When a crisis strikes or threatens our personal lives, community, workplace, country, or world, it can be very hard to focus on our jobs.

How much time, energy, and money gets lost when people in the workplace are thinking and talking about big problems that seem out of their control? How many mistakes do people make when they are trying to work while overwhelmed with anxiety?

Employees and their families are often struggling with fear and harm because of health crises, natural disasters, political upheavals, economic uncertainty, potential layoffs, and any kind of violence, bullying, or abuse.

When any of us are overwhelmed with increased anxiety, stress, anger, and fear, we can get stuck in a vicious cycle of feeling helpless and hopeless, which makes it difficult to do our jobs well. We might freeze or lash out in ways that make things worse.

Knowing how to protect our mental health can help to break through this vicious cycle so we can put our energy into focusing on what we CAN do and on taking care of our loved ones and our work as well as ourselves.

We can’t be happy all the time. But we CAN develop skills to be resilient during setbacks, large and small, so that we can deal with the problem to the best of our abilities, and keep going.

Learning and using positive communication, teamwork, psychological safety, conflict resolution, and personal safety skills can prepare us to prevent problems and protect our wellbeing and our mental health so we can take effective action during hard times.

Having training that includes making realistic safety plans and practicing positive and practical skills together benefits employees, supervisors, and managers. These strategies and skills help to create an effective and supportive workplace community by:

• Strengthening teamwork
• Preventing and resolving communication breakdowns
• Addressing issues like workplace bullying and harassment effectively
• Dealing with rude or upset customers or clients calmly and respectfully
• Face crises together rather than in isolation

In Kidpower International’s decades of providing this kind of training, we have seen again and again how teaching adults these safety and communication skills in the workplaces benefits employees, the people they serve, their colleagues, and their loved ones – and stays with them throughout their lives.

About Kidpower International

Kidpower International is the global nonprofit leader for psychological and personal safety skills education for people of all ages, abilities, cultures, and walks of life. Since 1989, we have served millions of adults, teens, and children worldwide through our online and in-person workshops, educational resources, and partnerships. These skills and strategies help prevent bullying, violence, and abuse; strengthen relationships; improve communication; and save lives. The organization has an outstanding track record of preparing people to take charge of their wellbeing; protect their loved ones; and create cultures of safety and respect in their families, workplaces, schools, and communities. As part of Kidpower International, the Safetypowers Learning Center provides extensive services and educational resources for adults.

To learn more, visit safetypowers.org or email safety@kidpower.org.