In yesterday's Advisor, expert Dennis A. Davis shared the first three components of successful anti-violence programs. Today we’ll cover three more, and we’ll look at a wellness program that will aid your violence prevention efforts.

Davis, director of client training for Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Steward, P.C. in Vista, California, delivered his comments at the recent SHRM Employment Law & Legislative Conference in Washington, DC.

(See first three components here.)

4.  First-Level Supervisor/Greeter Training

Supervisors, particularly first level supervisors, and managers need training in violence prevention. They serve as your eyes and ears. They are more likely to notice potential threats.  They should receive training on:

  • Early threat recognition
  • Early intervention
  • Immediate documentation/reporting

It's also important to conduct training for greeters, Davis notes. They interact most with employees, visitors, and clients. They are in a unique position to identify and diffuse threats. Their training might cover:

  • Words and phrases to diffuse
  • Recognition of good and bad body language
  • When to break off interaction
  • Dealing with threatening calls
  • Being a good witness, documenting, and reporting.

What are some phrases to use to diffuse? Try "How about …" or "Let's …" says Davis. These are suggesting, not telling, and they reinforce the idea that there are options.

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5. Compliance Campaign

Finally, says Davis, you need a campaign. That might include:

  • Publicize your policy in newsletter articles, bulletin boards, etc.
  • Post signs.
  • Install mirrors. You don't want the office to look like the honeymoon suite, says Davis, but when people see themselves in a mirror, they sometimes recognize that their behavior is over the top and pull back.
  • Security guards
  • ID badges
  • Sign In

6. Wellness

And we're going to add a sixth key—your corporate wellness program. It's another link in the prevention chain, both as a vehicle for improving mental health, and as another point of observation that might help spot potential violence.

How's your wellness program doing? Not so hot or not at all? Well-structured and well-run wellness programs generate ROI of up to 300 percent—music to management's ears! But the key words are well-structured and well-run. Poorly structured programs just spin their wheels—no health benefit and no positive ROI, either.

Many readers have told us that BLR's comprehensive guidebook, Workplace Wellness: Healthy Employees, Healthy Families, Healthy ROI has helped them get programs up and running that achieve wellness objectives with a great ROI, while avoiding the legal hassles that, these days, seem to attend any worthwhile venture in HR.

Wellness—NO downside! Wellness programs show impressive ROI, so management and employees are happy. And that means HR is happy. Check out BLR's Workplace Wellness. Find out more.

It’s a comprehensive guide that takes you step by step through setting up a program, from convincing management all the way through to creating and implementing a workable plan for your workplace. The guide also includes a vast collection of ready-to-use forms, handouts, and checklists that both structure your program and provide the metrics to prove its effectiveness to management’s satisfaction.
 
If you’d like to examine Workplace Wellness: Healthy Employees, Healthy Families, Healthy ROI on a no-cost, no-obligation basis for 30 days, we can arrange for you to do so.  Let us know and we’ll be happy to set it up.

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