Your Contact Officers are often the first port of call for an employee who is feeling bullied or harassed, or is faced with a conflict situation that they are having difficulty resolving on their own. How Contact Officers manage the issues that are bought to them can determine whether they escalate, or are resolved successfully.
They need to be good communicators, level headed and aware of their role, and importantly the limitations of their role.
Aboto can provide face to face training designed specifically for your organisation in conflict management, diversity, preventing and addressing Workplace bullying, Harassment and discrimination and Contact Officer training is an important part of this package.
Note that although we refer to Contact Officers, in your workplace they may be called Fair Treatment Officers or something similar.
Online Training: The role of the Contact Officer
We have an online course titled The role of the Contact Officer that has been developed from our experience in the workplace and through running face to face training.
This course is designed to familiarise Contact Officers, with their role and their responsibilities as the first port of call for employees who believe they are being bullied, discriminated against or sexually harassed in the workplace. It outlines the limitations of the Contact Officer role, how Contact Officers can best support employees who may be emotionally distressed, including what information to provide them with and where to obtain extra help if required.
The course uses a range of scenarios to illustrate each point.
Upon completion of this course, the learner should be able to:
- Understand the roles and responsibilities as a Contact Officer, including the limitations of the Contact Officer role;
- Understand different complaint options available if someone believes they are being bullied or harassed at work and the advantages and disadvantages of each option;
- Know how to conduct the first interview with someone who believes they are being bullied or harassed;
- Understand your responsibilities as to keeping employee confidentiality;
- What to do if you are concerned about the safety of someone who has come to see you.
Note this course builds on the knowledge gained in the A Psychologically Safe Workplace course