What types of conduct does your written workplace violence prevention policy define and include? If it is only limited to actual physical violence it will fall short of recent standards. Such standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA – see directive CPL 02-01-052 dated 9/8/11) and ASIS/SHRM’s Workplace Violence Prevention and Intervention – American National Standard document both define workplace violence with fairly broad language. In order for your policy to provide some hope of prevention, as well as a reasonable defense in court, the following types of activity and conduct must be addressed by the policy:
Criminal activity within the workspace
Customer /client / patient confrontations
Personal partner abuse/ domestic violence spilling into the workspace
Aggressive co-worker issues such as abusive emails, verbal threats, hostile intimidation, and any other unacceptable behavior that invokes fear in the workspace
Bullying and Cyber-bullying
Much of this conduct is subject to assessment of ‘degree’, especially bullying, but your policy should give clear examples of what the unacceptable conduct could be. Absent written directives forbidding such behavior, often nobody is willing to recognize it as workplace violence related and therefore it goes unreported. This will not only assure its continuation, but will probably be interpreted as acceptance and lead to more drastic, or aggressive, conduct. If it seems like there might be some spillover into other policies governing employee conduct, like into Harassment Prevention Policy, so be it. You still want to address the unacceptable behavior, see that it is reported, and take action to stop it. If abusive or aggressive conduct is addressed by more than one policy, that’s fine.
To be effective the Workplace Violence Policy has to be understood by the workforce and the only method for achieving that is through training. This training has to be done at the employee level for all. Employees actually have to be considered your first line of reporting responsibility. They should learn the behavioral red flags and the reporting requirements expected. Training also has to be done for the supervisors who are going to be your second line of responsibility to investigate the issues. Then the Case Assessment Team should be given even more specific training as to how the policy is to be applied and enforced.
Workplace courtesy and safety should be a simple issue of applying those universal rules of behavior we all should have learned by the time we were 5 years old. It has however become a complicated issue with social and legal consequences for both the perpetrators and the companies/organizations that fail to control them.
Check out our whole Workplace Violence Prevention series of training courses at www.imac-training.com.
When a crisis hits your business there are many issues that need to be addressed simultaneously and rationally during what could be an emotionally charged time. Decisions have to be made regarding immediate and appropriate response to the event, be it an executive kidnapping, natural or man-made disaster, catastrophic accident, product integrity scandal, labor dispute, financial meltdown, or other such crisis. However, there also has to be a concern for continuing operation of the business. You cannot just shutdown until the difficulties pass. Decisions have to reflect critical corporate responsibility regarding:
Effective employee, shareholder and public communication
Thorough investigation and analysis of the facts of the event
Fiscal, employer, social and legal requirements
Measured and effective crisis response
Safeguards for ongoing operations
Determining the reasonable level for business continuity
And most importantly – just doing the right thing!
The Crisis Management Team has to be armed with a good emergency response playbook, a rehearsed and unified communication approach, and the discipline to adhere to established company values. The components of crisis management plans have often been so focused on reactions to the event, they sometimes overlook that the business must survive and continue to maintain client/customer satisfaction throughout the crisis. Shareholder confidence cannot be shaken for long. Third party assistance, procedural and production modifications, management flexibility, operational creativity, and some proportional spending will be just a few of the adaptations required. Having a structured business continuity plan will be critical in guiding the company through recovery. Taking into account that there may be some brief period of operational shutdown, shareholders will soon want to know that the business is back to functioning somewhat normally.
Check out some of our Crisis Management and Business Continuity Planning courses on our online training website www.imac-training.com.
If you were lucky you didn’t have to worry much about being bullied in school. If you weren’t so lucky, then you remember the effects. The exact same human dynamics can apply in the workplace. The tactics and their effects are not as obvious, but they are very real. Workplace bullying is often the first step in a developing workplace violence issue. One that can lead to lost employees and productivity, law suits and overt violence.
Some people are taught throughout their upbringing to stand up to bullies. This will lead to confrontation eventually and if the repressed tension has built up enough over time the ‘standing up’ will probably be violent. Nobody wins. People are hurt or terminated; sometimes the wrong people are terminated. The workplace becomes an unpleasant place to be. People leave. This all costs money, time, company reputation, and possibly clients. What if the bully is your supervisor? If aggressive tactics are tolerated as supervisory motivators, they will become the dominant form of leadership. This is an absolute path towards organizational failure. Fear has a rare place in supervision. Holding people accountable can be done in a very civil and subtle manner. There is often a blurred line between accountability and being pressured by a bully who is trying to ‘motivate’. The effects will often be: lower energy levels, no employee initiative, manipulative behavior among employees to avoid the bully, health problems, and there are many others. Does this sound like an environment in which people will work extra hard to get things accomplished? One which will inspire good teamwork?
How can bullies exist in the workplace for so long without being dealt with? Bullying and inappropriate aggression will continue if they are ignored. Ignoring is another form of tolerance. Tolerance is another form of acceptance. This perceived acceptance is why bullying can exist undetected for so long. Bullies can sometimes even be promoted just to get rid of them. Workplace violence prevention programs must address this developmental stage phenomenon. These are questions that plague many workplaces and effect otherwise productive happy workers. Don’t be a victim. Learn more about how to protect your workers from being bullied. Check out the “Workplace Bullying: Identification and Response” course on the IMAC online training site www.imac-training.com
How important is armed robbery response training for the late night retail industry? The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) think it is very important and so should employers in this industry. The OSHA directive CPL 02-01-052 dated September 8, 2011 listed late night retail settings as one of their high risk work environments along with Healthcare and Social Services settings. Employers in the business of convenience stores, liquor stores and gas stations have now been put on official notice that employee security awareness training for the crime of robbery in their work environments is also a workplace violence compliance issue.
Factors that put these types of employees at risk include but are not limited to: exchange of money in public spaces, 24 hour operations, solo or isolated work sites, workspaces with obstructed public view, the sale of alcohol, poorly lit parking areas, and immediately available parking for vehicles used to escape. Some of these factors cannot be controlled but many can. A robbery prevention and response training program for employees can help deter these crimes simply by making the individual store a more dangerous environment in which the criminal must operate. Store modifications to increase visibility, brighten lighting, limit obstructing signage on windows, install bullet resistant glass, advertise surveillance cameras, and perhaps plant die packs or bait money, are just a few of the physical modifications to increase store security. However, a valuable component for the robbery response program is for the employee to be training in what to do, and what not to do, in the event of a robbery attempt. Both deterrence and apprehension after the fact will dissuade future attempts, and will likely force the potential robber to select another environment.
This training should be done not just to reduce liability or attain some measure of compliance, but to reduce the risk for robbery and protect the employees. It is the right thing to do. Online training courses can be a very cost effective training platform for companies with employees across the country. For a detailed Armed Robbery Response course, go to: www.imac-training.com.
Dr. Paula Caligiuri discusses Advancing Your Career Skills on CNN Newsroom. Dr. Caligiuri is a professor of Human Resource Management at Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations.
HR professionals will receive accreditation towards their SHRM designation upon completion of any of IMAC’s pre-approved online courses
Ohio-based International Management Assistance Corporation (IMAC) has achieved HRCI approval for several of the courses offered at its IMAC Online Training Academy. Human resources professionals will now receive HRCI accreditation towards their Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) designation upon successful completion of any of these unique, professionally-relevant courses, available at http://www.imac-training.com.
The courses pre-approved by the HR Certification Institute (HRCI) have been designed expressly to further the careers of HR professionals, and include pragmatic subject matter developed by some of the industry’s top security professionals. Most popular of the accredited courses include an overview of workplace violence, nonviolent confrontation, high-risk terminations and work stoppage management.
Launched in early 2011, the IMAC Online Training Academy is unique in the practical and applicable nature of the training it provides. The IMAC security education team brings together respected experts who will instruct primarily on the realistic application of field-tested concepts and tactics to ensure students get relevant knowledge and techniques to equip them to succeed in the industry today. In addition to its more than twenty courses geared to HR professionals, the school also provides workplace violence training for security professionals and corporate executives.
“Our newly accredited courses for HR professionals are certain to provide a real career edge,” says Rob Shuster, vice president of protective services and training. “We are happy to have our very current and carefully-developed curriculum formally recognized by the HRCI, and look forward to imparting the latest industry knowledge, best practices, and training to as many eager learners as possible.”
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) compliance and civil liability will often revolve around the legal opinion of whether an act of violence could have been foreseen, and mitigation or prevention steps taken. If the act occurred in your workplace, or in an environment related to your business dealings, your organization will have to answer this often unclear question of what was reasonably foreseeable. The different categories of workplace violence incidents have been defined as:
Criminal intent by an individual not related to the workplace
Violence by a customer/client/patient with some relation to the workplace
Co-worker or former employee violence
Personal relationship violence (domestic violence) unfolding in the workplace
None of these categories will escape this foreseeability question. So, what will be necessary in order to develop a defensible position that your organization had done everything reasonable to anticipate and prevent violence? You will need much of the following to build your defense:
Crime statistics (trends and recent occurrences) in the geographic location of the workplace
Physical security audit at the property
Research on crimes and violence typically related to your industry – perhaps from professional associations or peer groups
Records regarding specific acts of violence at the workplace (or at other company facilities) in the past
Records of employee complaints and incidents of ‘bullying’ in the workplace
Evidence of employee and supervisory training relative to aggressive behavior recognition and reporting responsibilities
Development of a case management team for assessment purposes when investigation of an individual or incident is called for
Records regarding reports of domestic violence affecting someone in your workforce – especially if it has become noticed at work
Evidence of safe termination protocols for individuals where violence or aggression has been an issue
Proof that all policies and procedures are periodically updated and tested for validity
This is certainly not a complete list but it is enough to give your organization a good start at being prepared. The biggest challenge that any employer has to face is getting out of denial that this could happen to them. Waiting to respond, even effectively, after an incident has occurred is too little too late. This is good practice, not just legally, but for the safety of your employees and visitors.
Check out IMAC’s online training series on workplace violence at www.imac-training.com
Whether it is being proactive about preparing for a workplace violence incident, an industrial accident, a pending labor strike, or an internal scandal within your organization, there is no better way of getting your policy manual(s) off the shelf and tested than a mock or tabletop exercise. These should be lead by a third party contingency planning specialist with experience in crisis management. They don’t necessarily have to have been through each of your anticipated scenarios but they do need to have sufficient field experience to know what curves to throw into the exercise that are based on real world events.
Ideally the mock crisis is one that is reasonable for your environment, industry, and circumstances. It should involve senior management so that it conveys the true significance of the event. All internal organizational entities must participate for the event to be useful. The objective is to see what everyone can and will do and what the realistic parameters for action are going to be. Making assumptions that some particular action would be done (as is often the case with mental walkthrough exercises) will not offer the same critical evidence of practicality. Outside emergency responder participation is always a plus but not essential, however they should at least be consulted with specific response capability questions. This might even spark their interest to participate as practice themselves. The more action oriented the exercise the more effective and accurate the feedback is going to be. If conducting a “table top” only is all that your management will buy into then, the exercise should be carried out with seriousness, full participation, and as much real time simulation as possible.
Yes, these can come with some cost and be slightly disruptive. However, what is learned regarding the practicality and functionality of your policies and contingency/emergency plans can save the organization from exponential losses by comparison. There will be no more important thing if a real crisis hits. Why would you not want to field test the plan of action you’re going to depend on to provide your guidance for crisis resolution? With the proper planning, complete communication of the exercise, and full support from all levels of the organization, you can be more confident in your contingency/emergency plans knowing that they have been professionally tested. Furthermore, you will be able to legally prove – if you ever have to – that you did everything you could to be prepared.
Whether it’s a workplace violence incident, a product contamination discovery, an internal accusation of harassment or abuse, an industrial accident, or any other critical incident that has the potential to destroy your business or institution, how and when it goes public is critical. That question of how and when it is addressed in public should be your decision and you need to do everything in your power to keep it so. That doesn’t mean hide it until you think you have to say something. That means get out in front of it when you know something has happened. Do the right thing and tell people you are doing the right things. In this day of real time social media, there is very little chance of ‘no one finding out’.
Selection of who will talk to the public via the media, and determining what they will say when, are the most essential elements of the communications plan. Having a designated spokesperson for the organization is recommended but, depending on the severity of the incident, that may not be the only person who must deliver a message. More devastating incidents that have resulted in, or could lead to, the loss of life may require a senior executive spokesperson for some selected messages. The ‘what’ you say needs to be driven by facts and not hearsay. This will of course develop with the progression of the case but don’t, in your zeal to be forthright, report anything that is not verified as correct. The ‘when’ is essentially, as soon as possible after you verify. State what has happened, what actions are being taken, and that more information will be shared as it is confirmed. The theme of all of your messages should be; concern for life, uncovering any wrongdoing, and doing the right thing to respond and help.
The resultant spin-off security issues could be extensive but not immediately apparent. Have there been mistakes made that could appear malicious? This could lead to threats to individuals or your facilities. Is there the likelihood of special interest groups, or general public, outcry and demonstration? What are the follow through investigative requirements that you should be engaging internally? Should this be a police matter? Analyze the situation from several different perspectives other than the reputation of your business or institution. Could anything that has happened be a warning of a future occurrence? It may be advisable to do a situational threat assessment to explore what could develop and whether you’ve taken adequate security measures to prepare? All of these issues and more will contribute to mitigating further damage, perhaps saving lives, and helping you survive the court of public opinion to which everyone will have to answer.
Check out the related training courses on our online training site www.imac-training.com . Some to explore would be:
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