Confronting Chronic Career Stress Part Two
John A. Shuford
The first session of the training is critical. In this session, the trainer gets the attention of the participants by establishing a container of safety, gaining their respect, and showing the importance and relevance of the training to the participants. Review of the agenda for the session as this is important for some people’s learning styles. Then establish ground rules for how participants will interact during the training. It is important for these to come from the participants themselves, because this begins to create a safe container where they are full participants, and they see that the training is going to be different and not a lecture.
One thing that is important is that all participants are seen as equal, so rank and titles have no place in the training. Emotional intelligence skills are people skills and often, not always, rank and title get in the way of people skills and creating safety. In the training, equality is achieved by everyone taking on an adjective name using a positive adjective coupled with their first name and no uniforms are worn. This signifies that things will be different in this training. There is often some hesitancy in using adjective names, but quickly participants get used to it and fully enjoy it. Some examples are: Just John, Professional Paula, Charismatic Chris, and Creative Cathy. These names are used throughout the training. Referring to Capt. Thompson as Brave Bill totally changes the energy and participants begin relating to each other as people and not rank. Adjective names are obviously not used after the training is completed.
Two possible exercises for establishing safety focus on self-awareness and connection with others. One is Concentric Circles where participants talk in pairs for a couple of minutes on different topics, such as a positive childhood experience of mine and someone I really respect and why. An example of a set of questions that can be effective is:
• A positive childhood memory of mine is…
• Someone I really respect and why (what was it they did, say or represent that I respect).
• How my family handled conflict when I was growing up.
• Something I’ve done that I’m proud of.
• How I handle my anger and deal with conflict now.
• Something I’ve learned from my life experience that is important to me now.
After both have shared, a new topic is presented, and participants switch to a new partner. It is important at this early stage of the training to avoid topics relating to work. This is intended to be a person-to-person exchange. After Concentric Circles the energy in the group relaxes and people feel safe, in large part because everyone has shared regardless of their rank or department. This exercise also increases self-awareness, depending on the topics selected. Another exercise that increases self-awareness is one where participants share in pairs what they like about themselves and what they are good at. This can be very challenging for some participants, but the benefit is substantial for building trust. Some participants get into this exercise more than others, but all benefit from it. It may be the first time they have thought about the things they like about themselves. Since self-awareness is the foundation for emotional intelligence, these two exercises, or similar exercises are critical to the training process.
After both have shared, a new topic is presented, and participants switch to a new partner. It is important at this early stage of the training to avoid topics relating to work. This is intended to be a person-to-person exchange. After Concentric Circles the energy in the group relaxes and people feel safe, in large part because everyone has shared regardless of their rank or department. This exercise also increases self-awareness, depending on the topics selected. Another exercise that increases self-awareness is one where participants share in pairs what they like about themselves and what they are good at. This can be very challenging for some participants, but the benefit is substantial for building trust. Some participants get into this exercise more than others, but all benefit from it.
It may be the first time they have thought about the things they like about themselves. Since self-awareness is the foundation for emotional intelligence, these two exercises, or similar exercises are critical to the training process.
An overview of communications is given, emphasizing the importance of nonverbal communication; that body language and tone of voice convey much more than the words themselves. At the foundation of nonverbal communication is attitude, which is the most important factor in effective communication. The elements of a teambuilding attitude are discussed in the second session along with the related personal conflict management styles of participants. The specific communication skills of listening [beyond the words], assertiveness [use of I messages] and problem solving are taught by describing, demonstrating and then practicing the skills. These skills are presented in the second and third sessions and help the participants behave in a way consistent with and supportive of a teambuilding attitude.
A significant amount of time in the third session is devoted to stress; what it is, its consequences [participants personal experience of it] and approaches and activities, both on and off the job, that can reduce it. Similarly, the fourth session is devoted to anger; what it is, its purpose, its consequences and destructive and productive responses to it. Also, how to de-escalate someone else’s anger. Finally, the last part of the fourth session is a trust exercise to demonstrate the trust that has been established within the group, personal contracts on what each participant will do differently [these are not shared with others], and the training evaluation [anonymous], which is always shared with administration.
The Impact of This Type of Training in Staff’s Words
Engage:
“When I left class the first day, my stress was removed, and I was very relaxed and calm.”
“I’ve shared more in the past 2 days with co-workers than I have in the past 16 years.”
“Everyone was comfortable being themselves.”
Energize:
“I enjoyed the unity of the class and the energy to want to do better and work as a team.”
“This training has inspired my thinking at home and work in a very positive way from day one. My attitude and coping skills have very much improved.”
“I felt like a dead battery for the last 10 of my 18 years, but this training changed all that. It charged up my morale and my attitude.”
Empower:
“I now have a whole new set of tools and it made me think how I can change the prison.”
“It will make my journey as an officer safer. Outstanding class.”
“A whole new outlook on things on the job as well as at home, my life has already changed.”
“Made me a better supervisor. Put my staff first instead of last.”
“The training academy told us what our job was, and you taught us how to do it.”
Enjoy:
“This training was life altering. Best I have ever had in my 25 years with the state.”
“This class was one of the most enjoyable, most beneficial classes I have ever attended.”
“The most informative and enjoyable, attention keeping class I have attended.”
“I was not looking forward to this, but I so loved this training. I am so glad I was forced to attend.”
“I will never forget this training.”
Comments From Supervisors and Administrators:
“Staff have stated over and over that it was some of the best training to which the state has offered. It has helped to rebuild this facility after the tragic event of 2017.” [4 staff murdered by inmates].—Warden.
“Prior to the training, the receiving room day shift had 5 or 6 uses of force per month. After the training, there were 5 uses of force in the last 2 years.”—Deputy commissioner.
“Our staff are also advocates for how much the training has helped them as a team and how much they love passing the training on to the trainees.” —Academy Director.
“It is generally thought to be the best training program that staff has participated in. The labor unions are strong supporters of the training. Employee grievances have dropped to an all-time low. Thank you for helping us change our work culture. It is the best investment of resources that we have ever made.”—Warden.
“I personally have seen a major difference in the way they perceive themselves, the way they interact with one another and the way they interact with support staff, whether they be social service or maintenance. Also, the rate of sick abuse or not coming to work has dropped and the overall attitude of the workplace has improved.”—Captain.
Conclusion
This Immersive Experiential training is low-tech, not using PowerPoint, but utilizes an easel and markers with handouts. The connection between trainer and participants needs to be direct and not through a computer.
When possible, it is good if the trainer participates directly in the early exercises as a participant to establish that she/he is one of them. Having more than one trainer makes this easier. This training incorporates the 4 Es in its design and is consistent with current adult learning principles [Andragogy Theory], which are:
• Adults prefer to learn from doing/experience.
• They’re interested in learning something that has immediate relevance to them.
• They prefer a hands-on approach to learning.
• They prefer to solve actual problems.
Correctional trainers need to consider the points made in this paper, especially if their agency’s staff is experiencing chronic stress. This issue must be addressed if the staff turnover crisis is to be resolved and it cannot be accomplished by approaching it with traditional training methods. As Einstein said, “We cannot solve a problem with the same level of thinking that created it.” We must adopt a new approach because staffing issues are not getting better and the strain on existing staff is getting greater and greater as more staff leave for other jobs. We cannot ignore this issue any longer. Simply put, our current approach is unsustainable.
Increasing pay and benefits will have a positive short-term benefit but is not an effective long-term strategy. This is because of a psychological process called ‘hedonic adaptation’, where a person adjusts to a new situation so that it feels normal and not new. Like putting a ring on your finger, after a short period of time, you no longer notice it. For major positive material changes, like increased income, the adjustment process is about three months.
This means the emotional boost will last about three months and after that it loses its benefit. Maybe this is a factor in so many staff leaving within the first year of employment. Also, providing information about staff morbidity rates [heart attacks, PTSD, depression, etc.] and mortality rates, without the means to make the changes in the work culture causing them, may lead to more frustration. These factors may be the ‘canary in the mine’ giving us notice of an explosive situation.
We need to make our training more humane and at the same time, more effective. Staff must feel and experience emotional intelligence in order for transformation to occur. Like the example given earlier, you cannot learn to drive a car [or a golf ball] from a book. Those agencies that have incorporated the Immersive Experiential model for training emotional intelligence skills have seen huge benefits as a result. More agencies need to include effective emotional intelligence experiential trainings, whether this model or another. An emotionally intelligent agency is one where staff feel emotionally safe, supported, empowered, connected, respected, and valued. It’s time to stop talking or lecturing about emotional intelligence and begin incorporating it within our trainings and therefore, within our agencies.
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John A. Shuford is regarded as a national leader of the immersion-experiential methodology of staff development training. He has had numerous feature articles published in Corrections Today over the past two decades. John has developed and delivered innovative staff development trainings for many governmental agencies. He has presented at numerous national and international conferences and has led international conflict resolution delegations to Russia, South Africa, and China, and provided trainings in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and in West and Southern Africa. He has been honored by the International Association of Correctional Training Personnel with their “2004 Award of Excellence” and their “2018 Award of Excellence.” Prior to retiring, John was Correctional Training Coordinator 2 with the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections. For more information, he can be contacted at john@teamcrs.org.
References
Clements, A.J., Kinman, G. “Wellbeing in UK prison officers: Key factors.” Special Edition: The health and wellbeing of prison staff, Prison Service Journal Issue 268, September 2023.
Murthy, V.N. “Our epidemic of loneliness and isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the healing effects of social connection and community.” 2023.
