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Returning to Work: A Post-Pandemic Look at Workplace Violence Concerns
Returning to Work
A ‘Post-Pandemic’ perspective on Workplace Violence Concerns
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By: Joseph Murphy, Prosegur Security
I was on a company sponsored trip in the Caribbean during the last week of February 2020, enjoying sun, sand, my colleagues, great food and adult beverages with tiny umbrellas and pieces of fruit floating on the surface. To say I was having a great time would be an understatement. No news, no television, no stress, very little email – life was, as they say, Good!
A week later, back in “the real world,” reality began to change quickly as our planet spiraled into a pandemic that occupied every social and public media platform. The number of cases climbed, hospitalizations skyrocketed, supply chain concerns were apparent, and workplaces began to change, quickly, going from high-density, busy places to empty buildings, sometimes with minimal management presence, often with no one at all. Major buildings in top cities went from daily occupancies of three to five thousand to less than a few hundred. Our commercial real estate world changed, almost overnight.
Fast forward 20 months from March 2020 to October 2021 and the Commercial Real Estate world is changing again. Tenants are returning to buildings, visitors, guests, and others are returning to the property, food courts and on property restaurants are enjoying the presence of patrons again. But something has changed. Everyone is a bit nervous, a bit cautious, a bit uncertain. Is this “the new normal” people speak of, or has “the old normal” just not returned yet?
What has happened over the past 20 months? Except for some new touchless amenities, anti-bacterial gel pads on elevator buttons, hand sanitizer stations in the lobbies and stickers on the elevator floor to tell us where to stand, things appear much the same as when we left more than a year and a half ago. The truth is, none of us really knows what has changed for those around us, for our co-workers, for the building suppliers, tenants and their employees, the property management teams or for anyone else who enters the property. Effectively, we are all complete strangers now, like we came back to a very different world than the one we had left a short time ago.
Whether our properties and the tenants within those properties have come back to full operations, hybrid operations or some variation thereof, the reality is that everyone has gone through an event that almost no one has experienced before. A pandemic that has touched every aspect of everyone’s life. Many have been very fortunate and have avoided significant illness, or significant impact to themselves or their families. But many have not been this fortunate. For some, the experiences of the past year to year and ahalf have changed their lives forever, in ways we cannot even imagine or ever fully understand.
Some people have suffered critical illness, critical financial stress, loss of friends and/or family members. Many with children and other family members at home were balancing school and work sometimes in spaces never designed to support that level of interaction effectively. There are interpersonal challenge, family pressures, , financial pressures, and concerns about work. Many are asking: should I be there, can I do my job remotely, or as well as I once did? Will my job still be there when this all ends?
The stressors on individuals over the past 20 months are unimaginable. We literally do not know what challenges, stresses, or losses someone has experienced and how they are coping with those issues today, or if they are coping with those issues today.
For some, the stresses continue, and they are still waiting for “the new normal” in their lives.
A Duty of Care
As property managers and owners there is a “duty of care” to provide a safe and secure work environment and to address those issues that could be seen as preventable. Of course, our tenants have this standard of care as well and must act upon it at the individual level to protect their employees, and others.
It has long been understood by the FBI and those who study workplace violence (WPV), that the risk for injuries in the workplace from acts of violence come from four categories: Type 1 – Violent acts by criminals with no connection to the workplace. This includes acts such as robbery or another crime. Type 2 – Violence directed at employees from those the business provides services for (Customers, Clients, Patients, Students, etc). Type 3 – Violence against co-workers, supervisors, managers by a current or former employee. Type 4 – Violence committed in the workplace by someone who does not work there but has a personal relationship with an employee – an abusive spouse or domestic partner.
The risk of Type 2 incidents is being seen in retail establishments across the country today with patrons of restaurants and grocery stores acting out, assaulting store employees, security officers and others over mask wearing requests or compliance orders in various places. These assaults are a direct byproduct of the stress created by the pandemic and are resulting in “unexpected outbursts” of violence The risk of Type 3 and Type 4 incidents is an emerging threat to the workplace from individuals we have little to no observable history on over the past 18 – 20 months. In any workplace there are supervisors and managers, co-workers and others who might observe a co-worker experience obvious signs of stress in their life. Missing work, emotional outbursts, threats against co-workers, harassing behavior, talk of weapons, or suicide. These signs provide clues to others that the individual might require intervention to help them cope with the issues they are facing. Often these behaviors are observed over a period of time and once identified are handled by Human Resources or a direct supervisor or manager. And this early intervention is key to helping the associate manage the issues affecting them more efficiently.
In the most extreme cases of WPV, we see active shooter events, which generally result from an individual who is what the FBI refers to as “a grievance collector”. Someone who absorbs every slight and injustice they perceive or experience until those things result in the individual rationalizing that an act of extreme violence is their only recourse. We all experience these same slights and injustices in our daily life; traffic, a tough boss, bills, loss, a pandemic and all that has come with that, etc – but we find ways to cope with and manage these stressors. People who use extreme violence when they act out lack these coping mechanisms. In nearly all cases, there are “red flags” that others can notice and either intentionally or unintentionally interact with that person and “reset” them so they do not act out, or help them get professional assistance to resolve significant life issues that might lead them to act out.
In our emerging post pandemic world, we lack the interpersonal contact with individuals to observe how the stressors in their lives might be affecting them. Suddenly, we are all just back at work, carrying all the emotional baggage collected over the past 20 months and no one knows what to expect, from whom, or when.
Individuals may be “forced” to return to a workplace they are not comfortable with or they may be required to work in proximity with others and not be comfortable with that. They may have to resort to using public transit again and not be comfortable with that, or they may simply not be ready to return to this new normal. They may still be trying to cope with the stress of the past 20 months and all that they experienced during that time.
Prepare for the Potential
So, what can we do? As property owners and managers, we certainly don’t have the insights necessary to address and resolve these concerns, but we can be prepared for the potential of an increase in acts of workplace violence in the months ahead.
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Now is the time to conduct a table-top exercise to address building emergencies, to practice shelter-in-place protocols, to review your established plan for a response to an on-property act of violence.
Waiting until the property is back to full operations to begin training again is too late. Now is the time to connect with your security supplier, or your external coaching and training resource, to address these items and to conduct the training that is needed to ensure all team members can react quickly, and appropriately, to any emergency event on property.
Proactively meeting with your tenant representatives and having a candid conversation about these issues is also well advised. Unlike our “old normal” when an individual’s behavior might have evolved over time as they were collecting those “slights and injustices,” today they are walking into the building carrying all the things that have happened to them and their families over the past year and one-half. In this regard, much like the Type 2 incidents in retail settings today, there may be virtually no warning signs, no escalation period, before someone acts out. Receiving professional training for your teams and your security staff on crisis prevention and Intervention and on managing aggressive behavior should be considered. Ensuring that everyone is trained on what to do, where to go, who to notify and how to react/respond to any emergency now (versus later) is the right course of action to take today. If anyone is observed on property exhibiting concerning behaviors, seek immediate professional support engaging local law enforcement and possibly a qualified risk management consultant.
About the Author
Joseph Murphy is a well known security leader with nearly 40 years of industry experience. Formerly certified as a Crisis Prevention Instructor, Mr. Murphy is a frequent speaker on issues related to workplace violence prevention. Currently he serves as the Senior Vice President of Commercial Sales for Prosegur Security.
BOMA Georgia Foundation Leadership Society
Based on donor feedback, the foundation has created a new Leadership Society to recognize individuals and companies who have made a commitment to consistently support the foundation. Membership in this special society highlights a commitment to serve others and signifies a leadership role in advancing the real estate industry. Individuals commit to making and annual tax-deductible donation over three years, and companies over a period of three years. Donor List Updated 11/16/2021
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Casey Dixon Jacob Wilder Lauren Armistead Roni Page-Dowdy Sarah Francis
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Sapphire ( $250)
Aaron Moriarty Amanda Bare Amanda Madrid Andrea Allen Anita Scarborough Carla Moule Chonte’ Martin Chris Allen Debi Gilbert Elaine Bare Emily M. White Ian Hughes Jenifer Wright Jennifer H. Cooper Jessica Nix Jimi Broderick Judi Sponsel Kinsey Hinkson Laure Biel Laurie Harper Neschune Henry Russ Hazlewood Stacy Abbate Stephanie S. Scurlock Trent Patterson
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Ruby ($1,750)
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Thank you to our BOMA Georgia Foundation Donors
Since the Foundation was created in 2014, it has awarded nearly 500 scholarships to individuals seeking a certificate or professional designation in real estate. The Foundation has also conducted more than 12 research projects and white papers, all designed to give real estate owners and managers new tools to add value to their properties. Donor list updated: 11/16/2021
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Allied Universal Security Services America’s Capital Partners Arborguard Atlanta Property Group Banyan Street Capital BMS CAT of Georgia Brand Real Estate Services Capital City Mechanical Services Capital Restoration CapRidge Partners Colliers International Cushman & Wakefield Empire Roofing Environmental Service Partners EPIC Full Circle Restoration, A Cotton Company Georgia Paving Gray Contracting Highwoods Properties Lillibridge Healthcare Services Madison Marquette Mayberry Electric, Inc. OA Management Parker Young Construction, A RESCON Company Physicians Realty Trust PM&A Pope & Land Enterprises Prologis Russell Landscape SERVPRO of Decatur SOLID The Morley Companies The RMR Group The Simpson Organization
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