Businesses in New York State (with others to follow) have been tasked with a challenging new workplace mandate: deliver annual Sexual Harassment training that is interactive, complies with regulation standards and accompanies the distribution of a well written corporate policy. There are several other nuts and bolts to achieve compliance and this new law has sent businesses of all sizes scrambling.

As a seasoned facilitator of Harassment Awareness and Prevention Training, in addition to serving as a consultant to hundreds of corporations, government entities and not-for-profits, let me share with you my tips about what I know to be true about this new mandate and its potential impact for your workplace.

1. Have a Positive Mindset.  I encourage all businesses to view the annual training mandate as an opportunity to “hit the reset button” on their company culture. Training IS a good thing IF done well. Seize this business opportunity to redefine yourself to your employees.
2. Training MUST Begin From The Top Down. No “if’s, and’s or but’s” about it. Buy in has to begin at the top and accountability has to happen at the top. Teach your management about their unique role in defining and driving your workplace culture.
3. Make The Training Meaningful & Interesting. Your training classes can be so much more than “What is harassment?” and “Policy states…” and “The law is…”. Your training has to be interactive and customized to New York State law. An “off the shelf video” is not going to cut it. Each training session is an opportunity to have a bigger discussion about your corporate culture and can drive employee buy-in to the bigger mission of creating healthy, safe and productive workplaces for all.
4. Go Beyond Sexual Harassment. As there are so many other forms of harassment, in, use this opportunity to tackle discrimination, bias, and prejudice and ferret out how that might show up in your workplace.
5. Don’t Be Boring! Make your training program dynamic, interesting, thought provoking and inviting of everyone’s questions and comments. Trust me, it CAN be done! Do not let your sessions be painfully boring legalese.
6. Outsource It. Lastly, if you don’t have a great trainer in house or the time to dedicate to this initiative, then do my personal favorite thing which is “Outsource!”. Save yourself the headache. You can pick a dynamic training company, like my company National EAP who will help you define your vision for this training and deliver it in a way that goes WAY beyond simple policy compliance.

Yes, I ended with shameless self promotion, however, I simply cannot deny that we are truly the experts in this work and we LOVE creating educated, safe and healthy workplaces!  National EAP not only delivers harassment training, we deliver the actual REMEDIATION services for employees who have crossed the line at work, whether it’s one toe over the line or a full on Weinstein. We have seen, heard, counseled and re-educated it all and weave our real life experiences artfully into our work.

Please email me at aoifaodonnell@nationaleap.com or call 800-624-2593 ext., 26. to discuss YOUR unique needs and how we can help your business/organization. It would be our pleasure to do so!

Hello!  This is Julie Simon with a powerful message about the life changing effects of meditation.

Meditation is the practice of mindfulness.  It is simply stated the act of “being”.  Sounds pretty easy right?  That’s what I thought several years ago when I decided to give it a try.  I told myself “I will just meditate for 5 minutes” and assumed it would be easy.    As I sat, trying to focus on my breathing and the present moment, what seemed like a million thoughts entered my mind:

I can’t forget to email my client back tomorrow.

Do I have someone to watch the dog next weekend while I’m away?

Ugh, my house is getting so messy, I need to find some time to clean up!

Oh, wait a minute, I’m supposed to be meditating and not thinking of these things..what’s wrong with me!

Bad news: turns out meditation is not as easy as it seems!

Good news!  Meditation can be learned, and as with most things, practice makes perfect…or close to perfect!  (We always want to leave ourselves something to strive for!)

Over the past few years, I built up my meditation practice, beginning with 5 minutes, increased to 7, then to 10 until finally I was sitting for 30 minutes meditating.  When a distraction or thought would enter my mind, I would acknowledge it and then make a conscious effort to release it and turn my attention back to that present moment.  I began doing guided meditations which are my favorite.  I discovered you tube and the endless amounts of guided mediations that are on there, all different themes – stress-relief, relaxation, reducing anxiety, confidence, etc.  I still use them today!

Once I practiced consistently, meditation not only became easy but it became a part of my routine and a part of my life.  In addition to actually enjoying this quiet “me time” and tuning into my inner self, I have noticed a multitude of positive effects in all aspects of my life.  I feel happier, more confident, more in touch with myself.  When a stressful situation comes up, I handle it calmly and with more ease than I did in the past.  I sleep better and I have more energy.  It truly is amazing!

Five years ago I absolutely refused to buy into meditation and the whole spirituality/holistic healing concept.  I am so grateful that I opened myself and my life up to it as the moment I let my guard down and embraced this new way of life, it was a paradigm shift into a new world of empowerment, motivation and inner peace.  Along with several other self-care tools I use, meditation has changed my life and I strongly encourage you to give it a try!  My meditation tip: go to you tube on the web and search for mindful meditations and let a video guide you on your first journey.  I promise it gets easier each time you do it.  Good luck!

And, remember, as a member of National EAP you have access to EAP support 7 days a week 24/hours a day.  Problems don’t discriminate. Whether you consider your difficulty trivial or extraordinary, National EAP is structured to provide you with a wide range of supportive tools to help you achieve your best, at work and at home. When you decide to take action, you’ll have access to professional assessment, supportive counseling, and if needed, referrals to qualified providers.  National EAP is ready to assist you in a professional and confidential manner.

Call National EAP today at 1-800-624-2593 and start on your journey towards success and wellness.

• A recently terminated employee texts their manager a vitriolic hate filled text that states he will kill him, his wife, their children and then himself.
• An employee who displayed no indicators commits suicide in your workplace in a violent way.
• A long time valued employee has a sudden aggressive outburst with the CEO, threatening to punch him.
• Your high earning sales person sexually harasses an intern.
• Your employee struggles with depression and you discover they are self harming by cutting

Trauma in the workplace is usually unforeseen, unexpected and scary as hell for most HR and business leaders.  We live our lives each day expecting that it will go as planned.  Many of us even complain that the predictable routine can be mundane and boring.  For the most part, all will be normal.

Until BOOM, the other side of life and living happens.  Your female colleague who is 45 and the mother of three young boys has died suddenly from a heart attack.  The owner of the company is diagnosed with terminal cancer.  Your employees were threatened and held up by gunpoint during a bank robbery.  Your new hire in manufacturing made a fatal workplace mistake costing him his life.  Your top sales executive drove drunk while on the job and died in a car accident.  Your co-worker’s 18 year old son died in a freak accident while playing with friends.  Your employee tried to be a Good Samaritan and rushed to the scene of a car accident outside the workplace only to find the driver decapitated.

Sadly, the darker side of life happens and it doesn’t stay neatly in a bubble outside of the workplace.  All the incidents I listed are real circumstances in which our company clients found themselves dealing with.  Suddenly, their day dramatically shifted and there is an immediate need to act.

But before they could act, tons of questions arose as they waded through the information gathered. Who should contact the employee’s family? Should or can we legally notify the remaining employees? Should OSHA be called? Is this a police incident? Do we stop production? What about our deadlines? Who is going to assume the person’s responsibilities? Is the company in jeopardy? Will we be sued? Are we liable? What happens if media outlets start calling?

There are plenty of business production and business protection questions to keep everyone spinning and busy during the first 24 hours.  HR and leadership must go into overdrive and it is action time.  However, critically important to the assessment and action planning process is taking time to examine the Human Impact of the event. Key issues to be examined are:

• What is the incident’s mental and behavioral impact on the employee(s) directly involved?
• What is or will be the mental and behavioral impact on all employees throughout the company?
• What actions can we take as a company that demonstrate our understanding and support for employees’ experience of the incident?
• What level of support do our employees need immediately AND ongoing?
• Who is going to provide the type of support we need?

Negative events happen and as a result, employees and the workplace will be disrupted. Key to a strong recovery of both is HOW the employer responds to the incident. In every crisis there is opportunity to earn employee loyalty by demonstrating empathy, understanding, consideration and support. To ignore the emotional and behavioral impact negative events have on employees is, plainly put, foolish and short sighted. In business strategy terms, it is certain to damage short and long term productivity, employee retention, company culture and morale.

So, what is your Human Impact Plan?  We cannot separate the trials of life from the workplace, therefore it is every HR and employer’s responsibility to consider the “what if’s” and have an action plan and resources in place to support their company and it’s employees through traumatic events.  Know that National EAP will be there for you in your organization’s time of need.

And remember, as a member of National EAP you have access to EAP support 7 days a week 24/hours a day.  Problems don’t discriminate and disrupt our personal lives and business success.   National EAP is structured to provide you with a wide range of supportive tools to help your organization and it’s employees achieve it’s best. When you decide to take action, you’ll have access to professional assessment, supportive counseling, and multiple on-site services.  National EAP is ready to assist you and your organization in a professional and confidential manner.

Call National EAP today at 1-800-624-2593 and start on your journey towards health and healing.