidently, that their employees understand the rules. 95 percent of HR and 89 percent of Compliance leaders say employees understand the policies.
But in action, only 65 percent of employees actually applied those policies.
Like John, many couldn’t see how the training they received applied in situations that were a bit sticky. The employee did want a raise. (She had told me the same, but had not told me about the harassment.) Is it possible that she was trying to manipulate him into a raise? Sure. But it doesn’t matter. Every claim needs to be investigated. Who knows what we would have found out if we had investigated.
Completing training isn’t enough
It’s good to complete training. But it’s not enough if employees can’t handle real-life situations. You need to make sure your employees aren’t just trained. They need to be ready.
This is where tools like Go1’s Immersive Simulations can help.
Instead of asking employees to simply remember the right answer on a quiz, simulations take them through the kind of sticky situations they are likely to encounter in real life. They help employees practice when to escalate, when to ask for help, and how to respond when the situation is uncomfortable or unclear.
Life isn’t like a television show where there is always a clear hero and clear villain. Sometimes the employee is trying to manipulate you into a raise, but slurs are still inappropriate and must be investigated. Sometimes everyone in a conflict is a rotten person. The company still needs to investigate and take action when warranted.
By giving employees a place to practice icky situations in a safe setting, you increase the employee’s ability to make the right decision when the situation arises. And that’s the difference between an employee quitting and staying. Or the difference between a lawsuit and an engaged employee.
John received training, but he didn’t know how to apply it. Make sure your employees have the application down as well.
