TM - January 2008 - (Page 32)

recruitment & retention assessment & evaluation compensation & benefits performance management learning & development succession planning WORKPLACE SAFETY PROVIDES UNIQUE EMPLOYEE BENEFIT Terri Howard Providing a safe and respectful workplace environment is an employee benefit that is often overlooked, even though it offers tremendous benefits. There are both tangible and intangible benefits in taking a proactive approach to preventing and managing potentially disruptive or dangerous situations in the workplace. Not only does this strengthen and preserve valuable relationships with co-workers and customers, it also produces bottom-line results for companies. Everybody wins in an environment where they feel valued and cared for. Workplace cultures that demonstrate respect, service and safety at work — even when this is difficult to do — strengthen and preserve valuable relationships with co-workers and customers. Talent management and HR executives should strongly consider utilizing these types of training tactics as an employee benefit to develop a respectful, supportive workplace culture, because this is the cornerstone for a safer work environment. As workplace violence becomes increasingly common in today’s office environment, this issue is becoming more critical than ever before. Workplace violence or aggression isn’t limited to physical injury or assault, but includes any act in which a person is abused, threatened, intimidated or assaulted at his or her place of employment. Shockingly, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, an average of 33,000 workers are assaulted on the job and 17 employees are murdered each week in the U.S. This workplace problem affects companies via low morale, legal costs, lost productivity and employee turnover. In fact, the National Center for Health Statistics found violence in the workplace accounts for about $13.5 billion annually in medical costs, and it accounts for 500,000 workers missing 1.75 million days of work. Stopping violence before it starts is critical to decrease the prevalence of this alarming trend. Training programs are becoming widely used to prevent workplace violence. They also work to instill effective methods for handling and defusing potentially dangerous situations on the job, should they arise. One approach is to use a “train the trainer” module in which experts instruct and certify individuals through lectures, group work, prac- tice teaching and instructional testing. Upon completion, participants are certified to teach the foundation course within their organization. Those advanced “train the trainer” programs offer participants opportunities to receive additional certifications in violence response procedures. This type of training module is highly effective in addressing the challenging situations faced by today’s workforce, and the results are measurable. According to business executive polls, there is an average return on investment of $3 for every $1 spent in improving workplace safety. Terri Howard is vice president of corporate preparedness for the Crisis Prevention Institute’s PrepareTraining Program. Prior to her role at CPI, Howard was responsible for corporate efforts in workplace violence prevention, crisis management and business continuity for the Target Corporation. She can be reached at editor@TalentMgt.com. 32 talent management magazine www.TalentMgt.com http://www.TalentMgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of TM - January 2008

TM - January 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Learning Connections: Working With Those People Leading Edge: Hub Caps for a Buggy Human Performance: Hawthorne Effect Revisited Beyond Affirmative Action: The Changing Face of Recruitment Assessment Centers in Talent Management: Strategies, Use and Value Nontraditional Benefits- How to Hook the Best Talent Intersection of Web 2.0 and Talent Management Cross-Training for Workforce Agility Mapping Talent Among Younger Workers Dashboard: Using Personality Data to Identify and Develop High-Potential Leaders Application: Shaffer Title Uses Myers-Briggs to Develop Common Corporate Language, Jump-Start Growth Insight: Dreier, Stein & Kahan LLP: Using Strategy to Bring Back the Law Profession Advertisers' Index Editorial Resources Full Potential: Stop in the Name of Leadership

TM - January 2008

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