Chapter 11
High-Risk Terminations and Building an Enhanced Security Plan
Abstract
A properly designed and executed violence prevention program can be highly effective in reducing the occurrence of violence but cannot guarantee that employees at risk for violence will not need to be expelled from the organization for a variety of causes, including poor performance or inappropriate or threatening behavior. In fact, a strong program will shed light on such behavior and can result in such terminations. Many organizations do not handle these meetings or deliver the termination message in a way that mitigates the risk of immediate or future violence. Following sound advice at this critical time can help minimize this threat and ensure the separated employee who is posing a threat leaves for good. This goes hand in hand with the need for the creation of an enhanced security plan during and after the high-risk termination.
Keywords
anger management counseling
disturbing behavior
employee counseling
enhanced security plan
firing manager
high-risk termination
psychological counseling
risk of violence
severance package
termination meeting
warning signs of violence
“As a goalkeeper you need to be good at organizing the people in front of you and motivating them. You need to see what’s going on and react to the threats. Just like a good manager in business.”
—Peter Shilton
“I felt a great disturbance in the Force…”
—Obi-Wan Kenobi
The preceding quote from Peter Shilton is pretty close to the desired goal in managing threats and disturbing behavior. It would be spot on if he said, “You need to see what’s going on and react to disturbing behavior before it escalates into a threat.” Your goal should be to sense the disturbances in your organization’s environment just as Obi-Wan could feel the great disturbance in the Force. But unfortunately you can’t do this on your own. Everybody in your organization has to be onboard in order to detect disturbing behavior in its early stages and be in position to intervene before the behavior turns violent. This is why you train people on the warning signs, make them responsible to report them, and provide them with a safe and easy vehicle by which they can express their concerns. The earlier you can detect a problem, the safer and easier it will be remedy the issue(s).
Everything in preceding Chapters 4 through 10 has been focused on helping you develop an effective plan to prevent, intervene, and mitigate threats and violence. It’s time to begin to discuss the steps that will need to be taken if the methods to correct the threatener’s behavior have not been productive. The best place to start is with handling high-risk terminations, however, as you go through the rest of this chapter, it is important to remember that this information is only to be used in terminations where your assessment shows there is a potential for violence. These steps would be highly excessive if used with someone who has chronic punctuality problems but poses no threat to anyone in the business.
The first thing to be done is to select the best person in the organization to handle the termination meeting. In most organizations, the subject’s manager or someone from the human resource department usually handles terminations. Although this works for routine separations, high-risk terminations require that the person handling the meeting have certain qualities. The person handling high-risk terminations should be someone with the following abilities.
• The person should have the experience and maturity to maintain the confidentiality regarding the termination he or she will be handling.
• The person should be respected by the person being terminated. Do not use someone who has an axe to grind. If the person chosen to conduct the termination says something akin to “Boy! I’ve been waiting for this day. This guy has been a pain in the neck for a long time and firing him will make my day,” then this is the wrong choice. This person will most likely express these sentiments verbally or nonverbally during the separation meeting, potentially escalating the risk of the firing.
• The person should be at the appropriate managerial level to conduct terminations. If the person handling the termination is not someone who normally conducts them, then the subject will realize that his or her intimidations have struck a nerve within the company and realize that people are afraid of him or her. This will only motivate the subject to continue his or her pattern of harassment and intimidation.
• Not surprisingly, the person should be able to handle intimidation and maintain his or her composure. Just as in the preceding point, if the subject realizes that people are afraid of him or her, then you can expect the subject’s behavior to continue and/or escalate during the termination meeting. This is where experience and maturity becomes a necessary asset. The firing manager must keep the meeting on track and not become distracted by the subject’s attempts to convince him or her that the termination is unwarranted and unjust. The firing manager has to be tactful, but clear. In other words, the subject must understand that he or she has been terminated. We have been consulted on situations where the subject’s termination was worded so vaguely the person did not realize he or she had been terminated.
If it is difficult to find one person who has all of these abilities. Assess which of these qualities will be of most importance in handling the termination at hand and that will help advance your search. Along with selecting the best person to handle the termination, there are additional considerations.
It is best to handle the termination at the end of the subject’s shift, preferably on the day before the subject’s next scheduled day off. Make sure that anyone the subject may blame for his or her problems have left the premises. The reason for handling the termination at the end of the shift is so that the terminated employee will be going home at the regular time as usual. That way the person has the ability to maintain the routine he or she would normally follow. This is the same reason to conduct the termination at the end of shift prior to the subject’s day off.
There is another school of thought that prefers to terminate at the beginning of the shift as soon as the decision to terminate is made. This is done so that the person who was fired can go right down to the unemployment office to apply for benefits. It is rare, however, that the first thing someone who has been fired will apply for unemployment benefits. Also it is rare, in today’s day and age that someone has to actually go to the employment office to apply for benefits. The application for benefits can usually be accomplished online.
The determining factor of whether to terminate as soon as the decision has been made or wait until the day before the individual’s next day off should be made during your situational assessment. If your assessment indicates that the person is an imminent threat, then conduct the termination immediately and execute your enhanced security plan.
As mentioned earlier you don’t want the subject running into anyone that he or she may blame for his or her termination when leaving the premises. If the individual blames many of his or her coworkers or your assessment shows that violence may be imminent, then another course of action is to handle the termination offsite. This could be another company facility where the individual doesn’t know anyone or you could rent a small conference room at a hotel. Whenever we mention the latter part of that statement during live training sessions, there are those who are concerned that the subject would get violent in the public area of the hotel. In our experience, this has not occurred, nor have we seen any such reports in the media. We feel this is because the subject of the termination has no grievance with anyone in the hotel.
The next consideration is to determine what will be said during the termination meeting. It is best to have a script that the manager will follow in order to keep the discussion on track. There is usually no need to cite specific points as to why the subject is being terminated, as the termination should not be a complete surprise. Unless the organization has been negligent in reviewing performance and documenting problematic behavior, the subject is well acquainted with the issues that have led to the termination meeting. The individual may not agree with the issues, but the subject should be very familiar with them. Additionally, if you list specific violations of policy, you can expect to become engaged in an argument regarding the validity of the individual charges. The subject will attempt to convince you to continue his or her employment and/or demonstrate how coworkers, supervisors, and managers have conspired against him or her.
At this point you have selected a termination manager who the subject respects, which will inhibit violence. You are handling the termination in as neutral a location as possible (not a location that will cause the subject anxiety, such as having to face coworkers or come in contact with someone who the individual blames for his or her termination), and you are not going to cite specific violations that have caused the termination. Now we need to discuss how the termination manager should begin the meeting. The following are recommended phrases that can be worked into the script for the manager to follow:
• “Clearly things have not turned out as either you or the company expected when you were hired.”
• “I know you are not happy here, and in instances such as this, frequently, the best thing we can do is allow you to start over fresh and find another place of employment where your skills and experience can flourish.”
• “We’re here today to discuss a decision that the company has made and explain how we can help you move forward (more on this in the “Softening the Landing” section).
Softening the Landing
We have frequently seen that the way the termination is handled can inhibit both imminent, as well as possible, future violence. If it is handled appropriately, the subject may just realize that this job has not been the right fit and will realize that moving on would be in his or her best interest. Not to mislead you, this works best if you discover the problem with this associate early on and separate this person before his or her behavior escalates and feelings of persecution mature.
Handle the person with dignity. Being fired is humiliating even if the person deserves to be fired, and most people will not feel that they deserve it. Have you ever heard of someone who was fired who stood up and declared, “Boy, I got exactly what I deserved!” Another consideration along these lines is determining who else will be in the room when the termination is conducted. Our advice to clients is that no more than two people be in the room. This will usually consist of the manager conducting the firing and someone from human resources to explain any termination benefits and answer any questions the subject may have about final pay, vacation accrual, and so forth. We advise against having security personnel or police officers in the room. This only tends to further strip the terminated associate of dignity and may tend to escalate future behavior toward the company. This doesn’t mean that security or police officers cannot be nearby. Additionally, if your assessment shows that violence is very probable at the termination meeting, then police officers in clothing that blends in with the company dress code can be included in the meeting under the pretext that the officer is an assistant to the human resource representative.
Also termination benefits can go a long way in helping to soften the landing. Because you’ve told the individual that this job is not a good fit and you express the hope that this individual finds a new job, then you should consider offering to pay for job placement counseling. Getting the person into psychological counseling is also very effective in dampening outrage. You cannot order the person into anger management counseling, but you can find a softer way of making the statement, such as, “We all know that you have differences with some of the other staff members and we would like to have you see some people who can help you find alternative ways to handle differences when they come up. We all want you to be successful in the future, so we are offering to pay for six months of visits with these counselors.”
Another consideration is to offer the person a severance package. You may have the subject tell you that money does not matter and that he or she is only out for justice but, in the end, it usually just comes down to money, and the offer of a severance package is frequently a very effective tactic. There will be those within your organization who find this suggestion to be aberrant and say that paying someone who is harassing the organization to leave it sends the wrong message. In the past, we were fortunate to work with a general counsel who said, “I would rather write a check for $100,000 every time than risk a murder” or, as he stated to someone who balked about giving a disgruntled and potentially violent employee a severance package, “I am not going to risk a homicide just so you can prove a point.” We think it is important to note that we have never had to write a check for $100,000; usually these matters can be settled for around 10% of that figure. We have also had executives within an organization rationalize against a severance package by remarking, “So you’re saying that any time an employee is not happy with the company, we’ll hand out a severance package?” Our response is always the same, “Yes, if our assessment of the person shows evidence that there is a real potential for violence.” The severance package offers the subject and the company a couple of benefits. It allows the terminated associate time to locate a job without worrying about his or her immediate financial obligations; in other words, it is a stress reliever. And if a job is found that requires relocation, the severance payment can help make that relocation possible. You want the terminated employee to move away so it behooves you to help the subject make it possible.
After the Termination is Over
Once the termination is over, your job is not done. You must debrief the person(s) who conducted the termination and perform an assessment of the subject’s behavior. What was his or her demeanor? Did the subject issue any indirect or direct threats toward the company or any coworkers, supervisors, or managers? What was the exact language he or she used? Did the subject make any mention about what he or she would do next or relate any thoughts about future plans? Do not worry if the subject mentioned bringing a lawsuit. Many more people threaten than actually follow through, and filing a lawsuit is an acceptable, nonviolent response to termination. However, if the terminated employee does file a lawsuit, you should be monitoring this person during the proceedings and assessing his or her behavior so that you can make informed decisions about the facility’s security.
Another component of your posttermination plan is assigned and scheduled communication with the intended victims and the facility in which they work. Has the terminated associate called anyone? Has the terminated associate shown up? Is anyone experiencing harassing phone calls at work or at home? Has anyone experienced any property damage? As mentioned in the first sentence, you must assign and schedule someone to conduct the ongoing follow-up communication because, even if you have instructed intended victims to call you if there are any issues, the intended victims and the managers of their facility will invariably not contact you. They mean to but they get busy and forget or they think they will be bothering you. The only way you will be updated about any issues or problems will be if you initiate the communication.
During the posttermination phase, you may also find that you need to respond to the fears of your associates. We advise clients that their response should be handled with these four components:
1. Empathy. Listen and show your associates that you sincerely care about their well-being.
2. Honesty. Be honest about what you can do and what you cannot do for them.
3. Actions. Whatever you said that you could do, do it, do it right, and do it as fast as possible.
4. Counseling. Refer them to counseling through your employee assistance plan.
The Enhanced Security Plan
At several points throughout this book we have referred to an enhanced security plan. We have mentioned some of the components in previous chapters but to concisely define the enhanced security plan we will divide it into three components:
1. Tight physical security. One of the first tasks mentioned in this book was to assess your physical security and determine where your gaps lay. Primarily, you should have identified lapses in closed-circuit television coverage and lapses in access control. If you have already bridged these gaps, then you should audit them to ensure that the actual level of security is as tight as you assume it to be.
2. Armed and appropriately trained security presence. This is important and it is an area where organizations tend to scrimp because it can be expensive. However, if you have assessed that violence is probable and perhaps imminent, then you have to determine whether your current proprietary or contracted security personnel will be adequate. If they are unarmed, then they will not be. If they are armed but have not had the tactical training necessary to protect your facility, then they will still not be adequate. We advise clients to hire off-duty police officers or contract with security companies that have off-duty police officers or former military specialists on staff.
3. A plan to monitor the subject. In every war since the beginning of recorded history, intelligence has assisted the military in thwarting enemy attacks. You need an intelligence plan as well. It should include inquiring as to whether or not the former associate is contacting anyone and setting up an email screen to make sure you see any incoming emails from the subject, and it should include monitoring the subject’s online presence to see what he or she is talking about, his or her actions (Is the subject currently at Disneyland or do the photos show recent firearms acquisitions?), and whether or not the subject has put a manifesto online.
Hopefully, we have convinced you that you are not powerless and there are tools and tactics available to protect your organization.
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