Threat Assessment for a Major Enterprise, US
Urgency
A hasty termination raises the risk of violence.
The Problem
Terminations represent a special area of risk — for companies and their Human Resources teams. One manufacturing company concerned about an employee’s angry outbursts and recent decline in job performance leaned toward immediately terminating the individual’s employment contract, but it asked us to assess the matter and make recommendations on how to resolve it.
The Solution
Our assessment identified the potential risks which ranged from a potentially physical and violent reaction to legal liability. Our team suggested several options to better manage the volatile situation. One was to refer the 15-year employee to an Employee Assistance Program. Another was to extend his benefits as part of the termination package.
The Results
The behavioral threat assessment resulted in an updated set of recommendations that the company then implemented for this employee. Collectively, these eased the employee’s transition, ensured ongoing mental healthcare and established informal monitoring mechanisms that could provide alerts if the behaviors of concern resumed. The behaviors did not — and further harm and increased costs were averted. The company viewed this case as an opportunity to improve its security as well as its policies governing how to handle behaviors of concern and terminations.