Dealing with Difficult or Dangerous Employee Terminations

You might be here because you are planning a termination and you have concerns about how this person might react to the situation. If so, you will find this site will provide you vital tools to reduce your risk of workplace violence during or after a termination like the one that occurred in Aurora, IL (View a Summary of the Aurora, IL incident). You are wise to consider precautions as far as advance as possible in order to properly assess the likelihood of an adverse reaction to the termination. A co-worker, supervisor or you might have recognized one or more of the traditional red flag behaviors that are commonly taught in conventional workplace violence training.

Upset man holding a sign that says fired - Business Protection Specialists

Progressive organizations today recognize that there are several additional factors that need to be considered, one of which is a precipitating or life changing event in a person’s life which can be the trigger which incites violence. The termination of one’s employment certainly qualifies as a precipitating or life changing event so you might want to be mindful to properly plan.

View Our Course Details on Managing Hostile Terminations

BPS Solves the following problems for organizations faced with a potentially dangerous termination:

Is your employee a legitimate risk for a workplace violence act?

BPS has developed a tool to assist you in a preliminary assessment of a person of concern. Where this preliminary assessment raises additional concerns, BPS can get you connected with more advanced resources and tools in a more in depth assessment for enhanced predictive value.

What can we do to properly plan and minimize the risk on the day of the termination?

There are a number of factors to consider such as what day of the week is better than another, how to pick a termination location, where does everyone sit and more.

What can we do if we are afraid the ex-employee will return and commit an act of violence?

Organizations should have a written plan in place to address this contingency prior to being in the midst of a dynamic threat situation. However, if you do not, BPS can quickly collaborate with you and develop a detailed plan to cover the days leading up to termination, the day of the termination and the weeks and months that follow.

The Benefits

Make a better decision with respect to a person’s potential to act out violently with imperfect information. There are never any guarantees in predicting the future, but using information shared by the US Secret Service, US Postal Services and experts who have conducted hundreds of post-incident investigations, you can get closer than just blind intuition.
Identify resources for a more in-depth analysis when preliminary assessments indicate cause for concern.
Assess considerations to create a softer landing for outbound employees to move closer to a win-win situation.
Reduce the risk of violence to staff during the termination meeting.
Reduce the risk of workplace violence in the aftermath of a termination.
Improve your organization’s long-term preparedness with a written plan to cover a variety of common dynamic threats which may impact your organization.

Ask The Security Expert

Do you have questions about keeping your employees safe in the workplace?
Wondering if your security measures are adequate for your facility?
Or perhaps you need help with industry regulatory issues and don’t know where to start?

BPS President and Certified Security Consultant Frank Pisciotta is ready to point you in the right direction. With over 3 decades of experience in security consulting, Frank has helped thousands of corporations, manufacturers, governments and healthcare facility managers keep their people and products safe.

Frank will personally respond to your questions within 24 hours. Ask The Expert and start Eliminating Crime Before It Happens.

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