Tension in the workplace can arise from a variety of causes. For example, a business can become a hostile environment because of words, such as discussions regarding work performance, politics, pay, race, religion, or personal issues. In addition, workplace tension can escalate because of circumstances, such as layoffs, missed promotions, failed office romances, excessive overtime, coworker clashes, health issues, or personal strife at home. The goal of business owners should be to identify and peacefully diffuse workplace tension before it escalates into workplace violence. In our blog post, we identify four ways companies can strive to reduce workplace tension, which can lower the possibility of workplace violence and keep employees safer.

Thorough Employee Training

Reducing workplace tension and making the company a peaceful environment starts with thorough employee training. All employees, from entry-level new hires to CEOs and company leaders, need to be equipped with the interpersonal tools to successfully and peacefully solve problems and handle situations that could escalate quickly. This type of training could include team-building exercises, brainstorming sessions on identifying and improving stressful work situations, healthy ways to communicate with coworkers, how to quickly report a volatile situation and/or employee, and a thorough list of office place do's and don'ts to help keep the peace.

Overhaul Hiring Practices for HR and Management

In order to have a workplace that encourages open communication and offers a healthy work environment, companies must hire employees that also value those same goals. Too often, company managers and Human Resources departments hire individuals who get great results or high sales, but who have also been combative or hostile at previous jobs. Individuals directly involved in recruiting and hiring should never gloss over red flag employment issues such as negative work attitudes or poor recommendations from coworkers and previous bosses. Recruiters and HR departments can start by asking better questions to gauge the temperament of potential employees, and not ignoring hostile work attitudes.

Report Suspicious Behavior or Activities

When a tense workplace situation is on the brink of escalating to a violent or aggressive situation, time is crucial as companies may only have a brief window to calm people down or notify authorities if necessary. Employees that witness suspicious behavior or actions are far more likely to speak up promptly if procedures are in place for them to safely report incidents. Businesses need to develop strategies and put procedures in place to allow employees to quickly report to supervisors any issues or employees that require immediate attention. Too often, when a workplace incident occurs, coworkers will often admit after the fact that they were aware of issues or problems but didn't report them to a supervisor.

Establish and Enforce Safety Procedures

Regardless of a company's best efforts at maintaining a peaceful and positive work environment, employees could still threaten people at a business or office. For this reason, company management should establish safety procedures to help teach employees how to stay safe or quickly evacuate in the event of a violent episode. This can include terminating building access when an employee is fired, practice locking down the building, establish evacuation routes, and have designated employees assigned to contact the authorities if necessary.

While many businesses do not ever experience serious workplace issues, it is a growing problem that business owners should take seriously, or risk becoming another statistic of workplace violence. Proactive safety and training measures now can diffuse workplace tension among coworkers, making the office a more peaceful environment and significantly reducing the chance for employee injuries or death caused by workplace violence. Companies can also protect themselves and their employees through reliable and top-quality commercial insurance coverage from Aegis Insurance & Financial Services. Aegis offers a full range of Commercial Insurance policies, including Business Owners Policy, Workers Compensation, General Liability, Excess Liability, and Life Insurance. Contact Aegis today for more information at 713-850-7622, or go online for a free quote!