Where Sadness Leads
My family arrived in the U.S. and settled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I’ve read with overriding sadness the events at the Amish school shooting in that area. Not only because I feel a connection to the area and people, but as a mother who can grieve at the horror the families and community must now endure. Through the nightmare story, I will pick one little sound bite that might be relevant to this BLOG page.
“The Co-workers told police that Roberts, who was normally friendly and talkative, had become less outgoing in the past few days. They said that a "calm" had come over him, an indication, Miller said, that Roberts had decided to go his rampage.” Co-workers also commented that he had become “dark and withdrawn” in the last few days. I won’t second guess the co-workers’ actions or non actions because I don’t know the facts, but I will use this as a teaching point for the work place.
We often spend more time with our co-workers than we do with our family. We know them pretty well: their strengths, weaknesses, idiosyncrasies, and what’s normal behavior for them. They can become our friends or drive us crazy but we still pretty much know what to expect from them. Here’s the deal: when someone acts out in a particularly unusual way, totally out of context from their normal, someone at work should take notice and take action.
Seldom do employees go off the edge of sanity as in this horrific case. But, work long enough and you will experience employees who, for whatever reason, move off normalcy to the point they need attention and help. As supervisors, we can no longer just sit by and observe and do nothing. You must take action for the employee’s sake and for the sake of others.
I had an employee that began to make poor work decisions, some of them safety violations. His co-workers covered for him for fear of discipline. His family covered for him for fear he would be fired and lose benefits. Finally, the problems became so obvious, that it came to my attention. Through an enormous amount of investigation, I found the man was suffering from Alzheimer. Once I knew the circumstances, we could help the employee and his family find solutions to his work issues that benefited him, his family, his co-workers, and the company. Had his co-workers come to me earlier, the work place would have been safer, the employee could have been seeking treatment and not endured confusion at work, and his family could have had the facts and support they desperately needed.
Some issues that co-workers may not act on are alcoholism, drug use, other addictions, depression, physical illness, financial problems, violent behavior and others. Employees must trust supervision before they will share suspicions or fears. Union shops are typically “we/they” and “we will take care of our own” mentality. Employees don’t want to be responsible for the possibility of an employee being disciplined. Others, simply don’t want to get involved.
Getting involved must be encouraged in today’s unpredictable world. We don’t want to encourage a bunch of snitches but we must encourage employees to recognize unusual or harmful behavior in an effort to prevent heartache, stress, and violence. We’ve seen the effects of workplace violence starting in the post office killings. Lately, we have seen it in our schools. It is time for those in charge of our businesses and institutions to encourage our employees to report unusual behavior to counter this trend to violence.
What if an employee reports something that isn’t the first step to disaster but merely an employee experiencing an off week or a family issue. This will happen in a workplace that cares about each other. This will occasionally happen when one employee wants to cause trouble for another employee. It is far better to have the occasional mistake than miss signs of the occasional horrific event.
What can you, as a supervisor, do to encourage your employees to help with this situation? You can proceed with upmost integrity. Your first thought should be what can I do to make the situation come to a benefit for all. Talk to the employee out of care and concern. Find out if there is anything that can be done to help or repair. Can I offer outside counseling that will happen quickly? Find out if it is ominous enough that you should immediately contact your supervisor, your human resources, and the police.
It’s a very delicate balance between not reacting enough, reacting within reason and over reacting. Unless, it is an in-your-face emergency, I recommend you bring others into your decisions and action. You are not expected to be able to psychoanalyze every employee’s mental and emotional problems or actions. But, IF (and it is a big IF) you or others suspect something is just not right, your conscious demands you talk it over with others as soon as possible. Large corporations have departments that will be able to advise. Your direct supervisor must share in your thoughts and can offer direction. You may need to confer with legal. Your local or state police can offer advice and assistance. Business owners may need to confer with local mental health clinic or professionals.
I found asking God to help me make the right decisions was the first place to go to find solutions. God cares about the employee, the work force, you and the situation. Let your actions be ones you will be able to look back on and say, “I did the best I could with the information I had.” I guarantee it will be one of the most difficult journeys you have experienced. It sometimes has no happy ending. But, given the choices you have to make, do not let yourself be in the situation where you ignored the warning signs and you must then face an ending that was horrible.
Jude 1:22-25 “And of some have compassion, making a difference; and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. A’-men.”
“The Co-workers told police that Roberts, who was normally friendly and talkative, had become less outgoing in the past few days. They said that a "calm" had come over him, an indication, Miller said, that Roberts had decided to go his rampage.” Co-workers also commented that he had become “dark and withdrawn” in the last few days. I won’t second guess the co-workers’ actions or non actions because I don’t know the facts, but I will use this as a teaching point for the work place.
We often spend more time with our co-workers than we do with our family. We know them pretty well: their strengths, weaknesses, idiosyncrasies, and what’s normal behavior for them. They can become our friends or drive us crazy but we still pretty much know what to expect from them. Here’s the deal: when someone acts out in a particularly unusual way, totally out of context from their normal, someone at work should take notice and take action.
Seldom do employees go off the edge of sanity as in this horrific case. But, work long enough and you will experience employees who, for whatever reason, move off normalcy to the point they need attention and help. As supervisors, we can no longer just sit by and observe and do nothing. You must take action for the employee’s sake and for the sake of others.
I had an employee that began to make poor work decisions, some of them safety violations. His co-workers covered for him for fear of discipline. His family covered for him for fear he would be fired and lose benefits. Finally, the problems became so obvious, that it came to my attention. Through an enormous amount of investigation, I found the man was suffering from Alzheimer. Once I knew the circumstances, we could help the employee and his family find solutions to his work issues that benefited him, his family, his co-workers, and the company. Had his co-workers come to me earlier, the work place would have been safer, the employee could have been seeking treatment and not endured confusion at work, and his family could have had the facts and support they desperately needed.
Some issues that co-workers may not act on are alcoholism, drug use, other addictions, depression, physical illness, financial problems, violent behavior and others. Employees must trust supervision before they will share suspicions or fears. Union shops are typically “we/they” and “we will take care of our own” mentality. Employees don’t want to be responsible for the possibility of an employee being disciplined. Others, simply don’t want to get involved.
Getting involved must be encouraged in today’s unpredictable world. We don’t want to encourage a bunch of snitches but we must encourage employees to recognize unusual or harmful behavior in an effort to prevent heartache, stress, and violence. We’ve seen the effects of workplace violence starting in the post office killings. Lately, we have seen it in our schools. It is time for those in charge of our businesses and institutions to encourage our employees to report unusual behavior to counter this trend to violence.
What if an employee reports something that isn’t the first step to disaster but merely an employee experiencing an off week or a family issue. This will happen in a workplace that cares about each other. This will occasionally happen when one employee wants to cause trouble for another employee. It is far better to have the occasional mistake than miss signs of the occasional horrific event.
What can you, as a supervisor, do to encourage your employees to help with this situation? You can proceed with upmost integrity. Your first thought should be what can I do to make the situation come to a benefit for all. Talk to the employee out of care and concern. Find out if there is anything that can be done to help or repair. Can I offer outside counseling that will happen quickly? Find out if it is ominous enough that you should immediately contact your supervisor, your human resources, and the police.
It’s a very delicate balance between not reacting enough, reacting within reason and over reacting. Unless, it is an in-your-face emergency, I recommend you bring others into your decisions and action. You are not expected to be able to psychoanalyze every employee’s mental and emotional problems or actions. But, IF (and it is a big IF) you or others suspect something is just not right, your conscious demands you talk it over with others as soon as possible. Large corporations have departments that will be able to advise. Your direct supervisor must share in your thoughts and can offer direction. You may need to confer with legal. Your local or state police can offer advice and assistance. Business owners may need to confer with local mental health clinic or professionals.
I found asking God to help me make the right decisions was the first place to go to find solutions. God cares about the employee, the work force, you and the situation. Let your actions be ones you will be able to look back on and say, “I did the best I could with the information I had.” I guarantee it will be one of the most difficult journeys you have experienced. It sometimes has no happy ending. But, given the choices you have to make, do not let yourself be in the situation where you ignored the warning signs and you must then face an ending that was horrible.
Jude 1:22-25 “And of some have compassion, making a difference; and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. A’-men.”
posted by Diane Gibson at
11:55 AM
