Have you ever had to complete an employee mandated job training that taught you how to navigate relationships or social issues? Although this type of training has been the brunt of many employee complaints, they might actually be doing a decent job creating a world that better reflects the Kingdom of God. Here’s why.
My Mandated Employee Training
Recently I was required to complete a set of job training for a part time teaching position I have with my local school district. They were all virtual, boring, and cheesy. I tried to watch a movie while they ran in the background. I was annoyed to discover I had to pay enough attention that I could successfully answer questions following each presentation to pass. I closed my laptop.
A few days later, I tried to tackle them again, but this time I knew what I was getting into. I was surprised to discover how much content they covered that was relevant to social issues and how to have appropriate and right relationships with other people. My training included the following:
- Recognizing child abuse
- Red flags of trafficking and grooming
- How to report injustices and available protections for reporters
- ACEs scores (adverse childhood trauma)
- Mental health and illness
- Sexual harassment
- Bullying
- Suicide prevention
- Preventing homicide on campus (like school shootings)
- Cultural factors contributing to bias
- Discrimination
- Harassment
As I’ve regularly spoken or written on some of these topics, I was even more surprised to see that my mandated training actually did a decent job–even if unengaging–at explaining some of these topics. I found it convenient that they already laid out for me the issues I might encounter while teaching.
What Would Help Me Love Better Through My Job?
Over the last fifteen years, since my kids have gone to school or I’ve worked as an educator, I’ve needed information on each of the above topics, all of which I had to pursue learning about on my own. This list accurately addresses the social issues that are relevant to teachers! In fact, I was only aware of some of them because of my advocacy role. My vantage point with a nonprofit let me see an unseen but very real problem affecting local children. Though that, eventually part of my role was to teach others about grooming and trafficking going on in schools!
Maybe this is just my pride talking, but I am pretty sure an organization’s employees would understand human trafficking much better if they hired me to lead a workshop on the topic! These workshops have helped real people be recognized as victims and get the help they needed! But however boring a required training is, I am still grateful that teachers in my district are now receiving mandatory education on topics relative to them.
I realize an employee might not feel passionate about one of the above topics, like human trafficking, or even preventing suicide. But as soon as they meet a student who they genuinely care about being groomed or struggling with suicidal ideation, this social issue becomes personal. Some training, even if minimal and boring, at least gives an employee a framework with which to respond. It helps them love students better.
Intersection of Justice and Our Everyday Work Lives
What is ideal about job training is that they teach us about social issues that might actually be relevant to our everyday lives. Those I interact with often tell me that social issues feel too far removed from their daily experience. They don’t feel like there is an avenue to practice justice from where they are. I understand this concern, but in reality most of us are just blind to how justice issues intersect with our everyday lives.
The reason employee trainings become mandated in the first place is because there have been enough situations to warrant a need for training in those environments. Even if seemingly irrelevant or unengaging in the moment, what if we recognized the topics that are covered might actually equip us to love others in practical ways? They can prepare us to engage with a situation we might encounter or wouldn’t know what to do about otherwise. Employee mandated job training can narrow down what aspects of justice to focus in order to love our neighbors better.
When We Disagree With the Job Training
Recently I was chatting with an individual about the diversity training his company required their employees to do. Apparently, the responses of many of his coworkers were very negative. They felt attacked by the training module. I related to their frustration.
I’ve seen education on social topics put people on edge. I’ve also received feedback from some of the things I’ve said over the years that unintentionally put my listeners on the defensive. I understand the role of a trainer, exhorting an audience to take personal responsibility and help them care about the needs of the humans around them. But I’ve also been on the other side, feeling defensive. Why is this? I believe there are two major reasons.
Can Policy Force Us To Love Others?
Each of us were explicitly taught or soaked up a set of cultural norms and morals from childhood. Unfortunately, we don’t all share a standard of integrity, good character, or valuing human dignity. Notably, most people aren’t challenged to change their moral perspectives as they get older. It is easy to surround ourselves with others who are like-minded or avoid people altogether. Often, the only exception to this is our work environments.
Employee mandated job training is often intended to create a common expectation. It might teach us what someone else feels honored by, or directs others to not attack someone else’s choices or experiences. Adults often push back against the expectation of practicing a moral behavior or are given new boundaries. It can feel corrective, shaming, or like “our style” is being cramped. Often, the response is anger or justification. We are content with the way we live towards others. Governmental laws or business policies can help ensure people treat each other well, while creating a structure for peaceful relationships. These policies we are taught in the workplace will not produce love, but they can prevent vulnerable people from getting needlessly hurt. Yes, it might cramp our style and we might not even agree with the moral imperative. But these policies that show up in training create an environment that works best for the majority and can create more equality.
Ultimately, though, as believers, we adapt our morality to match God’s version of justice and goodness. How can we practice loving others without God’s empowerment, for he is love? Training that tests our version of morality and boundaries are actually opportunities for us to move into humility. Through them, we can ask God’s Spirit to address bias in our own lives and open our eyes to be aware of where we can increase our love. As Christians we seek transformation; we are willing for our mind to be renewed (Romans 12:1-2). Learning how people perceive love (like in a diversity training) or can be cared for better (like through an abuse reporting training) can equip us to reflect God’s Kingdom in our workplaces. We can even live peacefully in a non-Christian culture, like Daniel did much of his time in Babylon.
When Subjectivity Gets In the Way
The second reason people don’t respond well to job training is that it can feel too subjective. When a standard isn’t clear the result is an anxious environment where employees aren’t confident.
For example, both microaggressions and harassment tend to be defined subjectively. What would be named as a microaggression or harassment might seem obvious to those on the receiving end. But as hurtful as these can be, perpetrators often are not aware of how harmful their actions are, typically stemming from their moral perspective, unawareness, or unconscious bias. It makes sense why workplaces mandate employee education to increase awareness and reduce bias to remedy these problems.
But producing quality training for subjective topics is complex. Without a trauma-informed approach to subjective topics, role playing, and/or additional training on conflict resolution, there is often not enough guidance to equip employees. What was designed to create safer spaces can instead create an atmosphere of fear. When people are confused or afraid of making mistakes, they tend to shut down, avoid, and act out of the flight/fight/fawn/freeze parts of their brain.
In the next couple weeks I will write more on equipping us to handle subjective social topics a little better. (Be sure to sign up to be notified when that article comes out!) In the meantime, I hope it is empowering to even name these two reasons why some employee mandated training isn’t received well.
Leveraging Job Training as a Launchpad to Love Others
So then, how does this type of job training actually help us to love our co-workers better? If nothing else, these training sessions might push us into reevaluating our actions and into conversations. They are a launchpad to address deeper issues in ourselves and in our working environments.
As believers we are being formed by the good news. If a training pushes our buttons, we have the opportunity to ask God’s Spirit to show us why, and pray for his empowerment to love others. If a training prompts us to be aware of how we might have hurt someone, even if unintentionally, we can apologize. If a training brings up a discussion with other co-workers about their differing moral or political views, we have a chance to be curious and gracious, then discuss what systems they believe would love and protect others.
Employee-mandated job training can help us love others, even if we find this training boring and unengaging. Not only do they helpfully narrow our focus to where we might have the most impact on social issues, but they can be a catalyst to renew our minds to where we might not have been loving. Ultimately, they can push us into dialogue about creating a world that better reflects the Kingdom of God–especially at and through the workplace.
FOR DISCUSSION:
- Do you have to do workplace job training that addresses social issues?
- What would make your job training more effective?
- Have you ever had a negative response to job training? If so, why?
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