Preventing Workplace Violence
Image credit: Dan Gold
The following piece is a writing sample that was an assignment for my ‘Managing People’ course at the University of Kansas Graduate School of Business.
Workplace violence is never an issue for a company until it is. Most employers don’t consider violence a problem in the workplace until it’s too late and one of their employees becomes seriously injured or even killed. According to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, there are about 2 million cases of workplace violence a year (Alice, 2020). This number is probably even higher as it’s estimated that about 25 percent of cases go unreported. Between 2011 and 2018, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported over 3,584 workplace homicides, and 2,825 of these homicides were the results of a shooting (BLS, 2019). Though it’s often not a top priority for employers, violence is a major cause of death in the workplace. In general, workplace violence occurs due to the interaction of three factors: the person committing the violence, the triggering event, and a workplace environment that is more conducive to allowing violence to happen (Bleich, 2016). To prevent workplace violence, employers and their HR departments should develop a program that focuses on each one of these factors.
The first factor of workplace violence is the person committing the violence. To address this factor, employers should start with recruitment. The vast majority of companies do at least some sort of background check before hiring an employee (Robbins and Judge, 2019). Employers should use these background checks to help reveal whether a candidate has signs of violence in his or her past. However, as an employer, I would be very careful about how you go about this. This does not mean a company shouldn’t hire someone with any criminal background at all. Currently, 65 million U.S. adults (one in four) have criminal records (Robbins and Judge, 2019). Due to our criminal justice system, many offenses are minor and should not disqualify someone from getting a job. Make sure your background checks are flagging violent crimes and if it does flag one, an employer’s HR department should ask for an explanation and reference checks before automatically disqualifying someone. Be subjective but be diligent. Don’t disqualify someone for showing one red flag, but be attentive in your follow up and ensure his or her references check out.
The second factor of workplace violence is the triggering event. This factor might be the most difficult one for employers to address but it’s not impossible. HR departments can implement civility training for all employees to lessen the likelihood of a triggering event. Studies have shown that civility training can help minimize negative behavior like bullying and abusive supervision (Robbins and Judge, 2019). Bullying and abusive supervision can lead to an increase in employee depression so HR departments would be wise to address these factors when looking to prevent violence. When people are upset, a lot of times they just want to be heard (DeFoore, 2007). Creating a civil environment where employees can speak about their emotions to each other in a respectful manner can help improve workplace culture. Civility training will hopefully eliminate the possibility of a triggering event before it ever happens.
The final factor of workplace violence involves the environment from which the violence occurs. If a company doesn’t take mental health and wellness seriously, it opens itself up to issues of workplace violence. The lines have started to blur between work and personal life and more companies are starting to invest in benefits that encourage a healthy work-life balance (Robbins and Judge, 2019). These types of benefits have been shown to improve employees’ psychological well-being which could go a long way towards limiting workplace violence. When work starts to bleed into family life, it can leave employees worrying about personal problems at work, which can create conflict (Robbins and Judge, 2019). HR departments should help employees segment their lives between work and pleasure and keep workloads reasonable. A larger tactic to consider to encourage a healthy work environment is getting an office WELL certified. Similar to a ‘green’ certification for the environment, buildings and offices can become WELL certified to improve employee health and wellness. WELL certification was created by the International WELL Building Institute and it's a medically researched and science-backed certification process that employers can go through to ensure their office environments are conducive to employee wellness (Well Certified, n.d.). Certification includes addressing healthy aspects that affect a physical office like its water, air quality, light, and acoustical ratings. It also includes addressing non-physical workplace aspects like implementing policies that promote healthy work hours and mental health habits that encourage employee well being.
Unfortunately, many employers underestimate the risk of workplace violence. When a tragedy happens, people often say afterward that ‘there were signs’ but there was no action taken to prevent the violent act. HR departments should not ignore the possibility of workplace violence and take steps to prevent major issues. To do this, they should focus on the three factors that lead to violence: the person, the triggering event, and the environment. Employers can focus on these factors through recruitment, training, and certification. Not only will this help prevent a workplace violence issue, but it will also help build a healthier workplace culture that will lead to happier, more productive employees.
References
Alice Training (2020, June 17). How to Prevent Workplace Violence in 12 Ways.
https://www.alicetraining.com/alice-institute-training/10-ways-to-prevent-wo-
Bleich, C (2016). How To Prevent Workplace Violence: 7 Steps To Take Right Now
https://www.edgepointlearning.com/blog/workplace-violence-prevention/
BLS (2019, December 17). NATIONAL CENSUS OF FATAL OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES IN 2018
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cfoi.pdf
Defoore, W (2007). Anger In The Workplace Can Be Transformed Into Productivity
https://www.angermanagementresource.com/anger-in-the-workplace.html
Robbins, S.P., & Judge, T.A. (2019). Organizational Behavior (18th ed.). New York, NY: Thistle Hill Publishing Services.
Human Resources Policies and Practices (pp. 585)
Human Resources Policies and Practices (pp. 586)
Human Resources Policies and Practices (pp. 592-593)
Human Resources Policies and Practices (pp. 605-608)
Well Certified (n.d.). International Well Building Institute