Warning: This article is disturbing, but it has valuable information for everyone in an HR or leadership role who may be responsible for leading an organization through crisis.
In my 25+ years of HR, I have been involved in a number of workplace deaths and workplace shootings. There is no reason to approach the unusual as a situation for which you can’t prepare. Yes – crisis situations are rare, but you can and should be as informed as possible. This article was written based on my experiences and the experience of others.
The list below does not focus on what to do in the midst of the crisis. “Evacuate and call the police” is the typical guidance during the crisis – what I want to address is the aftermath of a serious incident, from an HR perspective, how you need to prepare yourself, and what you can do to help your employees recover quickly. Read each topic and be aware so you can react appropriately should you encounter such a situation.
1. You can prepare now: First, make sure your management team knows who to call in case of a crisis. Corporate protocols are valuable, but they will not be effective if individual leaders do not answer work cell phones on the weekend, or are too protective of their “personal time.” You may need to keep a list of personal cell phone numbers to be used only in case of emergency. (Run a practice crisis communications test to see how long it would take to personally contact every relevant leader on a Sunday morning.) Second, have a local leader develop a relationship with your local PD. The police will tend to over-secure any area during crisis – if they know you and have a sense of trust, that may provide an avenue for you to gain access to better support your associates
2. Prepare before you run out the door: In a local crisis, you will probably get a phone call that feels like a 9-1-1 call. As a leader, your presence is valuable at the scene, but you are not a first responder – arriving 15 minutes later to the scene is not going to make a difference - being prepared will make a difference. Assume you are going to be onsite for 12 hours, potentially out in the weather. A number of things to consider bringing: laptop, cell phone, phone chargers, identification, business cards, digital camera, suntan lotion, granola bars and a small cooler with cold water.
3. Expect Chaos: Unless you have been part of a police response to a crisis before, you will not be prepared. Streets may be closed and you may have to sneak around (driving through parking lots) in order to get close to your facility. If the police have established a perimeter, respect the perimeter until you have permission to enter. Police Officers tend to react quite negatively to people rushing in, especially when they are amped by the adrenalin of crisis – you will want to keep that relationship positive.
4. Anticipate a Lock Down: There are a number of reasons that you may not simply be able to let employees go home. You may have a business to run, but more likely, the police will want to speak to witnesses. Typically, police will lock down any nearby parking lots making it nearly impossible for employees to go home. You will also need to anticipate that many employees will have evacuated without purses, car keys, house keys, cell phones, etc. If the building is not accessible, a good relationship with the police will facilitate gaining entry to retrieve belongings.
5. Establish an Inside Staging Area: Assuming you have access to your building, you will probably be able to provide an appropriate place for employees to wait. Sometimes the police will have taken over your building and you will have employees outside exposed to the weather and the press. If need be, make a quick decision to commandeer a space nearby for employees to wait. It can be a conference room in a hotel, the back room in a restaurant, or even just take over a fast food restaurant. Usually, it amounts to handing over a credit card and letting the manager know to just run a tab. (At one incident a number of years ago, I ran a tab north of $2,000 at a local diner.)
6. Prepare for puke: I am being very literal here – you need to be prepared for a messy scene. When people are confronted with life-threatening situations under extreme stress, especially an armed incursion, they have a tendency to throw up and/or lose control of bodily functions. I provide this warning because your outward calmness as a leader is important – that is hard to do if you are reacting in shock to seeing what you will see. Also, be aware that cleaning up the situation may require hazmat or outside cleaning contractors.
7. Make sure someone takes charge: I have found that regardless of the situation, and the number of leaders in attendance, there is very little being done in the first hours as everyone is in some form of shock paralysis. Once you have been able to assess the situation, don’t hesitate to be overly directive about what needs to be done. The more specific, the better – especially because when you call someone for help in a crisis, they may not want to push for specifics. Even a simple direction like “bring some food – we have some hungry employees out here” can result in someone arriving without what you need. Job titles and rank is irrelevant – if you need the Senior VP to drive an employee home, you need to take the lead and give that direction.
8. Talking Points – “We Had an Incident” – Communicated to ALL EMPLOYEES: Do not let employees repeat the detailed story of what happened – and definitely prohibit the use of the word “gun” or “shooting.” Everyone tends to think “that could have been me” – reliving a tragic incident can only cause additional stress. Make the language simple, repeatable, give it to all associates, and let everyone know that whatever gets asked by outsiders, the press, or even coworkers, they should simply repeat the talking points. “We had an incident in the building. The police responding quickly which prevented loss of life. Out of respect for everyone, we will not be discussing any more details. We want to focus on supporting our employees and reopening so we can support our customers and the community.” Giving all employees the talking points will keep witnesses from having to repeat the detailed story (and re-live the stress.). I found that when every employee has something that they are supposed to say, they will say that versus tell their own story.
9. Viewing video is need-to-see only: Security cameras will usually capture any event. Do not allow associates to see the video and don’t watch it yourself unless there is a business need. Your self-discipline will encourage others to do the right thing too. Many people have regrets (and reactions) after viewing troubling videos.
10. Leave counseling to the professionals: Regardless of your training, unless you are qualified in post-crisis counseling, don’t do it. Many companies bring in professionals – It is important that you prepare your associates for the role that the EAP professionals will play in the facility. Many employees will hear that you are bring in “counsellors” and then be bothered that they are not offered the old-school 45 minutes on the couch. The role of Employee Assistance Program professionals is to triage your employees to determine if anyone needs real psychiatric assistance.
11. Leadership presence is important: Immediately after the incident and for some period of time, employees will appreciate the presence of senior leadership. Plan on being where your employees are – let them know you are there to support them, but resist the temptation to ask if the employee was a direct witness. If the employee wants to share, they will, but don’t encourage them to repeat the story and re-live the event unless that is something they want to do. One other note . . . have a conversation with leadership about appropriate tone when they are in the facility. Some people (even good leaders) react to stress in strange ways, especially if they are confronting their first crisis event. Apologize up front to avoid offense, but make sure that everyone knows they must come across serious.
12. Fix payroll before anyone asks: Do not wait for your employees to ask about payroll and getting paid for hours. Assign someone to fix all the pay records, and let your employees know that the assigned person is making sure that all employees are being paid for whatever hours they were scheduled or worked, whichever is greater. Then, have the same person follow up with each employee to confirm that their hours for the week of the crisis incident are accurate.
13. Manage the memorial: If you have had a death, a makeshift memorial will be established – there is no way to avoid it. Pick a place that is the least disruptive, preferable somewhere respectful but also not in a place where every employee has to walk by it every day. Even 10 yards off the main entrance can avoid an emotionally shaky employee from having to relive what happened every day. Once it starts, place a small professional sign that let’s everyone know that you will be collecting items left at the memorial and delivering them to the family on the day of the funeral or at a specific date in the future. This will avoid angst about if and when the items are removed.
14. Have a plan for donations: In many situations, your employees and the community will want to donate to help the victims. Individuals will also look to the Company to donate - depending on the nature of your business, some may look for you to offer products or services at a discount. Identify an individual (preferably not located in the same city) who will be your main contact for all donation requests. A standard response will help avoid touchy political situations: "Mary Jones in Home Office Human Resources is handling all issues regarding donations and will be coordinating with the appropriate relief agencies. She can be reached at . . . " It is critical that you keep the amount of any donations confidential - understand that there is no amount that any company would donate that would not seem small relative to sales and/or earnings.
15. Discourage Multiple Funeral Attendance: Trauma professionals develop coping mechanisms to protect themselves from the emotional impact of death - for the rest of us, we view attending the funeral as our way "getting closure." Under normal circumstances, when an employee dies, factors that contribute to attendance include the person's tenure, relationship with coworkers and the location of the funeral. When employees or others are victims of a shooting at work, there is a much greater chance that the vast majority of employees will want to attend. And given the nature of tragic situations, the victims are more likely to be younger, potentially with children. If there are multiple victims, HR leadership should take steps to subtly discourage employees from attending multiple funerals. This can take the form of organizing a simple Company memorial time and letting employees know that representatives are attending the funerals. (I attended three funerals the same week - all three were survived by parents, two of of the three had children. As an HR leader, I thought I should be at each funeral to represent the Company. I was not psychologically prepared for the impact that attending all three events would have on me.)
This post will be updated from time-to-time, but feel free to distribute it or use it in training. The goal is to get HR professionals to think about what can be done to allow employees and organizations to recover more quickly from crisis.