Why Companies Fail to Hire Top Talent?

Archive for the ‘Human Resources’ Category

Why Companies Fail to Hire Top Talent?

Posted on: February 12th, 2026

Many companies fail to hire top talent because they lack a clear understanding of what they truly need in a candidate. Without well-defined criteria and a strategic approach, the hiring process becomes unfocused and inefficient. Often, organizations rely on outdated methods, fail to communicate their expectations, or do not follow through effectively, leading strong candidates to perceive the company as unprepared or unappealing. This lack of clarity and preparation drives top candidates away and results in prolonged, unsuccessful searches for the right person.

“If you don’t know what you are looking for, your hiring process will fail, costing you time, money, and sleepless nights.” Jeannette Seibly

If your job ad has been running for weeks, the problem is not the talent pool. It is your hiring preparation, your lack of clarity, and your poor follow-through.

We have all seen the posts: “We can’t find the right person.” Yet the same ads run week after week, sometimes month after month, while leaders insist, they have reviewed hundreds of applicants with no success.

The Truth Leaders Need to Hear

Companies do not have a talent shortage; they have a clarity shortage.
If you are still hiring the way you did five years ago, you are already behind.
Top talent is not rejecting you because they are picky. They are rejecting you because they can tell you are not ready for them.
Hiring is not a scavenger hunt. It is a strategic discipline.
If your hiring process depends on luck, you are not hiring, you are gambling.

Let us be honest: the problem is not the talent pool. The problem is the company, the hiring boss or leader, and/or lack of a clear selection system.

Top talent has not disappeared. It is being overlooked, filtered out, or scared away by hiring practices that have not evolved since 2020.

Why Does This Really Happen? To read the full article, Click Here. https://seibco.com/fail-hire/

If you want to win the talent game in 2026, stop treating hiring as a side job. Top performers can instantly tell whether a company is prepared or improvising. The companies that rise will be the ones willing to do the unglamorous work of preparation and follow through. Good hiring is not luck.

From the Desk of Felix P. Nater, CSC: Jeannette Seibly’s article raises valid points about the importance of investing in hiring the right personnel. Hiring the way, it was done five years ago is not the solution in today’s workplaces if the goal is hiring top talent. Hiring top talent is not a one-way proposition because the talent has done their own research on the top of company they would like to work for. Employers who do not foster a culture of safety and security can tell the company is not ready for them. Like workplace security, hiring is a process – strategic discipline.

The connection between failing to hire top talent and workplace violence prevention has some common ground. Let us explore common ground as it relates to organizational risk management and workplace security.

Introduction

Failing to hire top talent and workplace violence prevention may seem like unrelated topics. However, both are critical components of organizational risk management and share several underlying principles. Understanding what they have in common can help organizations create safer, more productive, and resilient workplaces.

Shared Themes: Risk and Prevention

In the case of hiring, not recruiting the best candidates can result in lost productivity, decreased innovation, and higher turnover rates. We often rely on our “guts or intuition” and fail to hire the right candidates due to lack of valid, reliable, and objective data found in using the right assessments. Similarly, we overlook and neglect workplace violence prevention that leads to physical harm, emotional distress, legal liabilities, and reputational damage. Awareness is key to what can happen to us when we ignore what we can do to prevent it.

Impact on Organizational Culture

These issues both affect the overall culture and morale within a company. A workplace that does not prioritize hiring top talent may struggle with disengaged employees and poor teamwork. Likewise, a workplace that does not actively prevent violence can foster an environment of fear and mistrust. In both scenarios, the organization’s ability to attract and retain quality employees suffers.

Proactive Strategies

Prevention is key in both areas. Successful organizations implement strategic hiring practices to attract top talent and thorough policies to prevent workplace violence. This proactive approach includes clear procedures, ongoing training, and a commitment to continuous improvement. By acting before problems arise, organizations can reduce risks and enhance their reputation.

Legal and Financial Consequences

Both failing to hire top talent and ignoring workplace violence prevention can have legal and financial repercussions. Poor hiring decisions may lead to costly mistakes and lost opportunities, while workplace violence incidents can result in lawsuits, medical costs, and regulatory penalties.

Jeannette Seibly is looking forward to answering your questions why hiring top talent is crucial.

About the Guest Author:

Jeannette Seibly is a Leadership Results Coach, Talent Advisor, and Business Author with 33 years of experience guiding leaders and executives to achieve exceptional results. She delivers practical coaching and innovative solutions for hiring, leadership development, and performance success. Successful leaders have coaches—connect with Jeannette to elevate your results and impact in 2026.

Contact Information: Email: JLSeibly@SeibCo.com / Office: 303-917-2993 / Website: http://SeibCo.com /Get Social with Jeannette Seibly at http://: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeannetteseibly

Talent Advisor / The Leadership Results Coach

Expert in innovative solutions and strategies to solve hiring, coaching, and managing challenges for bosses and leaders.

Psychological Safety: Workplace Violence’s Worst Enemy

Posted on: August 17th, 2025

Introduction: To some workplace violence is often taken for granted as the proverbial disgruntled employee who decides to come into the workplace vigorously towards a co-worker or supervisor over some unknown reason. Therein lies the importance of the effectiveness of a comprehensive workplace violence prevention program supported by quality training that educates and informs. Employee perceptions, experiences and expectations are at the start of individual conflict and when left unabated escalate beyond control.

Felix: In this Blog, Guest Blogger Jesse Pudles of Spot Corp Events and I take on the reality and the fuel of how miscommunications lead to misunderstandings leading to verbal exchanges and emotional conflict. And, when left alone festers and alienates the parties involved polluting the work environment along divisive lines. From my experience as a workplace security advisor, this is a leadership problem complicated by poor communications skills. My recommendations have always been to view violence prevention as a proactive strategy requiring multiple intervention tactics and strategies.

Felix: Jesse Pudles my Guest Blogger, Founder & CEO of Spot Corp Events, offers unique intervention strategies that go to the heart of preventing conflict through effective communication techniques and tactics supervisors can employ and employees can learn in managing personal behavior, minimizing conflict, preventing escalation, and reducing tensions at work.

Felix: Jesse as we talk about appropriate intervention strategies, I thought I would ask you to process this true event through your psychological safety principle. How would it have prepared this supervisor to have been in a better position to not only anticipate a problem but managing the situation before losing control? What do you see happening here and how could it have been managed differently? Now, I will tell you that your invitation to be a Guest Blogger is seen as a valid and plausible training solution I consider as a valued intervention strategy. So, I am looking forward to reading how you would engage with the supervisor and managers in a training session to manage these types of issues proactively and when confronted.

The Scenario: One Friday afternoon, Manager Jane approaches Supervisor John to discuss the previous discussion around reorganization of the unit’s work environment that Manager Jane emphasized was already beyond her date of completion. Not having all employees present to discuss the urgency of his manager’s requirement, he comes in over the weekend with a few unit volunteer employees to begin the necessary changes his manager expects completed immediately.

Unfortunately, there is one employee on vacation who was not available on Friday nor familiar with the required physical realignment of the unit’s workspace that would affect him the most. Upon arrival at work on Monday his observations caught him by surprise since things are not the way he left them as emotions ran high. This was a concerning leadership decision because the absent employee, though known as a reliable and dependable, was also known as a “hot head”.

Instead of the supervisor waiting until Monday to discuss the requirement with the unit employees, the well-intended supervisor overreacted by not waiting until Monday. On the other hand, the vacationing employee who emotionalized the moment instead of calmly addressing his concerns, erupts into a verbal tirade creating a hostile environment. What seemed like an extremely easy situation to avoid in the first place escalates now into the adjudication of the explosive employee’s outburst as a violation of the workplace violence zero tolerance policy.

Jesse: Thank you so much for the scenario and these insightful questions and the challenge of being a part of your workplace violence prevention consultations, Felix. When looking at workplace violence prevention solutions, many are only looking at de-escalation solutions after the violence has started or conflict has begun instead of looking ar proactive intervention tactics and strategies. However, by focusing on psychological safety—which includes creating an environment where people are comfortable speaking up, sharing gaps in understanding and building enough trust that people feel comfortable taking risks, and making mistakes—workplace violence can not only be de-escalated, it can be stopped in its tracks altogether. With that understanding, this is how I would manage the scenario presented:

The first step when looking at any preventable issue is to explore the challenges that a leader exhibiting this kind of behavior might be facing. This starts with a conversation, in this case with the supervisor.

Based on the information you provided, my expectation is that the supervisor might feel like the team jumps to conclusions, that they do not listen to him, and that he may be unable to get his team to follow his leadership or direction. The key when it comes to leadership and psychological safety is listening between the lines. What is he saying?

What I am hearing is a communication breakdown. Something in the way the supervisor is communicating with the team is not coming through as intended. It is not clicking. I might ask further questions like:

“When you make a decision for the team, how do you usually go about it?”

“What kind of decisions do you make on your own?”

“What kind of decisions do you ask for the team’s opinion or have a conversation with the team first?”

Just based on this, I usually have enough information to start designing a session. From there, I identify the biggest challenges we can address immediately.

Based on what I am seeing in this scenario, the top three issues are:

Empathy – If the supervisor feels unheard, it is mutual. He does not feel listened to, which usually means his team does not feel like their perspectives, wants and needs are being heard either.

Support – Are people feeling valued? When people lash out or shut down, it is often because they do not feel supported by their coworkers or leadership. We need to explore and enhance that support.

Decision-Making – Are decisions being made democratically? A decision-making style that incorporates everyone’s voice can transform a team’s dynamics.

Now we have our blueprint. This is where things get interesting, and bear with me because we are about to go somewhere a bit unexpected.

All my team building and employee engagement work uses theater and storytelling as catalysts to shift thinking in a playful yet digestible way. This environment removes the usual resistance that always comes up when learning something new, especially when it is about us. As we laugh and share together, walls come down. The open sharing that results from our exercises gives customized insights into the challenges a specific team is confronting, providing solutions that will lead them to success, and it does all of this while bonding them closer together.

Additionally, for anyone still resistant to this unique type of intervention, we pair all our activities with research. As you begin to understand the purpose behind it, your resistance will also dissipate. We have seen this repeatedly.

The final reason for my approach is something called embodied cognition, a theory that shows we do not just learn with our brains but with our entire bodies. When learning is connected to movement, emotion, and experience, it activates multiple cognitive systems and becomes not just intellectually understood, but felt, which makes it more likely to be remembered.

Now that we understand the why behind this approach, and we understand the breakdown of this team, we are ready to build a session that not only prevents workplace violence, but builds towards improved retention, productivity, and morale for the whole team and eventually the whole company!

Felix: In conclusion, thank you, Jesse, for offering the value of psychological safety training as an example of multiple intervention strategies. Leaders should look for opportunities to hastily engage with situations in looking for swift solutions rather than doing things as usual. I think your psychological training exercises hit the proverbial prevention nail on the head for me. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

About Felix P. Nater, CSC:

Felix is a certified security consultant (CSC) as awarded by the International Association of Professional Security Consultant IAPSC) and President & Chief Security Consultant at Nater Associate Ltd. He helps organizations implement and manage workplace security strategy with a focus on workplace violence prevention and the hostile intruder threat. He is a former federal law enforcement officer having worked as a United States Postal Inspector on a Workplace Violence Prevention Team and Major Crimes Team. He is a retired Army Reserve Sergeant Major having assignments from company first sergeant to command sergeant major at a major army reserve command.

What About Workplace Violence Prevention Policy Development, Can It Be Effective?

Posted on: June 13th, 2025

Before setting out to write the workplace violence prevention policy, we must understand what constitutes workplace violence and what we are trying to prevent. You should have an understanding about what you think would be necessary to consider in developing a violence prevention policy.

Workplace violence is a global public health problem that has already caused a serious threat to both the physical and mental health of everyone in organizations (Duan et al., 2019). Thus, preventing violence in the workplace is critically important, as suggested by the numerous books, articles, workshops, and seminars that have been available on the subject (Van Fleet & Van Fleet, 2022, 93-95).

However, all that advice has come from psychologists, physicians, and such. What has been lacking is advice from those who know and understand management and organizations — advice that would not only reduce the threat of workplace violence but advice that, if followed, would also enable organizations to develop potential competitive advantages in terms of their personnel and productivity. Look within your organization for such expertise, and if it is not available consider the value of retaining such services.

We must also consider the reality that prevention is not 100% preventable. In a perfect world, organizations would identify individuals who would potentially commit workplace violence during the hiring phase and never hire them. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world and people change overtime anyway. However, organizations can inform and educate everyone, particularly those in management positions, to know when someone may be on the brink of committing a violent act.

In addition, when preparing to write operate under the premise that OHSA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) captures workplace violence under Four Types/Categories (#1 criminal intent; #2 client to worker; #3 worker to worker; and #4 domestic (personal relations) under Four OSHA Categories: General Industry, Construction, Maritime and Agriculture.

A workplace violence prevention policy and accompanying plans with procedures should demonstrate the organization’s commitment toward ensuring the safety of members of the organization as well as customers, clients, and suppliers. Both management commitment and employee involvement are necessary for the development and maintenance of an effective policy/plan. The continued success and appropriateness of intervention strategies outlined in the policy can be monitored and adjusted with data collected at least annually.

Without a demonstrated commitment of management at all levels, others will not follow; and if management does not lead and others do not follow, then company policies will not succeed, no matter how well composed the lines are and how expensive the paper on which they are printed—they will remain “lost in space” when violence comes knocking.

Workplace Violence Prevention should not be an independent initiative but an organizational investment in creating and maintaining safe work environments with senior management leading the initiative through employee engagement.

About the Author:

Felix P. Nater, CSC is a certified security management consultant helping small & mid-size manufacturing, process, production, and utility firms implement and manage workplace security strategy with a focus on workplace violence prevention, and violence response (hostile workplace intruder). Felix is a retired U.S. Postal Inspector who previously worked on a U. S. Postal Inspection Service Workplace Violence Prevention Team and Major Crimes Unit. During his time on the workplace violence prevention team, Felix worked with local postmasters, postal service managers and senior executives to promote a culture of workplace violence prevention delivering training as needed and responding to a variety of incidents rendering risk abatement and risk management recommendations, and testifying at various city, county, state and federal criminal and civil hearings. Over the past 23 years as president and owner of Nater Associates Ltd, Felix has worked with small, medium, and large businesses and government agencies. He applies his Nater Associates Violence Interdiction Methodology as a part of his consulting process LI3CE (Leadership, Integration, Collaborating, Coordinating, Communication and Execution) in maximizing business and organizational independent capability to initiate and manage their programs. Felix is the author of Combating Workplace Violence: Creating and Maintaining Safe Environments with David and Ella Van Fleet, is a nationally recognized speaker and consultant, advisor and coach. He appears on a variety of podcasts as well as local and national news networks. Felix is retired from the U.S. Army Reserves where he previously served as the command sergeant major of a major U. S. Army Reserve Command.

10 Workplace Violence Prevention TIPs to Manage, Prevent, and Improve the Workplace Safety and Security Culture

Posted on: May 20th, 2024

Creating a Workplace Culture of Safety and Security grows from within by leaders who set the example. It is not mandated. It is exemplified. It reflects people seeing the organization as “walking the walk and talking the talk.” People care about people. This is when organizational leaders through supervisors and others, lead by example by showing, correcting, and educating before there’s the surprise attack. Now is a better time than ever to review your capability to combat the threat of workplace violence every day. Workplace Violence Prevention is an ongoing process involving multiple intervention strategies. The active shooter is a failed workplace violence prevention program.

Provide some level of assessment and evaluation of employee-reported incidents of violence to determine the need to conduct an official investigation. Ineffective responses to employee concerns and complaints erode trust, and confidence and disrupt workplace performance efficiencies. Such practices can lead to employees taking the “law” into their own hands. By that I mean if nothing is done about it, they will do what is necessary to protect themselves.

Establish a “Reporting Policy” and provide avenues and opportunities for employees to report safety and security concerns, observations, and victimization. Having a clearly defined, credible reporting, tracking, and monitoring system provides reassurances that their reports and complaints are taken seriously. In other words, not fallen on deaf ears. Organizations can reduce incidents and avoid civil liability allegations in cases of serious injuries or fatalities by engaging in proactive measures that promote accountability and responsibility.

Holding supervisors and managers responsible and accountable for responding, managing, and processing initial employee complaints can have an influence. There should not be any discretion at this level to promote an organizational commitment to workforce safety, security, and risk management.

Employers must lead from the front. They must ever be mindful that victims are reluctant to step forward if there is credibility in reporting concerns. Essential witnesses withhold their observations out of fear of retaliation. Such instances can become problematic. As problem employees they are identified as troublemakers and problem children, a term commonly used in schools. Students are commonly referred to as “problem children” becoming victims of student bullies and other forms of harassment. At work, however, adult workers are denied vacation choices, requested days off are also denied. Sudden changes in assignments including change of assigned area. Bullying of this nature is always a tool of the “rogue” supervisor-manager who feels the negative attention.

Prejudging and undermining employee reports place them at risk by failing to address the information promptly and thoroughly, contributing to perceptions of disparate treatment. Unfair prejudgment of employee disputes and situations results in long-term discord between coworkers and management.

Be sensitive to employee working conditions and the impact of established policies, plans, or procedures on employee perceptions of unfairness especially when the employee feels victimized. Learn to recognize and be alert to early warning signs of potential problems because of personnel changes, reorganizations, impending business decisions, mergers, and acquisitions.

Make employee encounters with management a dignified process, especially during the disciplinary and termination experiences. Giving employees the benefit of the doubt by treating them with dignity and respect diminishes stress. Know the impact of heavy-handedness. Giving detailed explanations and allowing room for feedback reduces anxiety and tension.

Consider the value of forming a workplace violence prevention team or the more formalized threat assessment team to serve as the company incident management teams in monitoring and tracking reports that de-escalate future problems. Create a team that is representative of key members of the organizational leadership team with authority to act.

Don’t be afraid to dig for root causes, conducting a root cause analysis or critical vulnerability assessment can yield interesting discoveries before arriving at culpability. The Zero Tolerance Policy should not be used as a “Termination” Weapon. Being ever mindful that acts of workplace violence tend to be emotional and reactionary to events to grievances and perceptions of unfairness. Keep clarity on reality. Stay focused on potential “Triggers” and avoid assumptions.

Bring the HR & Security department together as a human resource – security collaborative team in a way of sharing information that hastily mitigates risk and makes exigent decisions. There is no excuse for the disgruntled employee to transition into volatile thoughts of homicidal retaliation. This concept can be a value-added benefit during the initial assessment and evaluation phase of employee reports and complaints. If the police are called, be prepared to manage the support they provide. Avoid turning over the human resource-security matter to local police who might not offer the best advice in every situation. While coordination is recommended, having an Emergency Action Plan for these situations ensures an efficient hand-on in hostile emergency matters until the police are on location.

About Felix Nater, CSC President & Chief Security Consultant at Nater Associates Ltd. is a Certified Security Consultant, and trained Workplace Violence Prevention Consultant, Advisor and Coach to manufacturing, processing, production, and utility employers who helps them identify issues that lead to workplace violence. He helps organizations assess and evaluate their workplace violence prevention -security posture, implement and manage workplace security strategy with an emphasis on workplace violence prevention. He has been involved in this work for over 30 years as a Workplace Violence Prevention Specialist, starting out as a U.S. Postal Inspector having diversified expertise in criminal, security, administrative, training and program management experiences. He is the main author of the book with David Van Fleet & Ella Van Fleet entitled: Combating Workplace Violence: Creating & Maintaining Safe Work Environments. bit.ly/3odv3NA

Office: 7040784-0260

Can Human Resources Play an Enhanced Role in Managing the Threat of Workplace Violence Through Supervisor Intervention?

Posted on: June 22nd, 2022

Human Behavior is a critical component of preventing workplace violence. So how can employers improve their capability to reduce the threat of violence before it escalates to the homicidal acts we have seen recently. ASK ALAN: How To STOP Workplace Violence? – (alan-adler.com)

May and June were a period of horrific workplace and public shootings. On May 14, 2022, there was the TOPS Market Mass Shooting in Buffalo, New York. Then at the start of the Memorial Day weekend there was the Robb Elementary School Shooting at Uvalde, Texas raising questions about the school’s lock down response plans and the police department’s violence response. On June 1st, there was a shooting at an Oklahoma Hospital involving a distraught patient complaining of back pain following the surgery a week earlier who killed the surgeon, and three others. Can poor communications a contributing factor?

Organizations may be waiting too long before intervening in preventing the escalation of potential problems because of confusion in not understanding the meaning of workplace violence and workplace violence prevention.

Workplace violence is not just the homicidal act of violence by the disgruntled current or former employee or the intimate partner violence spillover into the workplace. But it is the everyday variety of harassment, verbal abuse, intimidation, threats, pushing, shoving, kicking, and fighting, which OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) defines as nonfatal acts of workplace violence.

Does Human Resources (HR) have a role in training supervisors as a workplace violence prevention strategy?

If you view workplace violence prevention as an ongoing process involving multiple intervention strategies, then you agree employers must maximize their internal capabilities early on. It does not require a complex process, but it does require senior management commitment and investment that allows for training in the recognition of warning signs, risk factors and swift intervention.

So, can Human Resources play a role in making supervisors a workplace violence prevention strategy?

I think so! Supervisors can be an effective part of the workplace violence prevention strategy if HR can play a role in providing them training in how to manage the potentially hostile workplace on aspects of workplace violence, workplace violence prevention, technical expertise and consultation that helps them determine what course of administrative action is most appropriate in specific situations.

My position is that there is NEVER an excuse for a supervisor not knowing their workforce, or for failing to recognize their responsibility in providing a work environment that is RESPECTFUL, SAFE AND CONSISTENT in its handling of both good and poor performers as well as in managing and maintaining appropriate employee behaviors. Could this be asking too much when one considers whether the workforce trust supervisors and even considers them part of the problem?

It is my belief that HR can play an initiative-taking, constructive role in building trust and confidence in the workforce? They can improve the perception that HR overlooks the minor incidents that contribute to the daily victimization of employees reluctant to report in avoiding having a bullseye painted on their chest. Employees believe that HR waits for the escalation as proof of the premediated behavior and overlooks the psychological damage the day-to-day exposure has. Training supervisors in the role they can take to address such behaviors a strategy worth pursuing before it is too late.

Can supervisors be effective in creating positive communications between management and workforce by developing an empathetic leadership style that promotes trust and confidence in the hearts and minds of employees? Employees want to be a part of the solution but view supervisors as part of the problem.

While the questions are many does it make sense for HR to play a role in training supervisors to understand their resources in assessing, evaluating, and addressing the threat of workplace violence, including use of Alternatives to Discipline and use of Alternative Dispute Resolution process, and receiving advice, and counsel regarding personnel and labor law regulations? What do we have to lose now? Despair is not a solution.

The overriding goal of supervisor involvement is to make civility and decency in the workplace as critical as the paycheck. Shouldn’t the objective at this stage be the need to upgrade and humanize the way in which employers deal with all employees every day rather than just to focus narrowly on how to respond to the one who has made threats; is confrontational, disruptive or a disciplinary problem? So why cannot HR enhance supervisor prevention capability through their visibility by training supervisors to be the solution.

Long-term planning to improve employee morale pays in human terms. Studies have shown that companies with effective grievance redress, harassment procedures also reported lower rates of workplace violence and workplace conflict.

While the intention of the Zero Tolerance Policy is well known, how effective is it really when discipline is the perceived outcome. How does an employer motivate an employee to report observations of a co-worker who might be his friend or Godparent to their child if the outcome is discipline and/or separation?

Despite the perception problems, employers must pursue alternative prevention strategies if they are to stem the alarming rise of the homicidal act of workplace violence in recognizing the employer’s duty and responsibility to provide for a safe and secure workplace. A workforce that is convinced that working from home is not as risky as working from the office, plant, warehouse or being shot in the parking lot.

Are there any undocumented obstacles and hurdles? HR needs to be viewed as the Champion of workforce safety and security if they are to dismantle negative perceptions when it comes to workplace violence prevention and zero tolerance.

As an ongoing workplace violence prevention strategy HR can play a role by assisting, assessing, and investigating allegations of workplace violence in the initial stages to address root causes and contributing factors? Do you have an answer?

Workforce patience is already stretched enough. It might be time for Human Resources to step up as leaders in a unique way if not in this way. If supervisors are called upon to discipline those who cross the line of civility, why can’t they be called upon to serve as day-to-day mediators and observers. Workplace Violence Is Unfortunately On The Rise Felix Nater Discusses Best Practices Regarding Recent Office Shooting – EIN Presswire (einnews.com)

Supervisors can be trained to recognize dramatic changes in employees such as mood swings, changes in appearance, time and attendance problems, co-worker interactions, and work performance.

Felix P. Nater, CSC is a retired Postal Inspector and security management consultant who partners with organizations to help implement and manage workplace security with an emphasis on workplace violence prevention and active shooter and the workplace mindset. He has spent the last 20 years working with organizations interested in improving, changing or enhancing their internal capabilities. www.naterassociates.com

How to Improve the Strategic Value of Workplace Violence Prevention

Posted on: January 2nd, 2022

Happy 2022! May it be your best year ever.

In the late winter of 2020, Hanna Hasl-Kelchner asked me to join her on her podcast, Business Confidential Now. A lot has happened over 2021 that has raised the level of concern, so we decided to reissue the interview in this format to get attention and implementation of some practical solutions. We had a great conversation then if you’d like to listen to the entire episode. We’ve decided to include short snippets of each subtopic for your listening convenience as I expand upon each subtopic to make the case for proactive engagement, awareness, preparedness, and proactivity as well as training in violence response (active shooter and police response). Listen to the full episode here. https://bit.ly/3f6QhUN

There were three topics of particular interest that Hanna focused on that really emphasized the interview and aligned closely with the main theme and what we talked about during the show. Here they are:

You could be the subject of workplace violence and not know it. OSHA has definitions of workplace violence to help employers formulate policies and captures the incidents under 4 specific Categories of Workplace Violence. Let’s address what workplace violence covers. There are a lot of employees out there who do not know they are victims of workplace violence and who might assume because they do not know and not to report it.

Most workplaces to include school places do not truly understand the integration of workplace violence prevention as an organizational function. Workplaces operate believing that it can’t happen to them. They really should not think like that simply because workplaces and their workforce are a microcosm of our society. No business whether a small, medium, or large employer is immune from the reality of workplace violence.

Whatever the size or status of your workplace, each workplace should have a workplace violence prevention policy supported by a workplace violence prevention program. It doesn’t have to be complicated or complex, but it should cover specific aspects of the threats and risks your workplace might be exposed to or experiences. The threats and risks run the gamut from physical violence to emotional and traumatic violence otherwise known as psychological violence.

Because under the OSHA Duty to Warn Clause, employers are required to provide for a safe workplace violence free of any hazard that might lead to violence, they are expected to introduce workplace violence prevention policies and risk mitigation measures that include training and security measures.

The threat of workplace violence is a real and present danger that does not always have to include physical violence. The most frequent incidents are nonfatal such as verbal abuse such as verbal abuse which include name calling, insults, racial and ethnic slurs, taunting, harassment, bullying, sexual harassment, intimidation, threats, and nuisance behavior.

The idea is to address these so-called minor or nonfatal incidents as quickly as possible to avoid escalation. Stop the banter and drop the excuses. OSHA annually documents approximately 2,000 reported incidents of what is commonly referred to as nonfatal and nonfatal incidents like an active shooter or homicide during a physical assault. The objective is to establish a proactive workplace violence prevention mindset designed to inform the workforce through a policy that clarified what constitutes workplace violence, addresses mutual responsibilities, and speaks to the consequences for breaching the policy. Ultimately the objective is to avoid is the disgruntled employee whom you walk out the front door from returning through the unsecured back door. https://youtu.be/eA79GElBktg

9 Potential workplace violence warning signs you need to know. While there are a host of red flags and warning signs that may apply to any type of workplace, my recommendation is to keep this subject as simple and practical as possible to encourage to overcome the fear of reporting his or her observation. Reporting of the coworker of misconduct is a difficult decision for the employee who relates to the problem and may be empathetic. It doesn’t mean they tolerate what they see, hear, or assume but that they do not want to be wrongly accused or might be concerned about their personal safety.

The purpose of workplace violence prevention training is to create a compelling training experience that encourages reporting based on red flags or warning signs and impact to workplace safety and security. The goal is early reporting and swift intervention whether it applies to an employee observation or suspicious non-employee report. Helping the workforce to appreciate the value of reporting is essential in gaining their cooperation.

Reporting can be anonymous or for attribution – just report it. One doesn’t have to be perfect or accurate only that it gets reported. Go with gut feelings supported by your training, suspicions, observations, and the recognized behaviors. Don’t put off the observation by rationalizing and justifying what was heard or seen. Waiting is not an option in addressing suspicious behavior. We want to prevent escalation, prevent an assault, prevent problems by calling management’s attention appropriately and swiftly. https://youtu.be/zzajBm9w6qE

Why workplace violence prevention doesn’t need to be expensive. Small and midsize organizations lament over the thought because it will cost too much money and time for something that has never happened before. There is an old Lee Myles Transmission commercial – “pay me now or pay me later”. Mandated court spending is a lot more than voluntary investment in prevention. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.

Human Resources and Security Directors have a corporate responsibility that in many instances hampers their ability to stay on top of workplace violence prevention. Larger organizations can have a workforce spread about in multiple locations over many states and countries. Expense is a legitimate pushback on whether to hire or train their workforce onsite but not an area where the courts have been sympathetic to. Being resourceful means doing more within your budgets. Conducting employee surveys can yield incredible results. Don’t worry that will create more work. The worst witness in a civil liability lawsuit is the employee who knew but was never asked. responsibility.

I say if you have knowledgeable resources, and your confidence level is high, relying on your internal expertise to develop basic content and present appropriate training content with credibility will go a long way. That person could be a supervisor, the HR Professional. security manager or the safety manager. The truth is that overcoming the arguments of limited resources and time, creativity and imagination can make the workplace violence prevention initiative a cost-effective workforce safety and security investment. Doing it yourself does not have to be sophisticated – just do it and you’d be surprised at the results. Keep it simple.

Resourcefulness is the tip of creativity and innovation. Organizations that do not employee security managers can be creative in training supervisors. As leaders within organizations supervisors by virtue of their reach and accessibility by the workforce can make the difference. Used as trainers, supervisors can highlight areas of specific concern among their teams daily or as situations dictate. As leaders, supervisors can be the first line of defense in responding to employee reports and complaints, assessing incidents and conduct workplace specific assessments. They are in a strategic position to act swiftly and proactively to observations and employee reports.

Speaking of cost effective, the greatest tool that gets the most for the investment is the new employee orientation. It can be a time where the security and human resources can maximize this tool to engage the new employee in articulating the workplace violence prevention policy, explaining prohibited behavior, discussing situations, and emphasizing the value of responsibilities in reporting. This is an opportunity where company and the new employee establish a positive connection. Assumptions are dismantled through clarity. Remember, workplace violence is a microcosm of our society. Referring the new employee to the Employee Handbook will not clarify their assumptions of what is and isn’t.

As organizations grow in capacity or operate as larger organizations resourcefulness empowers innovation and creativity in the use of personnel. With a lot of employees, a lot of teams, and a lot of people and departments they can allocate, commit, and invest internal use of their workforce to conduct assessments, evaluate risks, respond to incidents more proactively and assertively.

Larger organizations and maybe midsize ones might have the flexibility to roll out dedicated workplace violence prevention personnel to ensure that things are moving along the right direction in support of the policy. They may even consider workplace violence prevention as a project, assigning a ‘project manager” assigned who makes sure needed follow up gets done effectively in alignment with the policy, guidelines, procedures, and timeliness.

“Terminations” are a necessary business function, but a difficult management decision that organizations must make. How they are conducted determines the outcome. Having a separation or termination protocol in place gives aid and comfort to all involved that equity and justice are the objective of ensuring the employee is treated with dignity and respect as part of a professional process.

Workplace Violence Prevention is really a leadership function that facilitate activities in setting direction, aligning the effort, and coordinating teams and people to ensure they’re moving in that direction, motivating, and inspiring people at their core. Avoiding escalation and reducing negative emotions by containing problems and minimizing conflict is a leadership responsibility juries in civil cases like to see are in place. Leadership is the function that empowers any organization to maximize the moral and ethical responsibility to provide for a safe and secure workplace. Prevention is really an engaged workforce in organizations that integrates the effort, coordinates the process of prevention into a daily seamless effort through quality training assumed within the company culture. https://youtu.be/tNaQRAW0f0w

Listen to the full episode here. https://bit.ly/3f6QhUN

Guest Blogger Dawn Marie Westmoreland and Felix P. Nater Discuss the “WHY”, “WHAT” and “How” of Workplace Violence Prevention

Posted on: August 11th, 2021

This edition of News & Tips to Combat Workplace Violence – the Blog highlights Dawn Marie Westmoreland as the Guest Blogger discussing the “WHY”, “WHAT” and “HOW” of workplace violence and workplace violence prevention with Felix P. Nater, CSC, Nater Associates, Ltd. Dawn celebrates her one-year anniversary of her syndicated radio show, “The Empowered Whistleblower”. Dawn has featured yours truly on the “The Empowered Whistleblower” Show on previous occasions.

The interview focused on tragic workplace homicides specifically the April 15, 2021, shooting incident at the FedEx plant, Indianapolis, Indiana. This senseless incident resulted in the deaths of 8 coworkers and 5 injured totaling 13 victims who were innocently doing their respective jobs. Though this shooting incident was reported by the media and local police as an active shooter, this shooting was actually classified as a mass shooting.

What’s sad is that by April 2021, April was a deadly month of workplace homicides. There were about 26 victims of workplace shootings. Unfortunately, that’s not all. As of July 31, 411 mass shootings fitting the Mass Shooting Tracker project criterion, leaving 437 people dead and 1,688 injured, for a total of 2,125 total victims, some including the shooter(s). So I ask the question, WHY is there a penchant for violence?

(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_shootings_in_the_United_States_in_2021)

WHY? Most businesses do not report workplace violence that does not result in deaths or serious injuries. That’s due to lack of communication, fear of taking action, and of course, lack of awareness. But the numbers are hard to ignore regardless.

Dawn thought the message was appropriate and applicable in reminding our audience that as employees we all deserve to work in safe and respectful work environments and that proactive measures can be taken to reduce the threat and minimize the risks.

Dawn Marie Westmoreland, who has 30 years’ experience working in HR, is not new to workplace conflict and personnel security threats. So, this edition is ripe in presenting an important opportunity to bring up that while it was Fedex then, it could be any workplace or educational institution that could be victimized in similar fashion tomorrow.

No workplace or educational institution is immune from the threat of workplace violence. How prepared are you really? Is the workplace active shooter an organizational prevention response or an unfortunate reaction to an unforeseen event?

WHAT? OSHA reports that there are about 2 million reported incidents of workplace violence annually. By workplace violence we mean nonviolent acts (verbal abuse, name calling, harassment, bullying, intimidation, and threats) and violent acts (throwing objects with intent to injure, fist fights, sexual assault, lethal force such as armed robbery and active shooter, bomb threats, and terrorist acts).

Dawn’s objective during the radio show, which was also videotaped, was to bring out the value of workplace violence prevention in taking proactive measures that help an organization understand prevention as a philosophy, forging a mindset that understand the approach to take to resolve issues, reduce conflict, deescalate incidents, minimize risk and roll out hasty intervention measures.

We can reduce active shooting incidents and mass shooting fatalities and keep employees safe by taking workplace violence head on. HOW?

By assessing their worksites, employers can identify methods for reducing the likelihood of incidents occurring. OSHA believes that a well-written and implemented workplace violence prevention program, combined with engineering controls, administrative controls, and training can reduce the incidence of workplace violence in both the private sector and federal workplaces.

OSHA encourages employers to develop additional methods as necessary to protect employees in high-risk industries.” Source: https://lnkd.in/d9mWD38

Click the link to see and listen to Dawn Marie Westmoreland interview Felix P. Nater, CSC, Security Management Consultant. https://lnkd.in/dh4wr2q

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