Introduction

Proactive, forward-thinking companies do what is necessary to ensure that employees are mentally, emotionally, and physically healthy. These companies understand that by providing employees with benefits like wellness programs, insurance, training/education, and more, they are investing in the company’s or organization’s future.

When the term “wellness program” is used, most people think of fitness training, stress relief, smoking cessation, etc. Very few people relate personal safety/self defense training with “wellness” training. However, personal safety/self-defense training DOES fall within the scope of wellness.

Psychologist Abraham Maslow developed (1943) the Hierarchy of Human Needs pyramid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs#Safety_needs – reference). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is depicted as a pyramid consisting of five levels:

  • The lowest, but most important level of the pyramid, is associated with human physiological needs,
  • The highest level (the peak) of the pyramid is associated with self-actualization needs, particularly those related to identity and purpose.
  • The higher needs of the hierarchy pyramid can only be achieved when the lower level, foundational needs are met.
  • Once an individual has moved up to the next pyramid level, the ‘needs’ in the lower level are no longer prioritized. However, if a lower set of needs is suddenly not being met, the individual must temporarily re-focus attention on those unfulfilled needs.

Maslow’s pyramid shows that the most basic and fundamental needs for human beings are physiological – food, water, air. These “needs” form the base of the pyramid – they are the highest priority. The next higher level on the pyramid, ranking second in importance behind physiological needs, is “Safety/Security”! Safety/Security is divided into different types: safety of the body, employment, resources, morality, the family, health, and property. According to Maslow, we need to feel safe in each of these areas to enjoy a healthy, fulfilling life. This makes sense. Feeling insecure or unsafe causes negative stress levels to increase. The physiological and psychological effects of negative stress have health and well-being consequences. You cannot progress up the Pyramid until you meet the needs of the 1st and 2nd levels! These are great reasons to proactively enhance personal safety!

Reactive Or Proactive – Which Is Better?

Society tends to be reactive – people wait until something bad happens before attempting to change or improve their situations. However, once something bad happens, it may be too late. The damage or negative impact (short-term and/or long-term) is already done.

Some companies recognize the many potential benefits of providing personal safety/self-defense training for their employees, proactively – prior to a harmful incident. Training can range anywhere from brief lectures/seminars on enhancing awareness with no physical skills training to a comprehensive program that includes awareness training combined with specific and necessary physical self-defense skills. Companies need to recognize both the short-term and long-term value in providing important life-saving skills for employees.

In addition to the primary benefit of teaching employees how to avoid, prevent, de-escalate and/or physically defend themselves against a physical attack – there are very significant reasons why a company might want to offer this programming. The following are some great reasons to include personal safety and self-defense training!

Self Defense training can prevent workplace violence before it even happens. Workplace violence is growing at an alarming rate. However, it has been proven that in a situation where an aggressor might sustain an injury himself by initiating a violent attack…he may avoid such actions altogether!

Imagine the costs a company could incur after dealing with the aftermath of an act of violence in the workplace. A small investment of time and money in quality self-defense training today can prevent catastrophic losses in the future – losses that can literally cripple a company.

Employees who can protect themselves are more confident, which directly impacts their performance and leadership potential. Untrained individuals tend to avoid new situations and people. Self-defense training helps to build confidence, increase self-esteem, and a greater sense of leadership presence. Confident people tend to be more able to overcome obstacles and get the job done.

People who feel safe are less prone to the debilitating effects of stress, which is the number one factor in many illnesses and a leading cause of on-the-job accidents. The increased confidence, coupled with an increased sense of calm, can mean long-term health care cost savings for an employer. Less stress means less stress-related illnesses, less lost time due to illness, fewer accidents, and higher productivity. Without the burden of stress-related paralysis, employees are more energetic, quick-thinking, and relaxed – making them more productive team members.

Self-defense training improves employee discipline, morale and enhances teamwork. Feelings of weakness, social anxiety, and concern for one’s safety, by any one individual, can cause stress for an entire employee group. Many employees live in fear of making the wrong decisions, some care little about their job – expecting to be paid for time rather than productivity – and others suffer from poor interpersonal skills. The difference between a company with a workforce made up of positive, powerful, and productive people and one that is not, is quite obvious.

Emotional and psychological barriers to personal achievement can prevent a team from functioning productively. A properly structured program allows team members to come together in a supportive environment to learn important skills. With the help of co-workers, individuals with weaker skill sets learn to overcome obstacles and fears that may be holding them back and safely become leaders.

Self-defense training improves creative problem-solving skills. Self-defense training can help employees learn to creatively overcome obstacles to success. This type of training can develop and/or improve problem-solving abilities, creativity, and “outside the box” thinking. Employees learn to think “strategically”, providing their company with the ability to identify symptoms and root causes of problems and determine both corrective and preventive actions, leading to less wasted time, money, and other resources in having to repeatedly “replace band-aids.”

Employees may experience a greater sense of happiness and peace of mind. Happier employees provide many benefits for their employers. Individuals who have a confident, positive outlook on life are less likely to be threatened by change, become defensive with others, or lash out at others verbally, physically, or emotionally when things don’t go smoothly. Self-defense training is known to be a source of personal empowerment and confidence, providing people with the ability to be in control of him or herself. It is this type of person that tends to attract and affect others in a positive way, making him or her a valuable company asset.

Some Additional Self-Defense Training Benefits

Besides the obvious enhancement of personal safety, this type of training, if properly structured and implemented, offers many benefits on both a personal and professional level, like:

  • Learning how to positively deal with conflict.
  • Developing a greater sense of physical balance and fine motor skills
  • Increasing self-confidence, self-control, patience, and grace under pressure
  • Creating a new level of respect for others
  • Learning goal-setting
  • Improving organizational & leadership skills
  • Providing an energy outlet (stress relief) which promotes a non-aggressive attitude
  • Developing assertiveness while reducing aggressiveness
  • Increasing awareness of the benefits of a healthy and fit lifestyle
  • Achieving higher levels of mental, emotional, environmental and physical awareness
  • Providing a “teamwork” experience
  • Learning to recognize, handle and manage fear in all aspects of life
  • Learning quick decision-making
  • Overcoming complacency and bad habits that can lead to victimization
  • Learning to apply prevention and avoidance strategies that are consistent with individual lifestyles
  • Learning to “check” egos and let go of pride
  • Developing a greater ability to concentrate
  • Making new friends and have fun!

This article identified why personal safety and self-defense training should be included in wellness programming. The next important task is to identify what should be included in a comprehensive and quality personal safety and self-defense training program. That information is thoroughly covered in our next article.

Remember. “ONE BODY, ONE LIFE, ONE CHOICE!”