Course features

Offence in the workplace is inevitable. Whether the offender has deliberately provoked or unwittingly ‘put their foot in it’, words and the alleged sentiments behind them can negatively impact employees and their experiences in the workplace.

Throw away comments, off the cuff jokes and passing remarks can make colleagues feel uncomfortable, hurt or offended. Offence can cross boundaries, threaten identities, be perceived as harassment or link to wider geo-political and religious conflicts.

The risks of reputational damage to companies and organisations are real. The challenge is knowing how best to respond when faced with inappropriate or offensive comments.

Led by Dr Nicole Graham and informed by leading research conducted at King’s College London, this course will:

• Increase your understanding of what is offensive and why
• Explore the intersection of offensive language and behaviour with a person’s identity and values
• Focus on the complex skills that are needed to defuse or avoid situations before they escalate
• Offer guidance about the nature of offence and constructive responses for both the offender and the offended
• Increase confidence when tackling offensive and inappropriate comments in the workplace and beyond

By the end of this course, professionals will be equipped with the knowledge and practical strategies to effectively navigate offence in the workplace.

Course format

This course is delivered through the edX learning platform and is designed to be completed in approximately 5 hours, along with 3 hours of self-directed study.

What you'll learn

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Gain an in-depth understanding of what offence is and how it occurs at work
• Assess how specific contexts and intentions impact offence in the workplace
• Recognise the difference between being offended and taking offence
• Explore how individual identities can influence when and how offence may occur
• Examine the impact of offence at work on employees and organisational culture
• Adapt responses for offence based on context, intent and power dynamics
• Identify and understand different forms of offence including offensive language, microaggressions and offensive humour
• Identify, analyse and evaluate the different ways people respond to offence
• Develop effective strategies to confidently deal with workplace offence
• Understand how to address offence in order to build inclusive and respectful workplace environments

Entry requirements

No formal requirements. English proficiency recommended (IELTS Level 6).

Further information

King’s College London has partnered with the online education platform edX to deliver self-paced short courses to learners worldwide. Anyone can audit the course materials for free, excluding graded assessments, for a limited time.

For full access to the course, including graded assessments and to obtain a verified certificate upon successful completion, the fee is $199.

Payment for verified access to the course is made directly via edX. Please see edX Terms of Service for further information.