Workplace Guardians Blog

Workplace Violence Prevention

The Important role of Leadership in creating a “Culture of Safety” for your organization.

Workplace violence (WVP) prevention is a challenging and anxiety raising issue for most organizations. Leaders react to this problem in different ways:

• DENY: “It will never happen in our workplace.”
• GAMBLE: “I can’t justify the expense for something that may not happen here” or conversely,
• TAKE ACTION: Some leaders tackle the problem head on and act proactively to create a work environment where grievances and other behavioral issues are not allowed to fester into violence.

Which leader are you? Have you created a culture which emphasizes the importance of a safe, effective and productive work environment? This is what we call a “Culture of Safety”.

Here is the truth - wherever two or more are gathered, there will be conflict.

Workplace Conflict. It’s inevitable. In fact, research shows that on average 42% of a manager’s time is spent dealing with interpersonal conflict. If that manager is making $85,000 per year, your organization has lost $35,700 due to conflict, from that manager’s work alone. Conflict in the workplace can occur between two or more individuals, between departments, among leadership and even between your staff and between customers or vendors.