Leading a Respectful Workplace

Senior Instructional Designer · 2020

An enterprise leadership program redesigned in-house with organization-specific scenarios, facilitator resources, and reinforcement—replacing vendor training and saving $600,000 annually.

My Role

Co-designed the program in partnership with another instructional designer, HR, Legal, and business leaders. I contributed to the needs and gap analysis, learning design and development, stakeholder reviews, facilitator support, and a reinforcement strategy.

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The Challenge

The existing vendor program provided general respectful workplace training, but it did not reflect the organization’s specific expectations, scenarios, or guidance for leaders. The organization also wanted to reduce the ongoing cost of relying on the vendor solution.

The project required an internal program that could address those needs while preparing HR representatives—who were not professional facilitators—to deliver the training consistently to leaders across the organization.

The Solution

I co-designed an organization-specific virtual leadership program that replaced the vendor training with content tailored to the organization’s expectations and workplace situations.

The solution included realistic video scenarios, an Instructor Guide, Participant Guide, and two practical job aids: a Respect Framework and a Conversation Framework. We also created a facilitator support guide that gave HR representatives quick access to course resources and LMS tasks.

To extend the learning beyond the facilitated session, we introduced reinforcement through MindMarker, providing leaders with opportunities to revisit and apply key concepts after training.

Designing for the Facilitator Experience

Because the program was delivered by HR representatives rather than professional facilitators, we needed to design for their experience as well as the leaders attending the training.

The facilitator materials provided clear guidance for delivering the content and navigating the activities. We also created a support guide that brought together links to course resources and LMS tasks, making it easier for facilitators to prepare for and manage the sessions.

My own facilitation background helped me anticipate where facilitators might need additional direction and support.

Collaboration & Development

The program was developed in close partnership with HR, Legal, and business leaders who served as subject matter experts, reviewers, and approvers. Regular project meetings helped us work through feedback, refine scenarios, and ensure the content reflected organizational expectations.

For the scenario-based portions of the program, we developed scripts for realistic workplace situations and partnered with a video vendor to produce the final scenarios.

Outcome

The internal program replaced the vendor solution, resulting in $600,000 in annual savings, according to the department Vice President.

The program continued to be delivered after implementation, with updates made as needed rather than requiring a complete redesign. Stakeholder feedback was positive, and the project demonstrated the value of combining organization-specific content with practical support for the people delivering the learning.