Defensie sociale veiligheid

Social Safety

Social and psychological safety within teams lead to better team performance, professionalism, collaboration, innovation and creativity. Essential components within the Dutch Ministry of Defense for the protection of the Netherlands and our allies.

 

With these principles, Relevance has been working as a learning partner with the Ministry of Defense in the field of leadership and social safety in the Netherlands since 2020 and since 2023 also in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Strengthening social and psychological safety

 
The Dutch Ministry of Defense puts social safety and integrity high on its agenda. A socially safe working environment is essential for the effectiveness of the team and therefore the operation. The Ministry of Defense wants to stimulate this desired behavior.
 
The current policy pays attention to preventing undesirable behavior, just as social safety focuses on encouraging desired behavior and valuing differences.
 
Defense's integrity policy is based on the 3 principles 'promote, monitor and consider', which must always be in balance. Strengthening a socially secure team is seen as an important pillar for promoting an honest and therefore reliable defense force.

Approach

Completely eliminating undesirable behavior cannot be achieved through measures alone. That is why a proactive approach is essential. This means that the Ministry of Defense pays attention to early detection and an appropriate response to these types of situations through training.

An important part of this is improving registration procedures and carefully analyzing reports of undesirable behavior. By learning from this, the working environment can be structurally improved.

The focus of the Relevance training courses is on creating a safe and inclusive working environment. We continuously evaluate our approach and adjust it where necessary. The aim is to create an organization that not only responds to incidents, but also as a learning organization that continuously improves.

A defense-wide approach in 3 phases

The Dutch Ministry of Defense wants to  strengthen their social and psychological safety in three phases: 

Defensie: sociale veiligheid

Phase 1

Implementing the regulations to comply with the legal requirements of social safety. 

Defensie: sociale veiligheid

Phase 2

Continuing to grow in the field of social safety and mastering the training so that it can be used in practice.

Defensie: sociale veiligheid

Phase 3

Securing, evaluating, learning and continuously improving to grow into a learning organization.

The assignment

To be able to comply to the three set phases, Relevance has developed a custom-made curriculum.

In a military organization, camaraderie is essential: "We leave no one behind, we protect and strengthen each other." Social safety is about protecting each other from undesirable behavior, valuing individual differences and the opportunity to learn from mutual trust.

These are therefore also the core values ​​of the custom-made training courses. With a permanent team of more than 20 trainers, we developed training courses in the areas of valuing differences, speaking out - discussing - addressing, and dealing with diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI).

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Way of working

  • Custom-made training programs
  • Catelog of trainings from which managers can order programs for their team
  • A dedicated teams of more than 20 local trainers
  • 40+ years of experience with large groups, 
    uniformed professions, and the public domain
  • Expertise regarding setup, scientifically substantiated interventions, didactic skills, innovative working methods and high-quality support
Relevance Learning trainers voor sociale veiligheid

Social & psychological safety, also in the Dutch Antilles

The armed forces are also active on the Caribbean islands of our Kingdom: Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. 

Due to their specific location, cultural differences and activities, our training courses require a different approach. Together with our local partner Teamwork Caribbean, Relevance has developed unique training courses in which, with the help of local actors, training is provided in the field of leadership and social safety in both the Dutch and Papiamentu language.

Working with our own case studies, and with the option to communicate in the local language, the outcomes contribute enormously to the impact we are able to have when it comes to awareness and increasing social and psychological safety in daily work. 

Do you want to know more about what The Dutch Ministry of Defense does in the Caribbean, among other things? Watch the series 'Coast Guard Caribbean' on National Geographic.

Defensie op de Cariben

Results


"Social and psychological safety was an important theme within our organization, but we lacked a concrete approach. The training helped us to clarify the frameworks and develop a systematic approach.

The management team has had in-depth discussions about our role in promoting social safety. Through practical simulations with experienced trainers and actors from Relevance, the group has gained valuable insights that we can immediately apply in practice for better social safety. 

The combination of theory and practice has ensured that we are now well-prepared to create and maintain a safe working environment. The design of the training, structure and implementation have been very helpful to us.”

- R.L. Bröker
Commander Caribbean Security Area

R.L. Bröker, Commander Caribbean

Also interested in strengthening social safety?

Let us know! 

Relevance has experience in providing social and psychological safety training courses within the public domain. In addition to the Dutch Ministry of Defense, we also work with other ministries, administrative bodies and local authorities. 

Do you work at a (de)central or local government institution, independent administrative body, healthcare or educational institution? Please feel free to contact us to discuss the possibilities. Together we help you strengthen social safety.