The workplace is supposed to be a safe environment, where employees can carry out their daily responsibilities without fear of physical harm, discrimination or any other act or behavior to make them feel uncomfortable. However, occasionally, an employee allows emotional problems or other life factors to trigger an unprofessional personality, which can even turn violent. The methods by which you handle a violent employee may determine the outcome, which can range from a peaceful resolution to the unthinkable.
Instructions
1. Establish your goals. Before you confront a potentially violent employee, you should know what you want to do. For example, you may want to terminate him or simply talk to him about his behavior at work. You need to know what you want the outcome of the conversation to be before you sit him down to talk. In most instances, if he is displaying signs of violence, the best thing to do is remove him from the workplace. Whether the removal is temporary or permanent depends on his record of service and his willingness to get help.
2. Gather evidence from other employees. Determine the reason for suspecting potential violence and talk to others that may have seen the signs, such as his bad temper or threats in the workplace. This information is not only important for talking to the employee, but may also need to be provided to law enforcement later, if further action is necessary.
3. Meet with all levels of management to apprise everyone of the situation. If the meeting does not go well or if the employee continues to show signs of potential violence, the management staff needs to know it. This not only helps them to plan ways to keep other staff safe, but it also ensures that security protocols are followed properly. If the situation escalates or worsens, all staff should be informed not to allow the employee on the premises, and be given steps to take if she comes back to the workplace and threatens further violence.
4. Set up a meeting with the employee in a safe place where there is no access to items that could be used as weapons. Because you are confronting him, the employee may become violent with you; anticipate that and plan accordingly. Have more than one person at the meeting---though no one should project a threatening attitude. If he feels cornered, the employee may react.
5. Offer to get the employee some help for her violent issues. This could be through your job's employee assistance program (EAP) or through other mental health services. The more you can do to stave off the violence and help the employee, the better an outcome you will likely see.
6. Contact law enforcement to help remove the employee if you feel threatened. You may opt to have them in your initial meeting just to show how serious you are about workplace safety. Or you may contact them after the employee's removal just for security backup in the event that the employee returns.
