Background

Statistics from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) show that employees filed fewer charges of employment discrimination in 2020 than they did in 2019 – perhaps due to the chaos of the pandemic. Still, this data may not tell the full story. In one survey, a significant number of tech workers reported experiencing more race and gender-based harassment while working remotely during the pandemic than they ever did in the office itself. This is not surprising due to the lasting impact of the #MeToo movement and the powerful growth of racial justice movements in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

Within this context, we’ve been interested to see that more and more employers are reaching out to Maier Law Group about our one-on-one sensitivity trainings (which we also refer to as “coaching”—given our focus on shifting an employee’s habits and growing their skills). We interpret this change to signal a growing recognition among employers that their employees no longer tolerate even borderline exclusive or unprofessional behavior in the workplace.

This can pose a real challenge for some company leaders who are truly surprised when they find that language and behavior they’ve used for a whole career are now the basis for a multitude of employee complaints and, in some cases, lawsuits. When we are hired to provide one-on-one training for such a leader, we often sense that the key players feel they have reached an impasse: the leader (often integral to company operations) must either change their behavior or leave the company. The only other option, employees often report, is that the workplace culture will ultimately become intolerable, especially for already marginalized groups. Sometimes, leaders in this situation state that they are not racist or sexist, as if that’s the end of the conversation on diversity, equity, and inclusion. They fail to recognize unconscious bias as a fact of our society and the truth that inaction means collaboration with the status quo.

The good news is that the leaders we train, and arguably most leaders, are people whose behavior can be shifted. They often have a genuine desire to change but are also intimidated by the process, or are defensive about their behaviors that have been called out by others. We design our one-on-one sensitivity trainings to help such leaders understand 1) the liability their behavior or inaction creates for the company and 2) to help them develop inclusive leadership skills that go far beyond mere legal compliance.

The Mechanics

One-on-one sensitivity trainings vary from case to case, based on the company’s and the relevant leader’s needs. In some cases, what’s required is very basic—perhaps training on what sexual harassment is, why matters that don’t technically meet the legal definition are being filed in court, and how the leader’s behavior is translating into legal liability.

Sometimes, the training can go deeper into questions of how to be an inclusive leader, and how to be a better ally to women, LGBTQ+ employees, and people of color. In other cases, we’ve focused on additional patterns of workplace culture that, while not illegal, can be immensely destructive to company morale and productivity (i.e. gossip, communicating imprecisely, giving counterproductive feedback, or failing to give feedback at all). Often, we will work with the leader to read and learn from books that hold important perspectives on leadership, social justice, and inclusivity.

Books we’ve used include:

• White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
  White Fragility is a great tool for helping white leaders understand their role in the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion movement. In particular, it can help white leaders disassociate shame when encountering their own inevitable learned racism, so that they can focus on how to repair hurt they may have caused.

  

• Radical Candor: How to How to Get What You Want by Saying What You Mean by Kim Scott
  Radical Candor can be enormously helpful for leaders who are struggling to give feedback that is at once direct, respectful, and relational.
  

• How to Be an Inclusive Leader: Your Role in Creating Cultures of Belonging Where Everyone Can Thrive by Jennifer Brown
  How to Be an Inclusive Leader is helpful reading for anyone struggling to facilitate a healthy workplace culture that will serve all employees. It also recognizes that an inclusive leader is humble, owns their mistakes, and understands that mistakes are in fact an integral part of the leadership process.


  

• Good Guys: How Men Can Be Better Allies for Women in the Workplace by David G. Smith and W. Brad Johnson
  Good Guys offers important learning for male leaders accused of perpetuating subtle or implicit sexism in the workplace.

While our one-on-one sensitivity trainings often focus around several specific learning sessions, we will sometimes continue working with a leader once the intensive training is over. In such cases, we stay in touch with the trainee about how they are applying what they’ve learned, and we check in with their direct reports to ask whether they’ve seen a shift, and if anything might need further adjustment.

In addition to providing a crucial tool for preventing lawsuits, this practice of one-on-one sensitivity training can increase organizational morale and productivity, as well. It is just the kind of creative solution and out-of-the-box lawyering that we love at MLG. Like other such tools, one-on-one sensitivity training holds the power not just to put a band-aid on an employment problem, but to work from the root cause up to provide deeper and longer-lasting results.

Author: Diana Maier, Founding Partner

Please contact the team at Maier Law Group if you would like to learn more about our one-on-one sensitivity trainings. We invite you to reach out to us at info@maierlawgroup.com for more information.

This article has been prepared for general informational purposes only and does not constitute advertising, solicitation, or legal advice. If you have questions about a particular matter, please contact the Maier Law Group directly.