En Masse has developed a new two-part Contact Officers’ training course to help empower your people to resolve issues as they arise, ensuring your organisation’s active commitment to a respectful workplace that values equal opportunity and gives everyone “a fair go”.
With an emphasis on practical skill building, this 2 part program will enable your contact officers to help promote a safe and harmonious working environment in which people empowered to engage in regular, respectful conversations about workplace behaviours.
Session 1: Introductory Contact Officer Training - Approx 3 hours
Your Role as a Contact Officer: Dealing with Approaches, Understanding the Issues, How to deal with Different Scenarios
In the first hour of this session, we will cover:
- Overview of “inappropriate behaviour” that puts you and your employer at risk. Defining terms like EEO, harassment, sexual harassment, bullying, discrimination and key differentiators (scenario based);
- Understanding the legal implications for your employer including through new EEO laws and nationally harmonised workplace health and safety laws;
- Understanding the legal implications for officers, managers and individual team members; and
- Mental health causes and outcomes of inappropriate behaviour (scenario based).
During the second hour, we will cover:
- What does your role as a contact officer involve?;
- Overview of the your employer’s policies and guidelines [Customised - Contact Officers will be expected to familiarise themselves with these before the training]; and
- Responding to issues raised and complaints: investigating the facts.
During the third hour, we will engage in a series of group workshop activities centered upon practical skills covering:
- The topic of resilience, encouraging positive problem solving and self-awareness;
- Promoting prevention: encouraging/supporting team work to intervene early and help prevent issues from arising;
- Communicating with people who approach you with an issue: what to ask, how to ask it, offering guidance and support;
- Assisting people to resolve issues themselves “when appropriate” and safe to do so;
- Record keeping and issues regarding privacy; and
- When to escalate an issue.
Session 2: Advanced Training – Approx 3 hours
Part II: Advanced Skills for Contact Officers
In the first 60 minutes of this session, we will build upon the learning outcomes of the previous session including:
- Proactively supporting people who have approached you with an issue;
- Engaging in empathetic, supportive conversations;
- Reinforcing key messages about resilience and problem solving strategies;
- Promoting self awareness as a status that helps prevent issues from arising;
- Avenues for supporting for people who are having ongoing issues at work; and
- Guiding and supporting each other in your roles.
You will engage in practical exercises that will build upon your learnings and help you to support your colleagues in solving problems and handling more complex situations with a view to answering: “How would you handle this situation if it arises?”
In the next 90 minutes, you will be taken through an introductory session on informal conciliation and mediation skills. You will learn about:
- When is it appropriate to engage in an informal mediation (as opposed to escalating the issue formally)?
- The concepts of ‘give and take’ in the context of compromise: why this is essential, how to help the parties prepare for this; and
- The typical structure, features, role and desired outcomes of an informal mediation.
Using role plays, your facilitators from En Masse will provide regular demonstrations of each of the key elements, and you will be asked to critique the role plays and ask questions.
You will also be asked to work in rotating groups of 3 to practice your skills using real life scenarios. There will be three scenarios, and you will try your hand at being the mediator, the ‘target’ of the inappropriate behaviour and the person who has apparently engaged in inappropriate behaviour.
The final 30 minutes of this workshop will be dedicated to Q&A time and sharing your experiences as contact officers.
For more information including fees and customisation options, please call En Masse on 03 9827 1388 or email enquiries@enmasse.com.au
