That was the old days, right? As a Minnesota Public Radio documentary series describes the plaintiffs in Jenson v. Eveleth Mines, they "broke new ground and changed the workplace forever." So, in the 12 years since the court's ruling, antiharassment training has been widely successful, women are treated equally, and they seldom encounter such hostile work environments. Right?

Most of us would like to believe that's true ? but we know better. And we also know that some kinds of workplaces are harder to change than others. That's especially true of organizations that have traditionally been all-male environments characterized by hard physical labor­like mining, manufacturing, and meat-packing. Entrenched attitudes are much harder to change in those workplaces, says employment lawyer Patricia Griffith, so HR people need to go at least one, and perhaps several, miles further in designing and deploying antiharassment training. Griffith is a litigator with Ford & Harrison's office in Atlanta, Georgia, and she frequently counsels clients on how to prevent harassment in difficult environments.

How should training be designed? 'To respond to the culture of your workplace,' Griffith might respond. As she says, "Steel mills are different from discount department stores." Her overall guidelines are these: "Train supervisors to recognize harassment and step in to stop it. And then train employees, so that they will alert supervisors and make them pay attention." Many organizations train only supervisors, she notes, but especially in difficult environments, it's equally important to train all employees. Available tools include a video or PowerPoint presentation, including trainer-led quizzes and course completion certificates. For example, BLR offers How to Recognize & Prevent Sexual Harassment, a 30-slide PowerPoint program that includes a booklet for each employee.

But in some workplaces, that may not be enough. At a steel mill or construction site, for example, you can give all employees basic training, and too many of them may still not 'get it.' Here are examples of further efforts used successfully by Griffith's clients.

One company presents its antiharassment video both when orienting new employees and annually to the entire workforce. A Spanish-language version of the video is also available. But the CEO and other members of upper management personally introduce the presentation each time it's given. That approach, Griffith stresses, can give lower-level employees added courage. Every workforce can contain a 'bad apple' or two, but employees who believe top management will support them are more likely to report these individuals. This technique can also serve as evidence in court that the company as a whole should not be held liable for an individual harasser's behavior.

Getting the message across. Speaking of court, we suspect that mock trials are Griffith's favorite training tool. Groups of employees from different work teams and locations come together for a hypothetical sex harassment trial. The basic scenario is introduced, and workers are assigned the roles of two witnesses for each side, opposing attorneys who present brief opening and closing statements, a judge to give instructions, and the jury. You might think that, given the same scenario, each jury would reach the same verdict. But that doesn't happen. "Present the same situation to 10 different groups, and you're likely to get at least 8 different verdicts," says Griffith, because attorneys and witnesses come across in very different ways, and the composition of each jury is different. "The whole group discusses the verdict after the jury announces it, and that's what really brings
the message home on all levels: There is no objective truth, there are only different perceptions and perspectives."

One organization with an extremely difficult environment takes it even further: As each female worker arrives to begin her shift, she must sign a document stating that she was not harassed during her previous shift before she can clock in. If she can't sign, she must go to HR to complain. Strong medicine, Griffith admits, and lots of employers would balk at such measures, fearing a deluge of charges that aren't legitimate. But a company might need to use such a procedure only for a limited time, until the workforce seems to understand and be willing to comply with the antiharassment policy.

Finally, a technique Griffith recommends where most employees have access to computers is self-paced individual training, with built-in quizzes and an acknowledgment form. For a good example, check out BLR's Interactive CD Course: Sexual Harassment on our website, www.blr.com.