Institute for

Conflict Resolution

Anger in The Workplace is Too Costly to Ignore

Article by Dr. Solomon Rothstein in HR Briefing

As a former member of the Los Angeles Police Department, I trained police officers in Anger and Stress Management. I also conducted seminars for them on Coping with Difficult People. One of the officers recently related the following episode to me:

" I was asked to respond to an emergency call. I was told that an irate elderly man was threatening a group of teenagers with a gun. When I arrived, I found this 75-year old man waving a knife and not holding a gun as was reported--but looking dangerous nevertheless. I drew my weapon and ordered him to put down the knife. He ignored my command and lunged at me. With only a split second to act, I dodged away from my attacker. Now what do I do? Do I shoot this old man? At that moment, I remembered something you taught us about defusing an angry person.
I lowered my gun and casually asked the old gentleman- as if I were seeking his help: ' Sir, I have a report that some man is threatening a group of teenagers with a gun. Do you have any information to give me, I would appreciate it.' The man immediately put down his knife and told me his story. His wife just came home from the hospital following very serious surgery. She needed peace and quiet. But these teenagers were making a lot of noise and they refused to stop. Out of sheer frustration he threatened them with a knife. When the elderly man lunged at me with a knife, he could have been shot. Instead a tragedy was averted because here was one law enforcement person who was willing to listen."
Many people are angry, and like the man with the knife, they just want to be heard. In this case, fortunately there was someone willing to stop and listen and a tragedy was averted.

Bottom-line consequences:

People do not come to work with an empty slate. They bring with them all the pressure, hostility and anger they have been experiencing at home. (Even an infuriating episode with another driver on the road is brought into the office.) Anger spills over into the workplace and has a profound impact upon one's coworkers. Companies expect more work and longer hours from their personnel. These expectations, heaped upon the already existing causes of tension, can bring the sense of anger to a dangerous boiling point. Anger leads to conflict and conflict can cause injury. Employers have a legal responsibility to provide a safe haven for their employees. If an employee witnesses a fight between two other workers, he could conceivably sue the company for the pain and suffering he experienced. This type of litigation cannot be ignored. Anything that is going to create a hostile environment creates a potential liability. This is why training is so important. Noah didn't wait for the flood to come before building his ark. Can employers afford to be any different? Hospitals, alone, treat 1.4 million people annually for injuries from attacks. Of these injuries, half occur in the workplace. People spend on average 75% of their waking hours at work. They are emotionally overloaded. As a result, the potential for conflict and injury is great. We can no longer ignore the potential for hostility in the workplace.

Now what kind of workplace conflicts are evolving today?

Anger: An Emotion That Wears Many Disguises

Anger wears many disguises. Negativity, cynicism, reduced productivity, sabotage, bullying, sexual harassment, stalking and overt acts of violence are just a sampling of what confronts management today. For example, men and women are at odds with one another because of the changing role of women in the workplace. A construction company called us in because its male employees were threatening the female workers who were hired to work alongside them. We had to find out what was bothering these men. Why were they so angry? Was it just a matter of economics? Did they feel threatened? Was it male chauvinism? They needed to be heard, but they felt no one was listening. We came in willing to listen respectfully to these men. We looked under the hood and determined the real source of conflict and helped to resolve it.

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drsol@workconflicts.com