Part 4 of 4 – Corporate Wellness – How To Design & Implement a Successful Employee Personal Safety & Self Defense Training Program

PROGRAM DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

 

Identifying Program Needs
In previous articles, I covered:
Why a wellness program should include personal safety and self-defense training and the benefits that
such a program can provide to your organization, and
What a personal safety and self-defense training program should include (the range of content that could
be included in a potential program).

 

The next step in the process is to professionally design and implement a personal safety and self-defense
training program. There are three prerequisites a corporation or organization must meet to do this:
• Determine the perceived needs of their specific and unique group of employees,
• Are the needs professional (job-related)?
• Are the needs personal (everyday life)?
• Should a program address both professional and personal situations?
• Should a program include both personal safety training and physical skills training?
• Identify potential reputable and credible training resources, and
• Review and evaluate the training options offered by a training resource to ensure that the services match
the perceived needs.

 

A company/organization should discuss their perceived needs with the personal safety/self-defense training
service provider. An ethical and professional trainer will help a potential client accurately identify and
determine actual needs related to this training. Because of the trainer’s experience, he or she may be able to
reveal potential scenarios and situations that the client may not be aware of, due to the lack of experience in
this type of training. When giving program structure and content guidance, the self defense training service
must provide adequate justification for all aspects of a training program proposal. For this reason, a client
must review perceived training needs with the service provider. And it is also important for the training
service provider to justify the suggested modifications.

 

Once the client’s needs are identified, agreed upon and documented, the program design process can begin. A
program design and implementation process must consider and address the potentially negative perception
and possible intimidation that some people may have about personal safety/self-defense training. The
implementation of a corporate training program should be carried out in stages. The best way to start a
program is to initially minimize the amount of time, effort and inconvenience the potential participants are
required to invest. For example:
• Don’t ask potential participants to attend a training program on their own time.
• Promotional materials should ensure that participants will not experience any uncomfortable situations
during the training.
• Provide the initial stage of training (introduction) in a format that will make it convenient for participants.

 

Then, as each implementation step is performed, people become more informed about the program and may
be less intimidated and more positive about participating in a full program (the final implementation stage).

 

The first step of an implementation plan is a brief, informational live seminar, or online webinar.

 

Step 1 – Lunch and Learn Presentation
This activity is typically 45 to 75 minutes in length. Often, this is held during the employees’ lunchtime (thus
the term, “Lunch ‘N Learn”). Using my program as an example:

• The presentation begins with a trainer introduction, to establish credibility with the audience.
• Next, provide a list and description of the Lunch ‘N Learn program content – what will/can be covered.
• Then, ask questions with the intent to discover what information and subject areas will be most important
for the specific audience. This is important because every client will probably have varying needs and
unique, individual questions. Getting this information helps ensure that the information that is provided
will be applicable and valuable to the group.
• One of the most important areas that must be covered is awareness! Not everyone will end up
participating in physical skills training. But everyone can benefit from enhanced awareness skills –
recognizing & avoiding, recognizing & dealing with, and/or recognizing & exiting from a potentially
violent situation.
• My program teaches the 4 Types of Awareness (mental, emotional, environmental, & physical).
• It is also important and valuable to provide brief examples of the application of physical skills.
• The presentation should conclude with two activities:
• An explanation about how a training program progresses in intensity and difficulty. This helps
minimize or eliminate the intimidation some people may feel about self-defense training, and
• A Q & A session where people can obtain even more information about a potential program.

 

After the presentation, a survey (pre-approved by the sponsoring corporation) is provided to attendees. The
purpose is to determine the level of interest in additional training. The surveys are collected by the sponsoring
department (typically Human Resources) for evaluation and determination of how to proceed.

 

To summarize, this initial step is important to get employee buy-in and participation. The key is to provide
potential participants with the opportunity to learn about the training program and meet the trainer(s) under
comfortable, convenient, and low stress circumstances. The program:
• Happens during work hours (convenient),
• Is short duration (recommend 45 to 75 minutes),
• Provides clear and comprehensive samples of the actual training curriculum through handouts and
physical demonstrations (fear comes from the unknown – this minimizes the unknown), and
• Is interactive with the potential participants (not a boring lecture!).

 

Step 2 – Introduction to Personal Safety and Self Defense Physical Skills Training
This activity should occur soon after the Lunch ‘N Learn session, while interest levels are still high! This
activity could be 1.5 to 2 hours in duration. It may be difficult to schedule this activity during regular
work hours, making it somewhat inconvenient. But, if Stage 2 can be performed during regular working
hours, there could be greater participation.

 

Personal Safety Training – Information should be provided about:
• The definition of personal safety training, and
• The training format options for personal safety training – include detailed descriptions for the content
and the pros and cons of each delivery method:
• Live seminar
• Virtual webinar
• Online course

 

Self-defense physical skills training – the trainer should begin teaching the basics of the physical skills
that are part of a complete program. There is little time for actual practice, but participants should briefly
experience how movement and technique skills will be taught, learned, practiced, and evaluated for
improvement. It is important to show participants that injury risk is minimized (nobody wants to get beat up).

 

Participants gain an understanding that that they will learn realistic, practical, and effective skills
AND that they can handle the physical training. This training must convince participants that they can
physically handle and will be successful in a full program.

 

An important benefit to offering this stage of the training program is that participants may become less
intimidated by a longer duration of time investment that would be required in a full self-defense training
program. When people complete this Step 2 introductory training, they cannot believe how quickly the
time passed. Because of this, making a commitment to the next training program stage, which would
typically be 3 or more hours, is less intimidating.

 

Once again, at the end of this training stage, provide participants with a survey that is intended to provide:
• Feedback that helps determine the level of interest for a complete training program,
• Specific information about what participants want to experience, and
• Information about “what” participants are willing to commit to. The “What” information includes:
• What training do they want – personal safety, self-defense physical skills, or both,
• How the training should be held (personal safety only),
• When the training should be held,
• Where the training should be held,
• How much time would a participant be willing to commit to training, and
• Should the training be completed in a single session or multiple sessions.

 

The questions in the survey should be simple and objective. Provide answers that the respondents can
select from – that should increase the number of completed surveys. If the survey information suggests
that offering a full training program is worthwhile, proceed to Step 3!

 

Step 3 – Complete Personal Safety & Self-Defense Training Program Design & Implementation
Before the actual program is offered, the trainer and the sponsoring organization should review and
analyze the feedback information provided on the Step 2 surveys. This information will be helpful in
designing the full program to meet the needs and expectations of the participants. This is important if the
goal is to create a program that will create a demand for future training programs.

 

The duration of a full training program is dependent upon the actual content of the program. Participants
must be provided with enough time to practice physical skills to a point where each person feels
realistically confident about their new skills and knowledge.

 

Summary of Steps
• Step 1 – Lunch and Learn
• Step 2 – Introduction to Personal Safety & Self Defense Training
• Step 3 – Full, Comprehensive Personal Safety & Self Defense Training Program
• Celebrate Your Employees’ Success!!!

 

A Personal Safety/Self Defense training program can be a great Team Building exercise in the corporate
setting. To be truly effective for the long-term, this program should be an annual activity – knowledge
and physical skills decline over time. If you don’t use it (or practice it), you will lose it! What better way
to show your employees/members that you care than to provide this unique and multi-benefit training
program that can impact both personal and professional life!?

 

Remember, “ONE BODY, ONE LIFE, ONE CHOICE – BE SAFE & STRONG!