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Unacceptable but not Unlikely Workplace Violence Takes Many Forms
November, 2008
By Wayne Veneklasen and Donald W. Barnes
An incident of workplace violence can occur at any time and can cover a spectrum from agitation and nervous behaviour to full blown, injurious actions. The painful consequences of such incidents can have an impact well beyond those workers directly affected by the incident.
Although rampage shootings make the headlines, workplace violence is more commonly non-fatal. This includes all behaviours and circumstances that threaten an employee's physical safety, including verbal, sexual or physical assaults, threats, robberies, thefts, coercion, intimidation, stalking and harassment.
Workplace bullying is one of the fastest growing forms of workplace violence. It constitutes offensive behaviour through vindictive, cruel, malicious or humiliating attempts to undermine an individual or groups of employees, through activities such as:
( Making life difficult for those who have the potential to do the bully's job better;
( Shouting at staff to get things done;
( Insisting that the bully's way is not only the right way, but the only way;
( Refusing to delegate because the bully feels no one else can be trusted;
( Punishing others by constant criticism or by removing their responsibilities for being too competent;
( Spreading rumours, gossip, innuendo and outright lies.
PROCESS AND EXPERTISE FOR PROBLEM SOLVING
Policies and procedures protect both employees and the employer, and demonstrate the organization's and management's commitment to dealing with reported incidents. A workplace violence prevention policy should define appropriate behaviour, state responsibilities and consequences, and inform employees about how to respond to and report incidents.
Extraordinary working conditions covering such scenarios as employees who handle cash or work alone at night require specific protection policies.
Employees need to be assured their safety is of paramount importance. Incident planning is a key preventative measure to demonstrate the value the organization has placed on its employees. These measures might include:
( The implementation of security and safety equipment such as locks, access systems, mirrors, alarms, visible security force and patrols;
( Escort to the parking lot after hours;
( Physical plant alterations to ensure ample lighting, exits, and visual control;
( A crisis response plan involving police and security that is posted for all to see;
( The availability of personal assistance for employees and their families after an incident; and
( An inventory of security procedures.
A number of experts play a role in preventing, responding to or recovering from workplace violence. Companies should have at least one human resources professional trained on how to manage low-level conflict. For more serious matters, mediation professionals with experience and training should be called upon to diffuse the situation. This might require keeping a consultant on retainer.
The physical environment and the actual location where an incident might occur is the realm of the facility manager. It needs to be assessed and evaluated just as any human resource policy or emergency procedure needs to be.
ASSESSMENT, TRAINING, PREPARATION
It is the responsibility of facility managers and building owners/managers to be knowledgeable about the risk factors of their facility. The task is to obtain a formal tool they can use to better assess strengths and weaknesses.
Mitigation of exposures is an essential part of this process. It is not always necessary to mitigate all risks, but rather to understand and review the countermeasures that can be defensible in the long term.
Too often, organizations are wary of a formal process and fail to take this first major step fearing that exposing the weaknesses will make them more liable if they are not addressed. The reverse is true.
What the courts want to see is that the organization has taken steps to be introspective and take stock of its employees, procedures and processes. Once the organization has determined its own weaknesses, it can develop and implement a reasonable, cost-effective plan to remedy the problems. The courts do not expect immediate remedies that are too costly or not practical. Rather, they want to see that an assessment has been made and a reasonable plan is in place to drive necessary changes.
A high-velocity crisis can be very intense and often the crisis response team does not function optimally. This may be due to lack of training or inappropriate training. There are some exercises that can be of benefit.
1. Notification and activation. Define scenarios that will trigger crisis response team notification, and the approved and preferred method of response. If there is no in-house security, know when to call 911.
2. Fact finding. This should include record-keeping, as all relevant information needs to be documented for later reference. There may be legal and human resources issues that may be revealed.
3. Decision making. Determine the team leader and who will make decisions.
4. Prioritizing. Assign duties so that as a situation heats up everyone on the team knows what is expected and when. Put it in writing.
5. Implementation. The team must be aware of the levels of escalation and what each level requires of them.
6. De-escalation. Again, determine who does what during the cooling off period. Assign roles, document them and practice them.
EVALUATION AND FOLLOW-UP
After an incident occurs, a detailed investigation is imperative. A delay of any kind may cause important evidence to be removed or destroyed intentionally or unintentionally. The investigation should focus on fact finding to prevent recurrence and not fault finding. Employers should maintain comprehensive investigation records.
It is especially important to review the workplace violence prevention program and assess its effectiveness. Deficiencies should be identified and corrective action taken. The threat management team should reexamine both the circumstances of the precipitating event and the response to it, to determine if any change in workplace conditions, policies or violence response procedures could help avoid similar incidents or manage them more effectively if they occur.
Post-incident review and evaluation provides a critique of the handling of the response to determine if everything was done that could have been done to prevent the incident. The most direct, straightforward way to collect this type of information is to interview participants and witnesses as soon as possible. Try to get to any witnesses before they have a chance to form a group perspective of what happened. A preferred format is the structured interview that ensures all witnesses are asked the same questions.
Results of the investigation may point to a wide variety of changes and improvements. Many are job or work process related and so beyond the scope of this discussion, but there may be policy changes to be made or updated.
Security procedures may have to be revamped. Hiring, retention and termination procedures may need another look. Supervisory practices could be incomplete or substandard as well. Implementation of these changes will be left to individual organizational elements as directed by the crisis response team members who represent those elements.
Many of these follow-up activities can be done independently and concurrently. The direction and findings or the review and evaluation will establish the need for and priority of any changes to be made.
The preceding is an excerpt from Violence in the Workplace - the Role of the Facility Manager, a research study from the IFMA Foundation. To find the full report, see the web site at www.ifmafoundation.org.
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