Preparing Staff as Retail's Busiest Season Gets Underway Early
MILWAUKEE, WI / ACCESSWIRE / October 15, 2020 / Anxiety continues to rise among the general public amid the relentless COVID-19 pandemic. Preparing retail staff early will help ease tensions in-store and provide better customer service going into the annual peak shopping season. Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) recently partnered with the NRF Foundation to develop training to prevent and de-escalate customer conflict specific to front-line, customer-facing retail workers and job seekers. The newly created training utilizes proven techniques from Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI), the global leader in de-escalation training for over 40 years.
Susan Driscoll
CPI reports that inquiries on de-escalation information has doubled since the pandemic was declared. With an earlier start to the holiday season, CPI and the NRF Foundation partnered to provide training ahead of this critical time to help retail workers prevent and de-escalate conflict, particularly around social distancing, mask and capacity issues.
"COVID-19 anxiety continues to rise in businesses and elsewhere across the United States," said Susan Driscoll, President of CPI. "Overall tensions are a frequent concern for essential workers who are faced with activating and managing mask mandates, while also trying to keep the peace among customers."
For the customized COVID-19 Customer Conflict Prevention training, CPI will specifically focus on identifying the stages of someone in crisis, strategies to prevent a crisis, verbal de-escalation skills and other techniques to keep employees and customers safe; illustrating these tools through social distancing and mask wearing scenarios.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) is offering the training to its 16,000 retail members and 800 training partners who are located in a variety of retail establishments, schools and other workforce organizations nationwide. The online trainings and tools for NRF members are now available at nrffoundation.org/riseup.
"In a year that has been full of uncertainty, customers and employees want to feel safe shopping at stores," said Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation, which is offering the de-escalation training as part of NRF Foundation's RISE Up educational platform. "Retailers are doing everything in their power to ensure safety in their stores, and this training will equip employees with the tools to confidently mitigate conflicts that may arise."
CPI has trained more than 15 million individuals over four decades in its techniques spanning many industries and professions, especially health care and education. CPI tracks violent incidents in the industries it trains, and data shows that de-escalation skills when used correctly can quickly decrease violence regardless of the industry. CPI's de-escalation training focuses on a multifaceted approach that includes active and empathetic listening, withholding judgement, allowing silence, clarifying messages, developing a plan, recognizing personal-limits and de-briefing.
CPI offers two main de-escalation trainings, Verbal Intervention and Nonviolent Crisis Intervention. Verbal Intervention teaches verbal and non-verbal techniques to respond to disruptive behavior, preventing further escalation. Nonviolent Crisis Intervention training focuses on providing expertise to de-escalate crises, including verbal techniques and restrictive interventions that can be implemented with the least use of force necessary.
CPI offers a range of trainings, free resources and tips on de-escalation in the workplace, community and organizations. Learn more at www.crisisprevention.com.
About Crisis Prevention Institute
Crisis Prevention Institute, Inc. is an international training organization committed to the best practices and safe behavior management methods that focus on prevention. Founded in 1980, it has been their mission to reduce the likelihood and severity of workplace violence incidents. Over 17,000 facilities, 37,000 Certified Instructors, and 15 million trained professionals worldwide trust CPI to help create more confident and productive employees.
About National Retail Federation
The National Retail Federation, the world's largest retail trade association, passionately advocates for the people, brands, policies and ideas that help retail thrive. From its headquarters in Washington, D.C., NRF empowers the industry that powers the economy. Retail is the nation's largest private-sector employer, contributing $3.9 trillion to annual GDP and supporting one in four U.S. jobs - 52 million working Americans. For over a century, NRF has been a voice for every retailer and every retail job, educating, inspiring and communicating the powerful impact retail has on local communities and global economies.
About NRF Foundation
The NRF Foundation builds the bridge between a growing industry with hundreds of thousands of open positions and job seekers around the country. Through education, training, scholarships and experiences for job seekers of all ages and backgrounds, we help more people take their first steps toward promising careers. The NRF Foundation is the 501(c)(3) philanthropic arm of the National Retail Federation and is funded in part by generous donations from retail industry supporters.
CONTACT:
Alicia Wilson
608-577-4717
[email protected]
SOURCE: Crisis Prevention Institute