You Manage It! 4: Customer-Driven HR Keeping the Workplace Safe
For every 100 full-time workers, there are, on average, 1.8 assaults reported in the workplace. There are, of course, some industries with higher rates of workplace violence. Social service workers and health service workers experience the highest rates of workplace violence. For example, the average rate of workplace violence in the health care industry is 9 assaults per 100 employees. The elevated rate of incidents of violence in this industry may be less surprising when you consider that front-line health care workers are often working in close proximity with people who may be stressed, under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and often frustrated with wait times. Although rates of violence differ across industries, violent acts can occur in any workplace and cause serious disruption and have lasting effects on employees who had thought that the workplace was a safe environment. As a manager, you have responsibility for the safety of your workers. Possibilities for incidents of violence need to be recognized and reduced as much as possible.
Acts of violence in the workplace can take various forms, such as assaults, robberies, and harassment. Understanding the various types of possible violence can help guide you, as a manager, in effectively taking steps to reduce each type. The Department of Labor classifies workplace violence based on the source of the violence. As summarized in Figure 16.6, the perpetrators of an incident of workplace violence can be an outsider, customer, fellow employee, or someone associated with a fellow employee. Steps you might take, for instance, to reduce threat of violence from an outsider might be quite different from steps to prevent violent acts by coworkers.
Source Example Outsider Criminal Customer/Client Abusive Customer Current/Former Employee Disgruntled Former Worker Related to an Employee Domestic Abuser
FIGURE 16.6 Sources of Workplace Violence
Critical Thinking Questions
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16-32. What outcomes might be associated with an incident of workplace violence? For example, a worker who experiences abuse and harassment might file a lawsuit against the employer. What other costs might be associated with workplace violence?
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16-33. How could you develop a workplace culture that reduces the chances of violence in the workplace?
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16-34. Conflict can be a precursor to violence in the workplace. However, supervisors can be reluctant to deal with this warning sign and opt to see whether things work themselves out. Why do you think there is often reluctance to deal with conflict? What would you recommend be done to reduce this reluctance?
Team Exercises
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16-35. Consider the four categories of sources of workplace violence. As a team, generate additional examples of each source. How likely are each of the possible sources of workplace violence? How severe/important are instances of workplace violence associated with each source? As managers, is there a source that you would focus on first?
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a. With your teammates, identify the steps that you would take to manage possible workplace violence associated with each source. Do the actions differ across the sources? From a management perspective, does your team find it useful to categorize workplace violence by source? Why or why not? If not, is there another classification scheme that your team would recommend?
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b. Share your assessments regarding frequency and severity of workplace violence for the four sources. With the direction of your instructor, put together the best recommendations from the team presentations. Is there consensus that the source classification scheme is a useful management tool?
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Experiential Exercise: Team
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16-36. Protecting workers from violence requires proactive management. An initial step in managing workplace violence is often an assessment of risk. For example, have workers experienced incidents of violence on the job? Are there situations in the workplace in which workers might be most vulnerable to an incident of violence?
In addition to an initial assessment, guidelines regarding violence in the workplace should be established. Workers need to know, for example, who to report to regarding an incident of violence as well as know that there are boundaries as to what is acceptable behavior in the workplace.
As a team, what would you include in an assessment of risk of violence? How would you go about collecting the information? Can you find a risk assessment from an actual company? How does this assessment compare to your team’s recommended assessment?
Work with your team to develop basic guidelines that you would recommend to an organization to reduce the chances of workplace violence. Recommended steps and content for guidelines can be found in a document prepared for employers and law enforcement agencies at http:/
/ .www.theiacp.org/ Portals/ 0/ pdfs/ Publications/ combatingworkplaceviolence.pdf As a team, share your assessment approach and recommended guidelines with the rest of the class. Given the team recommendations, are the recommendations doable and within reasonable cost?
Experiential Exercise: Individual
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16-37. Abusive customers appear to be a frequent occurrence. Abuse from customers can take a variety of forms, including verbal abuse, threat of violence, sexual harassment, and physical attack. Such abuse can affect work performance and be a cause for turnover.
Identify a family member or friend who works in retail and ask them for examples of customer abuse that she or he has observed or experienced. Does the person think that customer abuse is a problem in their industry? Why or why not? Does the person’s company have any policies or take any action regarding customer abuse?
Based on the information you gather, do you think customer abuse is a problem that management should address? What are your recommendations regarding customer abuse?