Employee Violence Essay -- Work Job Essays

Employee Violence INTRODUCTION: When we hear the word violence, many of us think about crime in the streets. This paper will focus on workplace violence committed by employees. Today more than 1,000 Americans are murdered on the job every year, 32% more than annual average in the 80’s (Toufexis 36). It is very hard for people to imagine that their job site can be a potential target for violence. To some people their job is like their second home. Employees who suffer stress, are terminated from work, under paid, or who have problems with management/co-workers are the ones more likely to engage in workplace violence. Over the past twenty years, many employers especially public organizations have been victims of workplace violence. The most recent incident occurred in Newington, Connecticut. A thirty-five year old accountant opened fire at the headquarters of the Connecticut State Lottery, killing three top officials before chasing down and slaying the lottery’s president in a parking lot (Goldman 13). Incidents like the one at the State Connecticut Lottery are driving public managers to develop effective guidelines and solutions on how to address workplace violence within their organizations. BACKGROUND: Workplace violence occurs all over the nation, it does not discriminate organizations in the public or private sector. Any type of organization can be a victim of workplace violence. However, the recent focus has been on public employees engaging in violence. According to Joseph Kinney, executive director of the nonprofit National Safe Workplace Institute in Charlotte, N.C., a public employee is almost 50% more likely to be murdered than someone in the private sector (Wagner 20). The motives for aggressive behavior a... ...ohn J. "Accountant Kills Four at his Connecticut Lottery Office." Los Angeles Times 7 March 1998: (www.latimes.com/cgi-bin/archsearch-cgi). Maynard, Roberta. "Avoiding Worker Violence Over Terminations." Nation’s Business May 1994: 13. Newsradio 88 Staff. "Shot Fired at Connecticut State Lottery Office, Five Dead" 6 March 1998 (www.yahoo.com/external/wcbs_radio/stories/8891998980.html). Rigdon, Joan E. "Companies See More Workplace Violence." Wall Street Journal 12 April 1993: B1+ . Roan, Shari. "A Refuge no More." Los Angeles Times 30 Aug. 1994: E1+. Romano, Catherine. "Workplace Violence takes Deadly Turn." Management Review July 1994: 5. Toufexis, Anastasia. "Workers who Fight Firing with fire." Time 1433 (25 April1 994): 35-37. Wagner, Michael G. "Public Employees Seen in Greatest Danger at Workplace." Los Angeles Times 19 Dec. 1997: A 20.