Job Performance, Employment Terminations And Dishonest Employee Interviews Can Be Dangerous; Pre-employment Screening Can Make It Safer – Part 3

Pre-employment Screening- 4                                                                                          WC Blog 275
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Job Performance, Employment Terminations And Dishonest Employee Interviews Can Be Dangerous; Pre-employment Screening Can Make It Safer – Part 3
     Whoever thinks about a discussion with an employee as having the potential to be dangerous?  Well, I can look back over my career and I have had several instances of employees threatening me or themselves during job terminations and internal theft interviews.  I had one young man I was releasing for performance issues and during the discussion he pulled out a box cutter and threatened to kill himself.  I had several dishonest employees threaten to “get me later” as I was confronting them about their theft activity. I have even had an employee get mad at me when I was speaking with him about his job performance and what I expected of him to improve.  None of these are pleasant conversations. I much prefer to give praise or recognition, who doesn’t? The reality is, we as managers HAVE to have the tough talks with our employees and when we don’t we damage team morale since others feel they have to work harder. We damage the store reputation because that employee’s performance reflects how the business is run. If the person is stealing then obviously it hurts profits and if they are intimidating or dangerous it scares employees and customers.  If we have to have the really hard conversations involving job termination or employee theft, we have to prepare ourselves AND our environment.  I am going to give a few pointers on how you can be ready for the hard talks with your employees.  I do want to make a point first, if you aren’t using a background check company to conduct pre-employment screening before you are making hiring decisions, you could be making these talks harder and more dangerous.
     A background check company that does pre-employment screening investigates the pool of applicants you send them. They validate application information such as dates of employment, criminal history, education qualifications and even driving history checks. If the pre-employment screening turns up omissions, information such as a violent past, or contradictions, an employer can remove the applicant from consideration. This is the type of information you can use to help make your workplace safer.
     Tips to prepare for a conversation with an employee before talking to them about involvement in theft or the need to end their employment:
• Make notes on what it is the employee has or hasn’t done that has brought you to this point. If you haven’t reviewed your facts and you are addressing something out of suspicion or because you are angry, you can make an error and the employee can make strong rebuttals.
• Stay calm and don’t allow the employee to get your temper worked up. The employee may get mad or insulting, that is natural. Staying calm on your part diffuses the situation.
• If you conduct employee background checks, review the employee’s file for pertinent information you may have overlooked that could help you in challenging the employee’s defensive arguments.  Have the employee file with you, but it should be for your review, don’t offer to put it in the employee’s hands.
• Prepare the office space where the conversation will take place. The office and especially the desk should be sterile. Any loose object on a desk can be used as a weapon.  If the employee goes into a rage, you don’t want them to have an object available to throw or hit with.
• Have a witness sit in and take notes (or appear to take notes in the case of a termination).  The appearance of being outnumbered can be a deterrent to violence.
• Do sit so you have access to an exit.  If the employee becomes violent you don’t want to be trapped in the room.
• Be prepared with a cell phone and number to the police or ready to call 911 if the employee becomes violent or threatens violence.
• Report any threats by the employee to the police, even if you believe they are benign.  “I’m going to get you” is a general statement but should be reported to the police to have the report on file.
These are a few ways you can conduct a safer conversation and minimize the opportunity for violence. Conducting employee background checks through a background check company also minimizes the chance you will have that violent person on staff.
     Use employee background checks and pre-employment screening to improve your chances of hiring the best workers for your team.  You will reduce the number of negative conversations you will have to conduct and when you do have to conduct them you can be more confident you will be safe doing so.
Get more information on Pre-employment Screening, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.

Whoever thinks about a discussion with an employee as having the potential to be dangerous? Well, I can look back over my career and I have had several instances of employees threatening me or themselves during job terminations and internal theft interviews. I had one young man I was releasing for performance issues and during the discussion he pulled out a box cutter and threatened to kill himself. I had several dishonest employees threaten to “get me later” as I was confronting them about their theft activity. I have even had an employee get mad at me when I was speaking with him about his job performance and what I expected of him to improve. None of these are pleasant conversations. I much prefer to give praise or recognition, who doesn’t? The reality is, we as managers HAVE to have the tough talks with our employees and when we don’t we damage team morale since others feel they have to work harder. We damage the store reputation because that employee’s performance reflects how the business is run. If the person is stealing then obviously it hurts profits and if they are intimidating or dangerous it scares employees and customers. If we have to have the really hard conversations involving job termination or employee theft, we have to prepare ourselves AND our environment. I am going to give a few pointers on how you can be ready for the hard talks with your employees. I do want to make a point first, if you aren’t using a background check company to conduct pre-employment screening before you are making hiring decisions, you could be making these talks harder and more dangerous.     

 

A background check company that does pre-employment screening investigates the pool of applicants you send them. They validate application information such as dates of employment, criminal history, education qualifications and even driving history checks. If the pre-employment screening turns up omissions, information such as a violent past, or contradictions, an employer can remove the applicant from consideration. This is the type of information you can use to help make your workplace safer.     

 

Tips to prepare for a conversation with an employee before talking to them about involvement in theft or the need to end their employment:

• Make notes on what it is the employee has or hasn’t done that has brought you to this point. If you haven’t reviewed your facts and you are addressing something out of suspicion or because you are angry, you can make an error and the employee can make strong rebuttals.

• Stay calm and don’t allow the employee to get your temper worked up. The employee may get mad or insulting, that is natural. Staying calm on your part diffuses the situation.

• If you conduct employee background checks, review the employee’s file for pertinent information you may have overlooked that could help you in challenging the employee’s defensive arguments. Have the employee file with you, but it should be for your review, don’t offer to put it in the employee’s hands.

• Prepare the office space where the conversation will take place. The office and especially the desk should be sterile. Any loose object on a desk can be used as a weapon. If the employee goes into a rage, you don’t want them to have an object available to throw or hit with.

• Have a witness sit in and take notes (or appear to take notes in the case of a termination).  The appearance of being outnumbered can be a deterrent to violence.

• Do sit so you have access to an exit. If the employee becomes violent you don’t want to be trapped in the room.

• Be prepared with a cell phone and number to the police or ready to call 911 if the employee becomes violent or threatens violence.

• Report any threats by the employee to the police, even if you believe they are benign. “I’m going to get you” is a general statement but should be reported to the police to have the report on file.

These are a few ways you can conduct a safer conversation and minimize the opportunity for violence. Conducting employee background checks through a background check company also minimizes the chance you will have that violent person on staff.     

 

Use employee background checks and pre-employment screening to improve your chances of hiring the best workers for your team.  You will reduce the number of negative conversations you will have to conduct and when you do have to conduct them you can be more confident you will be safe doing so.

 

Get more information on Pre-employment Screening, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.