Corporate Safety: Why Train Your Staff
Feeling safe and understanding your right to safety as well as having the skills awareness and understanding to ensure that safety, is the first of the fundamental building blocks for the human system to feel secure and confident to effectively navigate its environments successfully.
Without a sense of security and confidence all other areas of functionality suffer or work below their potential: from personal wellbeing to decision making and effective communication to achieving goals and maintaining a positive outlook in all areas of life.
The benefits of equipping oneself with safety skills reach far beyond the immediate application of managing or avoiding risk scenarios and instill a holistic ability and confidence in general decision making processes and better management mentally physically and emotionally in times of stress.
More and more companies are now training their staff in defence and safety skills for this reason, as they realise the further reaching benefits. Speaking as the leader of organisations at which all staff are trained, I can vouch for staff training actively reducing emotional responses and leading to a more pragmatic and analytical mindset in the workforce. Team members are improved communicators, with more confidence to set meaningful and respectable boundaries with one another and productivity increases as a result. There is a mutual respect amongst a team of people who know what each other are capable of and interactions become considered, respectable and collaborative; there is a greater sense of Team.
There is a mutual respect amongst a team of people who know what each other are capable of.
FACTS:
Physical ability, knowledge and understanding create confidence and stability
Awareness, strategic mindset and safety protocols reduce risk
Able capable staff are focused, responsible individuals with better coping mechanisms
From a practical point of view trained staff are better equipped to effectively avoid risk scenarios and cope in times of adversity, which leads to more effective time at work, greater workforce resilience and reduces the risk of workforce absence due to post incident or stress recovery time.
There is a misconception that safety and self defence training equate to a gym session with a black belt instructor teaching aggressive moves. The subject needs to be understood far more intelligently than that, especially in today's environments, where the individual needs to avoid, respond and act strategically, whether that's in the street, whilst holidaying abroad or traveling with business. By the time something has become physical a great many other things have gone wrong. Real defence training is learning about the space and time between intention and physical act, just as much as it is about responding to that act and effectively managing the aftermath.
At a higher level up company structures one common problem we are seeing is the willingness to place all responsibility for company execs and key staff safety into the hands of hired security teams. As we know from any area of life relying on other human beings to solve your problems isn't always an option and the individual must be adequately prepared for times where and when this luxury isn't afforded to them. Even if your firm security are present and active:
> do you know how to react in an emergency to enable your security team to do their job properly?
> are you confident in how you would respond in a risk scenario?
> are you clear on the real capacities and abilities of those you are relying on?
If you’ve built your business and climbed the corporate ladder to a high level you will be skilled, schooled and habitual in thinking and formulating mental non-emotional strategic reactions faster than most of those around you. With further learning you can take the skills you already have and become more effective should you ever need to. We actively encourage this kind of learning and up-skilling as company-policy Continued Professional Development.
In a time when unfortunately company execs are targets for economic kidnap, it is as sensible for the business elite to train in high risk avoidance and response procedures as it is to hire security teams. Physical training and psychological prep are essential tool-creators to be taken seriously.
The main areas of staff training we recommend are:
General Staff Self Defence and Personal Safety
Ensuring workforce confidence, wellbeing and stability
Traveling Abroad
Making sure staff at all levels follow sensible safe protocols and have procedures they understand which they can follow in times of emergency
Exec Training
Equipping execs with the kind of information and skills which are relevant today
5 things to consider for your staff's safety:
1) Living and Working day to day safety and self defence training. Make sure your staff know how to get to and work safely, how to socialize safely and how to avoid problems.
Most of the people we train don't know the basics!
2) Safe Traveling Abroad: whether it's for holidaying with their families or staff are traveling for your business it's important they know how to prepare pack and travel safely. From not knowing how to avoid or manage illness abroad to facing high threat or emergency scenarios, make sure your staff are informed enough to maximize their chances of a safe and prompt return to work.
3) Economic kidnap is a modern day issue: so make sure your business is protected by properly equipping your key staff with the vitals do’s and dont’s for protecting themselves and their personal data. Following simple protocols can make a difference, but your execs and directors need to know what they are.
4) Safety & Personal Defence as part of company wellbeing package: it's important and if you want a strong, resilient, capable workforce, train them in coping mechanisms and life skills alongside your corporate wellbeing services. Personal Defence starts with the ability to think non-emotionally and set appropriate and respectable boundaries as well as having the self confidence to speak up effectively. If that mindset and confidence don't exist, it's not just safety which is compromised, it affects health, performance, leadership abilities and strategic decision making.
5) Don't skimp on empowering your staff: prevention is better and far cheaper than cure.
