While it is impossible to weed out all workplace violence, there are things employers can do to educate and their managers on recognizing the warning signs before tragedies such as the Annie Le murder.  According to Environmental Health and Safety Today, these warning signs include changes in mood, personal hardships, mental health issues (e.g. depression, anxiety), negative behavior (e.g. untrustworthiness, lying, bad attitude), verbal threats and past history of violence.  I would have created a great list for you, but I found the suggestions from Environmental Health and Safety Today to be very inclusive. These suggestions include:

1. Management should conduct a thorough organizational risk assessment and develop workplace violence prevention policies and programs that address potential risks in environmental design (security cameras, key card access), administrative controls and behavioral strategies.
2. Programs should clearly define the spectrum of workplace violence (ranging from harassment to homicide), delineate employee responsibilities for recognizing and reporting signs, and be shared with every employee. All programs should promote zero tolerance.
3. Ask for and integrate employee ideas when developing and implementing a violence prevention program.
4. Create a confidential and seamless reporting system. Encourage workers to report any and all concerns to a single representative, such as an occupational health and safety professional or human resource manager.
5. Incorporate a variety of communications tools such as posters, newsletters, staff meetings and new employee materials.
6. When training employees, review common warning signs, behavioral traits and how to recognize potential problems. Employees should also understand that each case is different, and to not limit at risk behavior to a standard profile.
7. Involve all employees in workplace violence prevention programs. Training should be ongoing and mandatory for every employee.
8. As an employee, actively participate in all education and awareness programs. If you do not have a violence prevention program at work, request information from your occupational health department, human resource department or manager.
9. As an employee, if you recognize that a colleague exhibits at risk behavior, report any concerns to your human resources representative or occupational health professional.

Lastly, I think it would be prudent for large organizations to pay for a service to run conviction record on all current employees each year.  Smaller organizations may want to hire an intern to look up employees on their state’s public convictions record database (which are almost always online). Employers would be surprised to find that many of their long term employees have several convictions ranging from drug trafficking to felony assault.  You will want to decide in advance how you will deal with employees who are convicted of drug related or violent crimes.  This will be your hardest task in this equation.

When reviewing past cases of workplace violence, it often seems that there are numerous warning signs that people notice, but never report.  An employer should do everything in their power to protect their employees.   The most powerful thing they can do is not beef up security or add cameras, but add awareness and provide access to confidential reporting of suspicious behavior.

I have a strong personality,I’m driven and passionate and as I’ve stated before, I have an opinion on just about anything.  I have high expectations of myself and others, which can lead to disappointment or great success.  This permeates both my work and personal life, so there are very few differences in this area.  The key difference, is that at work, I didn’t allow people to know “Mona.”  They knew Ramona, in a formal business setting and didn’t understand who I was as a person.  After I would move on to another position, the employees would invite me out to happy hour or other events and they were so surprised to see that I wasn’t this serious, “all business” person that they saw at work.  They saw a different person, and were pleasantly surprised.  However, it was too late to make amends with them professionally, as I had already left the organization.  They didn’t know me, and it was all my fault.  I put up walls and barriers, albeit unintentionally, and I lost the opportunity to develop a rapport with my work colleagues.

I’ll venture away from my personal story to help you understand my purpose of this blog post.  Most folks know that careers are about relationship building.  You have to show people who you are as a person (if that person is desirable at work, of course).  I thought it was ok to let people “in” in my personal life, but I didn’t really think that was important in my work life.  I have since changed my view as age and experience brings new wisdom.  It has also helped in my pursuit to be one happy person, both professionally and personally.  If you find yourself in a situation where you can’t be who you are in both environments, perhaps its time to pursue another job or career where you can develop your dual work/life personas into one.  It is harder in HR, where you are expected not to “mingle” with employees as you may one day have their professional fate in your hands, but many can find a careful balance and cultivate rich working relationships that will propel you to greater successes.  My goal is to manage and develop that balance.  I’m a Libra, it should come natural, right?

Vice-President, Joe Biden was quoted yesterday as saying on CNBC, “I do believe–and I make no apologies for it–that over the last 100 years the middle class was built on the back of organized labor. Without their weight, heft and their insistence starting in the early 1900s we wouldn’t have the middle class we have now, in my view. So I think labor getting a fair share of the pie is part of it.”

I’m not sure what Joe Biden is inferring here, as I believe every American is well aware of the work that was done with support from organized labor to give us the very protections we have today. Anti-discrimination laws, OSHA, FLSA, were all part of the decades long workers’ rights movement. While I understand that these were hard fought, I believe that there is something disingenuous about what is going on in organized labor today. The fight isn’t about strengthening the middle class, its about strengthening the power of unions. With SEIU president Andy Stern being quoted as saying “We will organize your employees or ruin your reputation,” I’m hard pressed to believe that he has the employees’ best interest in mind. What exactly does a union achieve by trashing the employer that gives your members benefits, good working conditions, and a fair wage? If you’re trying to send people to the competition, you are undermining your own membership.  If you send your employees’ customers to a competitor, you may very well be helping your members out of a job.

Joe Biden’s quote almost speaks of reparations.  He speaks as if Americans “owe” organized labor for what they did for American workers in the early-mid 20th century. So first the middle class needs a fair share (which I think can be accomplished without organized labor) and now organized labor needs a fair share of the pie as well? The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) alone has over two million workers and millions in assets.  They spend their member’s funds on pressing legislation that will ultimately help pad the pockets of union, not their membership. Even key provisions of the Employee Free Choice Act is far more beneficial to unions than it is to the employees they serve.

How exactly will this help the middle class? I don’t think the union deserves “reparations” any more than I deserve 40 acres and a mule.  The decline in union membership is not due to the inability for Americans to choose whether they want to be represented in a secret-ballot election. Its because America has grown up, put on her big girl panties, and its workers have evolved from organizational loyalists to free agents, choosing their own destination.