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The ILO warns that acts
of violence can occur in any workplace, anywhere. No company, no department
is immune — least of all information technology organizations. Connecticut Lottery
Corp., for example, was a bastion of white-collar workers.
Onetime-accountant-turned-killer Matthew Beck had been demoted to data
processor — his duties shifted to the IS department — before his shooting
rampage began. What set Beck off,
experts say, was his perceived mistreatment by management: A 1996 job change
into the IS department should have included a $2-per-hour raise, he believed.
Although lottery officials had agreed in January that Beck had been
performing work outside his job classification, negotiations continued into
March on how much the company owed him. "People who commit
violent acts are trying to regain control," says Gary Salmans, vice
president and risk manager at Sedgwick of Colorado, Inc., a Denver-based
insurance brokerage firm. "There's always
been stress in the workplace, but the higher the use of technology — as a
means of communication, as well as just sitting in front of a computer all
day — the more violence-prone we seem to become," says Salmans, who
counsels companies on violence prevention. That doesn't mean that
computing technology promotes violence. Nor does it mean that technology
organizations, per se, are at special risk. What it does mean is this:
Today's undermanned and overstressed technology staffs often work in
isolation. Face-to-face conversations tend to happen in hallways, rather than
sitting around the lunchroom, which provides fewer outlets for staff members
to vent their frustrations. Colleagues and managers turn to E-mail as the
preferred form of communication, with little regard for tone. The result? A noncaring
atmosphere. Employees are increasingly being thrown into corporate cultures
that exacerbate or condone hostile behavior. Add the inability of some
individuals to deal with anger and poor management practices that promote
perceptions of injustice. Mix the two, and you cook up a combustible stew. Such
ingredients are not unique to IT organizations — they're just too prevalent
for IT's own good. "People's penchant
for hostility is about their inability to cope with adversity, and can't be
associated with a particular type of industry or job. The problem is no worse
for technical workers," maintains Coeta Chambers, human resources
attorney at Intel Corp. in Santa Clara, Calif. Chambers, as a member of
Intel's Workplace Response Team, helped write the company's guidelines on
dealing with hostile behavior. Chambers is right —
despite shocking incidents at the Connecticut State Lottery this year and at
ESL, Inc. in Sunnyvale, Calif., 10 years ago. In the latter incident, an
ex-employee blasted through company doors to get at a former colleague he'd
been stalking. Other work environments more likely to feel the stings of
murderous hostility include health care, late-night retail stores and law
firms, according to the ILO. Still, workers killing
colleagues represents only 3% to 5% of workplace violence, experts say. Far
more prevalent acts of intentional harm include fighting, biting, bullying,
shouting and vicious gossip. The key word is "intentional." We're
not just talking about unthinking rudeness. It's behavior that's calculated
to do damage. "There is a wide
range of aggressive behaviors that can harm people physically and
psychologically — as well as the company's bottom line," says Dr. Joel
H. Neuman, director of the Center for Applied Management at the State
University of New York in New Paltz. "The FBI lists
three types of exposure to violence by industries, with Type 1 having the
potential for robbery and Type 2 being those that can be threatened by angry
customers," says Beth Lindamood, senior analyst at Great American
Insurance Cos. in Cincinnati. "The computer industry falls into Type 3 —
which is the most difficult to predict." That third source of
potential danger includes disgruntled employees and ex-spouses. "The
danger signs can come out by asking the right questions in the interview process,"
Lindamood says. "Listen for why someone left a previous job. Was it a
supervisor always stealing this person's ideas or always promoting someone
else? It's especially revealing if that person has problems with authority
figures." Conduct unbecoming According to the FBI,
the profile of a person most likely to "go postal" is a white male,
between 30 and 40 years old, with a keen interest in guns. Chances are you
know some people who fit that all-too-vague description, so the U.S.
Department of Justice has added the following warning signs to that profile: ·
Someone who holds
irrational ideas and beliefs. ·
An employee
experiencing exceptional stress outside of work, such as a divorce. ·
A person who is
fascinated by weapons. ·
An employee who
displays unwarranted anger. ·
A person who can't
take criticism. ·
Someone who
expresses a lack of concern for the safety of others. Such warning signs paint
a picture of a worker who not only can't get along with others but who
actually prefers being solitary. The trouble with
applying that profile to an IT organization: It describes the stereotypical
software geek — unwilling or unable to interact with fellow humans. Even
worse, by the time you notice an employee exhibiting three or four of these
indicators, he may already be close to extreme action. Garner is a freelance
writer in San Carlos, Calif. |