In large-scale organisations, determining who the right people are to send on conflict resolution, personal safety or physical interventions training programmes is a critical decision. Get it wrong and you spend budget on training that doesn’t transfer; get it right and every pound reaches the people who need it most.
This article offers insight into why the question matters, and poses the questions that will help you partner with training providers to develop an efficient, engaging and effective training strategy for your people.
Can’t we just source an “off the shelf” package for everyone?
Off-the-shelf packages can be useful in certain contexts — for example, where staff need a solid overview of their legal rights and responsibilities in relation to conflict.
But Dynamis typically urges against a ‘one-size-fits-all’ conflict resolution, PMVA or personal safety programme for several reasons.
1. Different staff support different service users
Service users are not a homogeneous group. They have different needs, preferences and behaviours — and that means staff will encounter and need to manage a range of situations, some of which may be challenging or potentially dangerous.
The client groups that staff work with in an organisation can be very diverse. The challenges and risks associated with working with elderly frail people are significantly different from those related to working with young people with a dual diagnosis. Each group requires a different set of skills and understanding, and that is best delivered through role-specific training.
2. Different staff are exposed to varying levels of risk
Another layer of complexity is added by the different levels of risk that need to be controlled for different staff members. These risk levels depend on several factors, including the staff member’s role, the context they operate in and the specific service user group.
Providing staff with the tools and techniques they need to adapt to varying risk levels is hard to achieve in a one-size-fits-all course.
3. Different staff have different learning needs
A significant and sometimes overlooked factor is the diversity of learner needs in any given training setting. The trainer and the training programme may struggle to address all those requirements equally and effectively.
Roles within an organisation are not uniform. Each carries its own violence risk profile that needs to be understood and addressed. The scenarios in which staff are exposed to violence or potential conflict also differ — adding another level of differentiation in training needs.
The challenges and risks facing lone workers are different from those encountered by workers in a care home. Training needs to take those differences into account, providing skills and strategies that are relevant and applicable to the specific scenarios employees are likely to face.
How do we develop the best training strategy?
Generic and off-the-shelf courses rarely meet the needs of staff working in different roles with diverse problems and concerns.
1. Do a deep dive into the training needs of your people
It is essential your organisation develops a comprehensive overview of your staff’s training needs. These may differ by role, department, level of risk and learning needs — as we saw above.
Questions to help you accurately identify training needs and shape the design of effective training across your organisation include:
- How did we come to know training is needed? Was it through checking risks, talking to staff, or because of more reported attacks?
- Who needs the training and why? Are they specific people, job roles, departments, or people working alone?
- What are their job roles — when and where are they at risk of conflict or violence?
- How often and how serious is the risk for each role, and what is expected of staff in dealing with it?
- What problems do the users of our services and the environment bring?
- What data do we have to help analyse risk? For example, data on types of attacks, times of day, places.
- What research is needed to find out the specific issues for each role? For example, interviews, focus groups.
- What should each employee learn from the training? What should they understand, appreciate, be able to do, or do differently?
2. Get to grips with risk assessment implications
A Role-Specific Risk Assessment should be carried out for each role in your organisation that carries a risk from work-related violence. All the activities commonly associated with the role should be analysed, identifying the possible risks and making judgements about likelihood and severity. Measures to eliminate, minimise or control the risk should then be examined, with the most appropriate solutions for that role implemented.
Once this assessment and the resulting control measures have been established for a role, everyone performing that role should be required to have the appropriate equipment, conform to the procedures and undertake the training required.
Leadership should ensure that the generic violence risk assessment is carried out on all roles where there is a potential danger, and that the control measures are clearly stated and understood by everyone in each role.
💡 Key takeaway: Training should be designed from a role-specific risk assessment, not the other way round. If you can’t point to the assessment that produced the training, the training doesn’t match the risk.
3. Order the rollout carefully
The rollout of any training programme requires consideration, especially the order of training. Line managers — who often deal with conflict and manage those involved in incidents — might be prioritised. However, the needs of frontline personnel handling difficult issues must also be considered. Developing a cohesive, prioritised strategy for implementation is crucial.
Useful questions to consider:
- Has the training been tailored to the roles and tasks performed in our organisation?
- How will the programme be rolled out? Who will receive it first — or will it be a mixed rollout? Can some groups, roles or individuals be trained together, based on our role-specific risk assessments and our learners’ needs?
4. Partner with a training provider who will guide you
Dynamis has seventeen years of experience developing training programmes that are tailored to the specific needs, roles and risk profiles of different staff members. Broad, generic training courses are unlikely to meet these diverse needs effectively.
We help organisations identify training needs and create training that responds to your unique settings and people. If you need assistance with the logistics, structure or layering of your organisation’s training, set up a call with us. We will use our experience to help you get the most efficient and effective result from your training budget.
This guide is part of our ongoing work with NHS trusts, schools, and the wider community of organisations that need practical, evidence-informed conflict-management training.