Fit for Duty

The conversations continue among the cast of They Did What?

“Hello, Allison. C’mon in,” I heard my husband Jack say as he was answering the door. 

I had agreed to help Allison Walters and one of her classmates with a project for one of their MBA classes, and I invited them over to the house this Saturday. Material was already assembled and laid out for them on my kitchen table.

“Maryanne, hi, this is awesome,” said Allison. “And this is my teammate, Kelly.” 

I greeted Kelly, and then motioned to the table for them to have a seat. “I’ve got coffee, tea, juice, and some cookies we can munch on while we work.”

Kelly seemed a bit distracted, and as she was settling in asked, “Before we start on the project, can I ask you about something else, Maryanne?” 

“Of course, Kelly.” 

“It’s all these mass shootings and workplace violence,” she said in a trembling voice. “There must be things organizations can do to get ahead of them.”

I couldn’t help but think how difficult it must be entering the fields of human resources and management these days. Before I could respond, Kelly continued.

“I was reading about that shooting at a Walmart in Virginia last year. The shooter had asked a coworker if she liked guns and told employees and managers that if he were ever fired, he would retaliate in a way that people would remember his name. He also repeatedly asked coworkers if they had received active shooter training. Aren’t these signs of trouble, Maryanne? Shouldn’t management be alerted that something was off with this guy and done something?”

“You are absolutely right, Kelly. These were very clear signs. While I can’t speak for the store management nor the corporate management, there is a lesson here. Organizations of all sizes and in all industries should be training their managers to recognize signs of troubled employees. And when those signs indicate potential violence, it becomes even more imperative. This training is usually offered by employee assistance programs, and it should be delivered by those professionals who have experience dealing with such issues.”

As I rose to get some refreshments to bring to the table, Kelly said, “I agree with you about the training, but can’t something else be done?”

“Here’s an approach a colleague shared with me, one that I’ve adapted to my company and its policies. If there are indicators, even minor ones, of violent tendencies, they make a mandatory referral to the employee assistance program for an evaluation and place the employee on an administrative leave. The employee can’t return to the workplace until they obtain a fitness-for-duty release from the EAP.”

“What if they don’t have an employee assistance program?” asked Allison. “I know of some really small companies that don’t.”

“Organizations that don’t have an EAP should check with their insurance carrier. Many of them offer some level of help for employees.”

“What if they don’t get the release?” asked Kelly.

“At that point, the company works with their legal counsel to determine next steps—often termination. They may also have to get internal security and/or law enforcement involved, as well as public relations if they suspect repercussions. In a retail environment open to the public, it can get rather dicey, so it’s important not to approach it alone. Remember, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to a problem like workplace violence.”

“Maryanne,” said Allison, “you’re such a wealth of knowledge on these troubling issues. Where did you learn it all, and don’t tell me it just comes with experience. There must be a way that HR professionals and managers can learn about this stuff.”

“As a matter of fact, Allison, there is. You know there are so many resources out there—books, various forms of learning and training, and organizational resources available. But it so happens, two colleagues I met years ago at a conference, have just written a new book which will be published in March. They sent me an advance copy, and it’s excellent. It answers many of the vexing questions that managers have.”

“What’s the name of it, and when can we get a copy?” they asked in unison.

“It’s called The Decisive Manager, and it’s available for preorder from Amazon now at https://tinyurl.com/4rh275z7.