It was during the pre-cellphone days, and I’d been away overnight on business. Wage negotiations had dragged on, and tensions and tempers were rising. I was anxious to get back and made an early start for home. As I turned in at the farm entrance, I saw broken branches, sticks and stones lying next to the road and instinctively knew something was wrong. I felt a twinge of fear as I drove towards the farm offices. The area was littered with debris and there wasn’t a window left unbroken. After 30 years in business, I was experiencing workplace violence for the first time.
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But what now? We had never thought through a situation like this, with managers baying for the blood of union leaders, and union leaders calling for the dismissal of management. What a mess! In preparing for unionisation – and realising that the industrial relationship landscape was going to change – we’d attended a number of courses. But no one had told any of us how to deal with violence. We did our best to calm the situation and get back on track, but if the truth be told, relationships were unlikely to ever be as they were before the violence.
The affect
Violence affects an organisation in a number of ways – all negative:
- In an instant it destroys relationships and trust built up over many years.
- Both sides point fingers at the other and morale and productivity fall.
- Management’s preoccupation with dealing with the aftermath saps the strength of the organisation, and dissipates its focus.
- fear and anxiety increase. Employees who weren’t involved lose confidence in the organisation.
- It’s a public relations disaster. What do you think of Lonmin? Is it a company in which you would invest? How would you feel about working for Lonmin?
Being prepared
There’s a vacuum in literature when it comes to pointers for handling violence in the workplace, but here are a few ideas of my own from the school of hard knocks:
- Don’t say it could never happen to you. Accept that simmering discontent over long-standing and unresolved issues create a situation where a strong leader can quite easily lead people to commit violence.
- Accept that, despite the mutual respect that may exist between yourself and the leaders of the workforce, there will be those who see violence as a legitimate means of forcing management to comply with their wishes.
- Open, courteous communication and mutual respect at all times between workers and management are essential in avoiding violence. As difficult as it may be when provoked, keep cool and never give vent to frustration and strong words.
- Develop a policy on violence together with your union leaders. It should set out the procedures to be followed in the case of violence, what the penalties will be, and how these will be meted out. Disseminate the policy widely.
- Ensure management and employees understand the consequences of workplace violence – how it affects the company and everyone involved.
- Work with your employees, identify potential threats of violence, and agree on how to mitigate these.
Afterwards
If violence occurs, know that emotional levels are high immediately afterwards, and managers do silly things which exacerbate an already tense situation. Develop a checklist of actions and use it to ensure you take all the necessary steps and avoid the obvious mistakes.
Have a crisis committee available to deal with the post-violence situation. Bring in an independent person from outside the company, and whenever a situation is developing which may turn violent, make sure this committee is ready and able to be called on at short notice.
Contact Peter Hughes at [email protected]. Please state ‘Managing for profit’ in the subject line of your email.
This article was originally published in the 26 October 2012 issue of Farmer’s Weekly.
