Maria C. Rodriguez

The challenges of training employees for a constantly evolving set of laws and norms in the workplace, ranging from bad behavior to illegal harassment and what they mean, demand a fresh take. According to Rodriguez, personal problems require a personal approach.

The key, she said, is getting buy in from employees. To get that, she emphasizes an individual approach that deftly blends live training, communication and more traditional formats.

“People get tired of training, and if it’s not interesting you can’t keep people connected. Now, it’s evolved because people want to have a more substantive conversation about behavior and how to act. There are still outliers and people who don’t want to engage, but it’s trying to get people connected to shifts in behavior and respect,” she said.

The individualized approach means more than people, she continued. It means industries.

“The nuts and bolts still have to be covered, but we’ve done a really neat job of creating a structure that involves live training that’s highly interactive and specific to industries including entertainment and production,” she said.

In the entertainment world, training takes on new degrees of difficulty in places like writers’ rooms, where pushing boundaries and creativity can test the limits of sensibility. Respect and communication are paramount in that industry as well as others.

The cultural moment that has produced legislation and lawsuits at a new level of frequency drives the stakes higher.

“We work hard to keep interactive training entertaining, interesting, real and applicable,” she said. That applies to online training too, when live is not viable.

Rodriguez enjoys the human element of live training, and said it makes it more effective on all fronts.

“It’s exciting because you get to connect with people about their experiences. It’s a fascinating, wonderful, cultural moment. Preventing and stopping bad behavior is desired now more than ever,” she said, “That’s a fact.”

“The clients we represent have been way ahead of this for some time,” she added. “It’s really interesting getting to understand people. When we get people talking, it’s never a lecture. It’s about knowing your audience and the people around you.”

—Andy Serbe