Workplace Violence

Workplace Violence
By Felix P. Nater, Sat Dec 10th

A lot has been written about the workplace bully and so myapproach will deal with the assessment and analytical process ofworkplace violence. During my years as a Postal Inspector on aWorkplace Violence Interdiction Team in New York, I quicklygained an appreciation for the value of determining the "rootcauses" or "contributing factors" of incidents of Bullying andBully Tactics. In all of the assessments conducted involvingbullying behavior "root causes" and "contributing factors"enabled the investigative process to determine that in all casesthe victim retaliated escalating the bullying to a physicalaltercation or threats of bodily harm. The bully created such anemotional response in his victim over time sufficiently enoughto create a spontaneous response.

As such, I've come to define that Bullying is harassing,intimidating, offensive, degrading, demoralizing and humiliatingto the victims: employee, co-workers and supervisors alike. Thebehavior was patterned, unfavorable, unwarranted and reasonablyinappropriate for the workplace setting. While the individualBully was obviously at fault, management for its failure to curbthe behavior contributed to the hostility by creating apermissive environment that empowered the Bully. Sensing that hewould not be sanctioned he acted with impunity. The unfortunatereality is that the Bully exist to fill a void; some thought hisantics were funny; others relished in the abuse and banter; ifit was racially or ethnically charged comments it had appeal tothe bigots. As uncanny is it sounds most victims and witnessesinterviewed after the fact were disgusted at knowing how longthey were subjected to the abuse and how much they toleratedwithout intervention until the victim retaliated. It justhappens over time like the diagnosis of cancer.

WHO ENGAGES IN BULLYING TACTICS?

-An employee -Co-workers -Customers and employees -Employees andClients -Employees and Vendors -Supervisors or manager

During the many threat assessments conducted, I learned thatBullying is a form of workplace entertainment by some and anaccepted part of the workplace culture by others. You the victimmust be willing to resist the victimization and confront theindividual to avoid the potential for escalation ultimatelyleading to the unfortunate spontaneous and subsequentconsequences for engaging in a fight. It's easy to beintimidated by this behavior, it is designed to control you.However, don’t blame yourself for being the victim of Bullying.Report the Bullying immediately! It should not be sanctioned andshould be addressed under your company’s Workplace ViolencePrevention Policy.

WHAT CONTRIBUTES TO BULLYING?

Because Bullying is a pattern of abuse it must be dealt withimmediately. The permissive environment is the dwelling place ofthis type of behavior. That it might be part of anorganization's culture is all the more reason for intervention.Left unabated, it creates the impression by the Bully that theculture condones it. Because employees are fearful of reportingthe bully out of fear of retaliation, incidents go unreported.The lack of appropriate intervention by the supervisor ormanager is especially the case when the employee is a goodworker or a key individual in the business. The fact that theBully is a supervisor or manager invokes fear and distrust inmanagement’s ability to curtail the threat sensing he would besealing his fate if he makes a complaint. This sort of responseis common and often came out during the interviews of victimsand witnesses.

I am reminded of an article I read entitled: “The DisruptiveClinician and the Impact on Patient Care”, Lee G. Shanley, B.S.,Director of Safety and Security Services at Nassau CountyMedical Center which appeared in the NCMC Proceedings Journal,fall 1996. He emphasizes the manipulative and controlling powersuperiors wield on the subordinates. He wrote, “Medical staffwho continually act out in a disruptive manner towards visitors,patients and other staff members undermine the very fabric ofthe healthcare facility. When an individual displays verbalabuse, open or veiled hostility, or threatening actions towardsassociates, the result more often than not is compromisedpatient care…this abuse if not addressed, and allowed tocontinue unchecked, will more than likely lead to a majorpatient care error. As a result of the stress caused by thesituation, associates and other healthcare providers may tend toavoid contact with the offending individual whenever possible.”

Bullying behavior can range from subtle to more obviousbehaviors. Here are some I’ve uncovered during the investigativeprocess: name calling, innuendos, insults, offensive language,racial and sexual jokes, yelling and screaming, inappropriatecomments about an individual’s dress, life style, medicalcondition or general appearances, picking on family members,slander and belittling criticism, intentional isolation of anemployee by the supervisor from normal interaction, training andcareer enhancement opportunities, overwork, unnecessarypressures, establishing impossible deadlines, making the personfeel in adequate by reducing the workload, creating a feeling ofuselessness and even hopelessness, undermines the workperformance or effort, deliberately denying essentialwork-related information and data or even giving incorrectinformation, unexplained job changes, meaningless assignments ortasks beyond your skill level or ability, failure to giveadequate acknowledgement or to recognize when due, tamperingwith your work products, reports, tools and equipment, teasingor regularly making you the brunt of pranks and practical jokes,intentional/unreasonable delays in processing requests for leaveor vacation, requests for assignments, training or resolution ofpay issues are but a few “root cause” or “contributing factors”which lead otherwise innocent victims to assault or threatenanother in response to the Bullying (harassment, intimidationand abuse) Tactic.

THE EFFECTS OF BULLING ON THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE BUSINESS…

Managing the workplace environment is an ongoing process, whichgoes beyond the production and services responsibility ofsupervisors and managers. I found that supervisors who failed tocontrol hostile behavior contributed to safety hazards,increased injury compensation claims, lost workdays due toincreased absenteeism,

poor morale and potential civil actionsagainst the business and individual for creating a hostileenvironment.

On the other hand, I found that the victim employee includingthe supervisors suffer from increased stress levels, anxiety andpanic attacks, complaints of loss of sleep, bad health, impairedability to make decisions, an incapacity to work, loss ofconfidence and self-esteem, reduced production, performance andefficiency, become accident prone and creates unsafe conditionsas a result. In many cases the employee lost self-confidence andability to cope in the workplace. Proper assessment andintervention is necessary if employees are to believe they willnot become victims.

WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT THE BULLY?

- Document the activity when it happens if you are not willingto report or confront the individual at this point. - Keep arecord of the details of the type of activity and any potentialwitnesses for future reference. - Report the behaviors tomanagement at some point. - Confront the Bully. Tell him/her youresent and object to the behavior. - Ask the Bully to stop oryou will report him. - If you feel uncomfortable initiatingcontact go to your shop steward, supervisor or some otherintermediary. - Never internalize the behavior otherwisefestering will occur causing you to retaliate in frustration oreven worst, become ill as a result.

WHAT CAN MANAGEMENT DO TO HELP?

- If you don’t have a Workplace Violence Crime Prevention Policystart working on one as soon as possible. - If you have aWorkplace Violence Crime Prevention Policy insure it addressesthe Bullying Tactics and the Bully. - Your policy should containa caution statement on what the Bullying behavior is. -Employees should receive periodic Workplace Violence PreventionAwareness Training. - Supervisors should be trained in issuesrelating to managing the workplace environment and conflictresolution. - Employees should be encouraged to report allincidents without attribution or retaliation. - Employees shouldbe encouraged to pursue alternative means shopsteward/intermediary) to confront the Bully. - Provide forconflict mediation and intervention by EAP and/or the SecurityDirector. - Conduct comprehensive Threat Assessments of eachsituation to prevent further escalation. - Institute progressivedisciplinary procedures to address the repeat or ongoing Bully.- Create an environment where such behavior is not tolerated andwill not be condoned.

When in doubt pick up the phone and call an expert or visit hiswebsite at www.naterassociates.com.

About the author:President of Nater Associates as security management consultingfirm specialzing in workplace security & workplace violenceprevention. Felix retired as a postal inspector with 30 yearsexperience.