"Organizations can develop solutions to the workplace anger problem by partnering with experts from the mental health field. As media attention heightens awareness of costs, employee assistance programs and business coaches are stepping forward with effective interventions.
EAP Program Director Bob Blaylock of the Behavioral Medicine Network identified emotional and financial issues as key reasons for developing a planned response. "Anger, if not managed, leads to intensified feelings that interfere with productive work. That can escalate to resentment, lashing out, being off task, sabotage, unhealthy alliances and abuses of paid leave. It all costs the organization money! We have seen problems escalate many times to the level of physical violence, and we have even helped remove weapons from the workplace after threats have been made." He further noted the prohibitive expense of litigation incurred in employee lawsuits and settlements related to workplace violence.
At the individual level, companies can request the "mandatory referral," a model under which troubled employees are required to attend counseling. Customized EAP treatment plans help employees understand their anger and develop skills for managing it in compliance with a "work improvement plan" developed by the employer. Blaylock reports positive feedback across the board: "This helps salvage good employees and returns them quickly to an effective level of work."
Training programs target anger at a systemic level. Blaylock described a leadership course entitled, "Confronting Without Anger," in which managers learn skills for addressing employees assertively without becoming emotionally reactive themselves. "This avoids the spiral in which the employee becomes angry, and then the manager becomes angry, and then emotions escalate. We teach managers to effectively contain and de-escalate the problem."
BMN's Director of Business Services Betty Spohn brings a human resources perspective to her training programs. "My experience as an HR director has taught me that you want to head off as many problems as you can before an employee erupts. In HR, I saw people with anger problems perk to the top on a consistent basis, and when they exploded, it was upsetting to everyone. One employee actually put a hole in a metal trashcan."
Spohn's workshops, designed to help managers detect anger warning signs early, focus on the "troublesome employee." She notes that typical precursors of anger in an organization often include employees asking for things the company can't offer or change: "We don't have money to give you a raise, we can't change a policy that you dislike." She designated persistent requests for a transfer as a key red flag. "You know this employee is unhappy, you know their performance is suffering, and when they don't get a transfer, you need to keep your finger on the pulse of that problem."
In regard to confronting the angry employee, Spohn emphasizes the importance of describing the incident or pattern in observable, behavioral terms, rather than saying, "You have an attitude problem." Defensiveness on the part of the employee is addressed assertively with statements such as, "You can't behave like this on the job. Regardless of your problems, how you behave is my problem."
In summation, she stressed the importance of teaching managers to develop safety plans for dealing with out-of-control employees. "One employee actually kicked his chair over in a meeting with his manager. You need to role-play in your head what you will do if someone gets violent during a confrontation. How will you de-escalate, rather than escalate that crisis? We try to teach people really practical strategies for these dangerous situations."
When chronic conflict becomes a workgroup problem, EAP solutions include mediation and conflict resolution training. Blaylock said, "We see dysfunctional organizational systems take on a life of their own and become norms. Employees develop the perception that there are 'favorites and outcasts.' The divisiveness caused by cumulative resentments can cripple productivity for years. This happens within groups, between departments and especially between shifts."
For these situations, the EAP delivers customized interventions, using organizational assessment to determine root causes of the conflict and creating situation-specific solutions. Positive outcomes have encouraged BMN to further develop its organizational consultation program. "We have about four projects going right now, and we expect the need for this service to increase."
Summarizing changes over the last decade, Blaylock observed that organizational tolerance of anger is decreasing. "At a minimum, most companies have a 'Threat of Violence Policy.' It used to be okay for people to blow off steam, raise their voices or jokingly threaten to kick someone's butt. Hard kidding like that is no longer tolerated, and shoving, throwing things or any other kind of physical contact are definitely out."
HumanFusion Executive Coach and CEO Gregory Gillum addressed the customer services perspective in a competitive economy. Observing that his clients typically request anger training when employee behavior adversely affects customers, he noted, "In today's customer-oriented world, good service is what gets you in the door. In order to compete successfully, you have to exceed expectations. One complaint will generate ten times the publicity of a positive remark, putting you 100 steps behind your competitor!"
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