By Doug Elms, Founder, Safehaven Security
“Five Killed During Disciplinary Meeting.”
We have all seen the headlines. Potential violence is an existential problem and HR is on the frontline at work. While we can’t make it all go away, we can offer the top ten practical steps you can take to keep yourself and your people safe when confronted with a dangerous termination.
1. Trust Your Instincts
One of the first things we want you to know is that the “feeling” you get that something is amiss really matters. When you believe something is wrong…something probably is wrong. And that feeling alone, even when you can’t articulate why you have it, should cause you to take extra steps to protect yourself.
We often hear “We all thought he was dangerous,” in the aftermath of an incident. So, rule number one: Trust your instincts!
2. Know What to Watch For
In our work as threat assessment professionals, we evaluate each case against a set of known violence correlates. In other words, warning signs. While we don’t feel comfortable listing them in a magazine article, we will provide them to you at no charge. Just contact us at the address listed after this article.
3. Prep for the Interview
The single most important thing in this regard is the controlling of your own emotions. Feelings of fear or anger are normal responses to such a situation, so best to accept and manage them through preparation and breathing (see below).
There are too many variables for us to offer specific verbiage to use during the termination discussion. What we will say is this: Strive to be kind, caring, and firm. Talk through the subject’s potential responses with a colleague, making plans for how to deal with each one.
Avoid rambling and lay out the facts early on. But be kind. Then get to the point and explain that a separation is required. Show you care by listening to their concerns, always seeking to point them toward a better future.
4. Have the Right People in the Room
Generally, we believe the manager’s manager and an HR representative should be present in a termination interview. This practice provides one level of separation from the person most often targeted and an opportunity for the subject to feel like someone with power over his boss is getting any message he wants to relay.
Often, we get a request to have security or law enforcement representation in the room. We generally recommend against this practice. It is rarely beneficial to let the subject know he is intimidating us, as that’s often his goal.
Instead, place your protectors in an adjacent room. Arrange for them to discreetly monitor the proceedings. Simply letting them listen in on a phone can provide the intel they need to know if intervention is required.
5. Choose the Right Timing
While this is not the most critical of considerations, it still matters. First let us say that, if the subject is dangerous, getting him out of the building sooner is better. Make a plan that includes shutting down building and network access. This would happen ideally during his final interview.
As to what day of the week, for someone who works a standard Monday-Friday schedule, we generally recommend conducting the termination late Friday afternoon. The brief explanation for this choice is that, when the former employee wakes up Saturday morning, we want him to focus on the things he normally does on a Saturday morning off. Mow the lawn. Hang out with the kids. Walk the dog. All things he can still do.
As opposed to waking up on Wednesday morning and focusing on the one thing he would normally do that he can’t do – go to work. Nothing to do but watch YouTube videos about workplace shootings.
6. Choose the Right Location
While this topic alone could fill paragraphs of information, let’s keep it simple. In most circumstances, the best place to conduct the term is a conference room near the exit. In this way the employee can leave the meeting and walk directly outside to their car without walking past a line of people staring at them. It may make sense to have their personal items packed and ready to go in a nearby room.
There are also a couple of things to remember when setting up the room itself. If possible, a conference room with more than one entrance is ideal. If that’s not possible, consider this set-up:
The idea here is that, if the subject gets angry and decides to leave, he can exit without walking too closely to anyone else. An enraged employee standing six inches behind you can do a lot of damage, even without a gun.
The lead interviewer is also in a good position to exit quickly. Without two doors to the room, though, the secondary interviewer is in the least desirable position. That’s why two points of egress are best.
7. Respond Properly to Threats
It’s important for your former employee to feel heard. So, give him chances, even encouragement, to speak. Unless he takes off on a lengthy rant that appears to be escalating, don’t interrupt. Let him finish.
If you start to feel your heart rate rise, it’s important to get a handle on it before it impacts cognitive processing. When angry, we’ve all said things we came to regret, and this is not the time for that. Therefore, to lower your heart rate, follow these steps:
- Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose (to a 4 count).
- Pause.
- Exhale slowly and deeply through your lips (4-6 count).
- Repeat twice.
This pattern lowers your heart rate immediately and, with a little practice, can be done very discreetly. And it works every single time.
Keeping your heart rate and emotions under control will help prepare you for a veiled threat like “You’re going to wish you’d never done this” or a direct threat like “I’m going to come back here and kill you”
There are basically four possible responses when confronted with such a threat during the interview, three of which are wrong:
- Ignore it.
- Show fear – “Oh my gosh did you just threaten me?! Yikes!”
- Get angry – “Oh yeah buster? Just skin that smoke wagon and see what happens!”
- Downplay and redirect to the future.
Number four is the key. Even if you’re scared half to death, say things like “I know you didn’t mean that. We all say things we don’t mean when we’re angry. That’s not the John Smith I know.” Next, point them back to the future with “You’re going to get past this. It won’t be long until you find a spot to fit in. You’ve been through hard stuff before, and you will get through this too” and similar reassurances.
No matter what they say, just keep downplaying and redirecting. Once the interview is over you may need to call 9-1-1, but during your conversation, never let them see you sweat.
8. Get the Subject Safely Off the Property
This is an area where a fine line exists between safety and dignity. In our work with clients, we’ve let people walk back to their desk alone, gather their belongings, and let themselves out. On the other hand, in different circumstances, we’ve monitored a former employee’s egress with two trained protection professionals only steps away.
For the purposes of this article, let us just say this: Strive to maintain a departing employee’s dignity by not embarrassing them with the “Two-Guard Walk of Shame” in front of their peers. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, that sort of thing can push a difficult situation toward becoming a dangerous one. There are other, better, ways to keep your people safe without knocking over the last domino this employee may have standing.
9. Monitor and Reassess as You Go
Just because the employee has driven away does not necessarily mean we’re all safe now. We know from simply watching the news that, sometimes, separated workers come back years later and wreak havoc. What you may not know is that there are always warning signs of such an attack. Always. We must get in a position to watch for them and correctly interpret their meaning.
Pay attention to what they’re doing every step of the way. Did they file for unemployment? Did another worker say they saw them purchasing a new gun last week? Listen for both the facts and the rumors. We can separate the intelligence from the information later. For now, it all matters.
10. Do the Right Thing Now
No one ever regrets asking for help to prevent violence. Not asking always leads to hard questions no one wants to answer. Be the kind of leader that has no regrets. Call for help when you need it.
If you don’t have a threat management partner, contact us at SafeHaven Security Group.com. Your initial assessment is always free. 844-SAFEGROUP.
