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Canadian Armed Forces – Defence

Military command trains workers on de-escalation and boundary setting

Members of the base postal division implement customer communication improvements conducive to military culture.

Services: Customer communications

About CAF

The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) stands as a pillar of national defense and service, embodying a legacy of honor, dedication, and resilience. Comprised of the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and Royal Canadian Air Force, the CAF operates with a steadfast commitment to safeguarding Canada’s security interests at home and abroad.

The challenge

Many customer-facing sectors are exposed to emotional people and expected to manage these emotions skilfully and respectfully. The frontline workers of the CAF’s base postal division are no exception. Military command of base operations observed that many of their over-the-counter workers were experiencing aggression, abusive rants, unrealistic demands, and emotional outbursts as they attempted to perform their duties.

 

Motivated to set their people up for success, Canadian Armed Forces sought to provide frontline skills training to their base postal division. The aims were to: 

 

  • Train de-escalation techniques for a range of situations.
  • Identify incidents as they arose and manage them effectively.
  • Navigate a negative into a positive direction.
  • Impart professional language techniques.
  • Support staff to adopt and communicate healthy boundaries.

What did CCS do

This defence organisation needed effective communication strategies that were easily trainable and replicable. They also required nuanced strategies that complemented military culture and remained integral to the hierarchy and communication expectations of the environment. 

 

The solution CCS devised put defusion techniques and boundary creation at the heart of the program. In other words, these were the skills that the rest of the training was built around. To ensure ease of use, we provided simple scripts participants could follow to implement healthy boundaries while maintaining respect and positive acknowledgement of customers. We also addressed the four critical areas of customer communications: profiling behaviour, self-management, communicating under pressure, and defusing and de-escalating. 

The results

✔︎ Equipped participants to converse with difficult people. 

✔︎ Participants reported feeling more empowered to deal with challenging situations.

Success Stories

Providing dynamic learning experiences

Janette Collier

Acting Director, Australian Institute for Primary Care & Ageing
“Our partnership with CCS has been very successful and course participants have contacted me to say how much they enjoyed the training with CCS and how useful they found it. Many have incorporated the skills and strategies into their working and personal life. Their only complaint was that they wanted a longer session!“

Michelle Eddy

Director of Finance, Canadian Armed Forces
“David Patmore led us on our MARATE experience today and was a very engaging instructor. He made me feel confident and equipped to converse with difficult people/situations. This course will be relevant in all aspects of my life: work, family, friends and absolute strangers that I may encounter."

Kiery Pascoe

Organisational Learning Specialist, Southern Cross Community Healthcare
“It was great to have a session where the facilitator was able to adapt to our industry and provide scenario’s that fitted in with our organisation. Loved how interactive it was and real practical skills that can be used immediately. "






Southern Cross Community Healthcare

Naomi Cooper

Acting Health Services Manager - Digital Health, Royal Flying Doctor Service
“The structure and content was really well thought out and was spot on for the needs of the group. I’ve attended a few workshops on the same topic and this was by far the most practical and useful.“