Two million people are victims of non-fatal violence in the workplace each year. Sometimes the precursor to violence is a simple threat. Therefore, it is important to know how to deal with employee threats before they escalate into violent actions. Living in a Pressure Cooker Today’s professional world runs on a 24-hour, 7 day- a-week, 365 days-a-year schedule. As a result, employees are living a high-stress, “pressure cooker” existence. Tension, violence, bullying, rage and negative encounters exist in the workplace due to: Heavy workloads Unrealistic productivity targets Lack of control over day-to-day tasks Unrealistic deadlines, cutting into much needed “downtime” How do employees cope with unrelenting schedules and unrealistic expectations? In some cases, they snap – or behave in what is commonly termed as “going postal”. As with most potentially life-threatening situations, the best policy is prevention. Dealing with threats is the key to unlocking and preventing potential violence...
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