Mental Health Training for the Security Industry

“At the very heart of IFPO is a desire to support security personnel by offering leading educational products and we were very excited to discover Ethos Farm’s unique approaches to immersive learning for a next generation experience.” 

Ethos Farm was named the Learning & Performance Institute’s Learning Start-up of the Year at the 2020 Learning Awards and has gained recognition for engaging training techniques with clients such as Edinburgh Airport and Heathrow Express. 

Co-founder of Learning & Development, Josie Barton, comments: “Working with IFPO on this joint initiative has enabled us to take their unparalleled security industry expertise and combine with training topics we have developed around human behaviours and empathetic service.

“This has enabled us to collaboratively build a training product that delves deep into the reasons behind unusual behaviours and how to handle such situations as a security first responder. Our goal is to build appreciation of the spectrum of mental and physical conditions so that security personnel have the tools to assess the situation with emotional intelligence.” 

Being Human is an avatar-led e-Learning programme available to purchase on a learner-by-learner basis and is also available as a virtual classroom session. 

The training explores: 

– The many factors that influence how someone behaves 

– The challenges that someone with a mental or physical condition may experience 

– How to respond empathetically to situations involving unusual behaviour 

– The importance of Being Human in all dealings with other people” 

Chris Middleton Dip ML MSyl, Security and Client Services Director at ABM UK and Board Member of IFPO UK & Ireland, adds: “We are acutely conscious that security professionals are expected to be the first responders in sometimes challenging and difficult circumstances, whilst acting with calculated precision. However, natural human engagement and empathy are often the very best ways to assess and diffuse situations and so we are delighted to be able to offer this enhanced training programme to the industry” 

Sally Alington, Ethos Farm CEO, says: “As a business that is passionate about elevated employee and customer experiences, we know that frontline workforces are seen as ambassadors for the brands they represent. Security personnel therefore, are often the first or last impression of any brand. We expect security employees to welcome guests, answer customer enquiries and yet handle extreme situations that can be very complex to judge. It is imperative that we support these individuals when dealing with challenging behaviours and we are very proud to be working hand in hand with IFPO to offer these important learning programmes to security professionals.” 

The e-Learning course is available to purchase by visiting https://ifpo.uk/product/being-human-e-learning-module/ (discounted pricing is available for IFPO members who should contact Ethos Farm directly).