6 best ways to deal with offensive employees

4. Explain your reaction to the comment

Rather than labelling the comment as ‘offensive’, ‘racist’, ‘sexist’ et al –  advise employees to explain how they feel.

Reccomend staff to begin potentially inflammatory conversations with sentences starters like: "I know you didn’t mean to make me feel uncomfortable but…"

This soft-edged approach is much more effective at changing future behaviours.