Many types of incidents can happen in the workplace. However, each employer, HR specialist, or supervisor respond differently to these reports, depending on the circumstances of each situation. Not only among different organizations, but sometimes within the same organization, and even in organizations with highly structured, well-thought-out procedures in place, the handling will have to depend on specific factors.
You have been invited to join EAP team as a post graduate student who is currently enrolled in an Organizational Behavior Course.
The Incident:
A workplace violence training workshop was conducted at an XYZ company which consists of 330 employees, and has its own training department including a team for an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). The workshop emphasized and recommended that employees must report on any violation for early intervention if any violence occurs in the workplace.
After two days, Jack who is an employee in the sales department, called the (EAP) member of the workplace violence team for an advice on how to deal with Bill who is an operational senior coworker, and had been hired at a senior professional level six months earlier.
Jack reported that Bill was in the habit of shouting and making humiliating and demeaning remarks to him and to other coworkers in the office and that Bill was skilled in twisting words around and manipulating situations to his advantage. For example, when employees would ask him for advice on a topic in his area of expertise, he would tell them to use their own common sense. Then when they are done with the assignment, he would make humiliating and cynical remarks about them, and speak loudly about how they had done their work the wrong way, pointing to that they don’t’ possess sufficient knowledge and skills to do their assignment. At other times, he would demand, very rudely in a loud voice, that they drop whatever they were working on and help him with his project. Jack said he had attempted to speak with his supervisor about the situation, but the supervisor told him not to initiate a problem with Bill and get over the situation.
Three days after Jack’s report, Sally, an employee in Bill’s department, approached the (EAP) member of the workplace violence team reporting that Bill used to insult her by, always, calling her “curly fat cat” pointing to that she is an overweight black female. And because he is her direct boss, she was afraid to tell him that calling her “curly fat cat” is hurting her and makes her feel upset and sorrow particularly in the presence of other colleagues. Sally explained that Jack report encouraged her to report against Bill as the situation was becoming worse and started to impact her performance.
Response to Jack’s Case:
The EAP Counselor has met with Jack who described his feelings of being overwhelmed and helpless. The humiliating remarks of Bill were becoming intolerable and he believed that attempts to resolve the issue with Bill were useless. The fact that Jack’s supervisor minimized the situation further discouraged him. However, by the end of the meeting with the counselor, Jack was able to recognize that not saying anything was not helping and was actually allowing a bad situation to get worse. He decided to sit with the counselor and address the situation.
Response to Sally’s Case:
The EAP Counselor met with Sally who described her feelings of being sorrow and upset and helpless. The humiliating remarks of Bill were becoming intolerable and she believed that can do nothing to resolve the issue with Bill. The fact that Bill is her direct supervisor further discouraged her. However, by the end of the meeting with the counselor, Sally was able to recognize that not saying anything was not helping and was actually allowing Bill to go far with his demeaning remarks to her. She decided to sit with the counselor and address the situation.
Questions for Discussion as Learned in the Course:
1. Which approach do you thing is more effective to handle such workplace situations?
a. To take a team approach, or
b. having one manager or department handle them alone? Support your answer.
2. What are the major factors an incident should depend on when responding to, and handling such incidents?
3. Use the three goals of OB to describe Bill’s attitude, behavior, emotions, and personality type and depend on your understanding of the what you have learned from OB course until now.
Student’s Personal Evaluation:
4. As a member in (EAP) team? How would you handle such situation? What skills do you need to address the situation in a respectful, reasonable, and responsible manner with Jack’s supervisor and with the abusive coworker Bill? Do you recommend using assertive statements? Give some examples.
Organizational Evaluation:
5. Does your organization provide a workplace violence training? If YES, does it include communication skills for how to stop a disruptive behavior early on (including skills for convincing unwilling supervisors to act)?
6. If NO, how would your organization have proceeded with a similar case. How would your organization have proceeded with a similar case?
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