It is important to understand for
any employer that workplace violence is very much possible in any given
circumstance, and it can be fatal in some cases. One such example came in the
case of Radee Labeeb Prince, who worked in Maryland Granite Company, and it was
alleged that he opened fire on his co-workers, where five people were shot by
him, and three people were killed in this incident. It was revealed that his
designation in the company was a machine operator, and people shot by him were
his co-workers. It was quite devastating for the company as well as families of
victims as they were innocent, and killed by a man, who was their co-worker.
Once the investigation was started, it was revealed that Prince has been
involved in various kinds of illegal and criminal activities, and his charge
sheet included traffic violations, gun charges as well as workplace It was further found that Prince
had a history of violence at the workplace, and he was fired from a job as it
was alleged that one of his coworkers was punched by him. As per the court
documents, it was revealed that once Prince was fired from the job, he returned
back to the same company and threatened his employer as well as coworkers.
There is a rule in Maryland, if someone is feeling threatened by an individual,
he/she can file for a “peace order”, where the court will order to protect the
person. One of the bosses from his previous companies filed a peace order
against Prince because he yelled at his boss, but the peace order was denied by
the court. One of the Widows of a victim also told AP that her husband used to
talk about the explosive temperament of Prince. It was also revealed that
Prince was an angry man. These facts are quite clear to suggest that Prince was
a violent man, and he was a constant threat for his coworkers because he showed
various signs of this violence (Fedschun, 2017)
What Type of Workplace Violence that
Occurred?
It was mentioned earlier that a
man opened fire at his coworkers, and three people were killed in this
incident. So, the type of workplace for this incident is called a worker on the
worker. It is a kind of workplace violence, where violence is carried out by
current or former worker against his coworkers. It is vital to realize that
multiple factors can be there to encourage people to show act of violence
against people working with them in the same workplace. There could be personal
reasons such as professional jealousy or some other personal problem with the
coworker, which forces a person to act against his coworker with violence. It
is a fact that supervisors and managers take actions against their
subordinates, and if any of the workers feel that it was unfair to do so, they
tend to take revenge from their leadership by attacking them or trying to
injure or kill them (Penfield, 2017)
What steps would you take as a Human
Resource Manager to allow your organization to heal?
If I would have been Human
Resource Manager of the company and came across to this difficult situation,
then I would have taken steps very carefully after analyzing the whole
situation. It is critical to realize that such an incident can be extremely
damaging for the company, and its after-effects can be horrible. The employees
working in the same workplace feel frightened as well as uncomfortable. It is
necessary to take some crucial steps so that the situation can be brought to a
normal level, and things can be brought back to the right track. I would have
opted for various measures so that the company can heal from such damage, which
has marked so many worries on the minds of other employees. The first major
step in this regard would have been arranging a series of training sessions
involving Psychologists, who would use their expertise to calm down the
situation. I would have made sure that each employee participates in the
training session so that they feel better about work after getting counseling
sessions from the psychologists. It is vital to know that such training
sessions can be extremely beneficial for diverting the attention of employees
from the incident so that they can start focusing on their jobs. They need to
understand that they have to move forward because people can’t be stuck to past
events, as it may stop their growth and development (BLEICH, 2019)
The human resource manager should
understand that such a critical situation can be dangerous for a company,
because if employees will be mentally disturbed, then they can’t perform well
with their full capacity. At the same time, I would work on some prevention
methods as well so that such horrible incidents can be prevented in the future.
It was evident in the case of the prince that he showed so many signs and
warnings for his violent behavior, but every time these signs were ignored,
which ultimately turned to be fatal claiming three innocent lives. The first
step of prevention is to come up with a strict policy on violence. The company
should make clear to its employees that they will have a “zero-tolerance
policy” for any kind of violent behavior. Moreover, the employees should be
given a clear code of conduct, where they can read rules about any kind of
violent behavior and acts. Moreover, regular training sessions should be held
to train and educate employees so that they are able to identify warning signs
of a violent coworker and report it to higher management. In addition to that
regular feedback should be taken regarding their work environment as well as
coworkers. These steps can be instrumental in preventing such horrible
incidents in the future (ALICE, 2019)
References
of Case
Study Analysis of Maryland office shooting suspect had history of workplace
violence
ALICE. (2019). 10 Ways to Prevent Workplace
Violence. Retrieved November 18, 2019, from https://www.alicetraining.com/resources-posts/blog/10-ways-to-prevent-workplace-violence/
BLEICH, C. (2019). How To Prevent Workplace
Violence: 7 Steps To Take Right Now. Retrieved November 18, 2019, from
https://www.edgepointlearning.com/blog/workplace-violence-prevention/
Fedschun, T. (2017). Maryland office shooting
suspect had history of workplace violence. Retrieved November 18, 2019,
from
https://www.foxnews.com/us/maryland-office-shooting-suspect-had-history-of-workplace-violence
Penfield, W. (2017). The Five Types of Workplace
Violence Incidents. Retrieved November 18, 2019, from
https://www.everbridge.com/blog/five-types-workplace-violence/