7 Reasons Why Most Workplace Violence Plans Are Flawed From the Beginning
Like many policies, procedures, and programs designed and implemented in the corporate environment, workplace violence plans are typically designed by individuals, groups, or committees with absolutely no knowledge, understanding, or background in handling violence or aggression. And, as any self-protection expert, police officer, or soldier will tell you…
…what seems logical, rational, and sounds like it should work in a planning session, is usually exactly the opposite when the brown stuff is hitting the fan!
Here are 7 reasons why most workplace violence action plans are all-but worthless, especially when actual violence is occurring.
1. The individual or group charged with creating the plan has no background in the subject of effectively dealing with violence and aggression. As a result, their plan includes ineffective training or, worse yet, no training at all!
2. Everyone assumes that irrational and violent people can be rationed with.
3. Plans and policies like this are often nothing more than feel-good, cover-our-butt maneuvers designed to garner a promotion, a feather in someone’s cap, or as a company’s PR move.
4. Everyone’s focus is on prevention and not on troubleshooting. As a result, attention is placed on the prevention at the front-end and the reporting and disciplinary procedures at the back-end – leaving a huge hole in the middle!
5. Consultants are hired based on their own company size and prestige, rather than their background in dealing with danger and violence
6. Plans are limited to passive elements like banned weapons lists, zero-tolerance statements, and reporting policies, and totally avoid physical response in the case of an incident that was beyond prevention, and…
7. Workplace violence plans, like many elements of the business world, are governed and limited by budgets… until it’s too late!
And… like Virginia Tech, experts are again called in to look at…
…all the wrong things!
The good news is that, for most companies, your workplace violence plan doesn’t need to be scrapped. Chances are, it just needs to be completed. And once it has the necessary elements to balance it out, you will really have what you set out to have in the first place – a “liability-control” device.
While it may seem to be cheaper and more cost-effective to only focus on what everyone else is doing, it’s not everyone else’s business we’re talking about – it’s yours! And the cost, financially and otherwise, that can result from a workplace violence incident, can devastate a company. Sometimes for permanently.
The time and attention put into this policy, will be time well spent. Trust me. When you get this done right, and when your plan is complete…
…you’ll rest easier….
…your company will be a lot safer, and…
…you’re employees will have more faith and trust in you when you say you care.
Jeffrey M. Miller is the founder and CEO of Warrior Concepts International. He is a consultant and trainer in the area of workplace violence defensive tactics training and liability-conscious, conflict resolution. He can be reached through his website at www.wcinternational.com. Media and corporate inquiries should call (in the US and Canada) (570) 988-2228.
Corporate Relocating? 3 Ways To Save On Time And Unexpected Costs
Moving of any kind is never easy. Corporate relocation or even small company relocation is never simple! If you think moving your home and family from state to state is difficult try moving an entire company filled with employees. If you’re managing the project or considering taking on that task, then you need to know that your number one goal in a corporate move is to be as time and cost-efficient as possible to keep things running as smooth as possible. I have some tips that may work for you as it did for my company move.
First, don’t fool yourself into thinking that it’s o big deal. I have found that in order to increase the efficiency of a corporate move, you really need to have complete knowledge of what your new location will be like. You need to know how to rearrange the office to function efficiently as it did before. Will everything from machinery to employees have a place? The sooner you can implement routine the sooner employees can adjust.
I know it may seem like no big deal because you planned and executed a household move so why should a corporate move be any different. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that it’s that simple. Just like you would hire trained professionals to come and pack up your house contents you need to understand that there are companies that do just that for businesses, big or small, that know that it takes more than just packing a few boxes to get your company moved and set up again quickly so that your company can start to function again.
Second, don’t go it alone. Have you seriously given any consideration to what exactly goes into corporate relocating? You might want to consider consulting with specialized relocation companies who are trained in the handling of many aspects of corporate relocating, from logistics, packing, locating new housing for employees and office space the business moves of any size. This specialized and trained group of individuals can help from one employee to an entire office that is why it’s so important and crucial in finding a company who provides relocation solutions and who’s well-established and diverse in dealing with customers around the world. Isn’t that the important key element here, to start making money again?
Third, as an employee know what costs you’re responsible for. When it comes to relocating employees be aware that sometimes the company doesn’t cover all the costs involved with the move. Typically in a corporate relocation situation the company covers most or all of the moving costs, but it may or may not cover all the costs you will have incurred during the moving process. As you make plans for relocating, be sure you consider the following 5 questions:
1. What are the actual moving costs and are the moving costs paid by your employer?
2. Does this involve packing the entire household?
3. What if you own a boat, car or other vehicles?
4. Does the company pay to relocate those items as well?
5. Who will pay all or part of closing costs from the home you’re leaving to the home you will be moving into?
If your company decided to hire a professional company and you find that you’re in a situation where your company is not paying all the expenses, talk to your corporate relocation expert who is handling the relocation. These experts are trained and can provide you cost-of-living comparisons between your old and new homes, plus resources for spouse job searches, child and elder care. Take advantage of that to help you transition at your new location a bit easier for you and your family.
Planning is vital to a successful move. If you feel that you can’t really afford to hire professionals for the move look into a firm that offers consulting as an option. If you’re able to get a plan on what steps you need to take in order to plan out what will work for you then you can probably relocate your company without unnecessary troubles. Using a relocation company specialist will help guide you through a move and assist in servicing all of your moving needs with experts on staff to assist in every move,
At Damovers you can find tips and advise for all your Corporate Relocation Services and many Corporate Relocation Company to compare rates and services, as well as Data Center Relocation moving solutions for consumers, corporations and the government.
Unsecured Business Lines of Credit Harder to Come By
Small businesses are finding it more difficult to obtain financing and are the ones most adversely affected by the lending crunch because they are unable to obtain intermediate business lines of credit. Although the Fed has made concessions which include short term loans in the amount of $100 billion, small business owners have yet to benefit.
For the first time in decades credit is especially tight as the bursting of the housing bubble has spread misery across the financial system. Banks and investors become wary of lending funds to corporations, thereby driving up the price of debt products for borrowers.
Credit crunches are usually considered to be an extension of recessions. A credit crunch makes it nearly impossible for companies to borrow because lenders are scared of bankruptcies or defaults, which results in higher rates. The consequence is a prolonged recession (or slower recovery), which occurs as a result of the shrinking credit supply.
This credit crunch is unlike any other in the fact that banks actually have the money to lend but are scared to right very many loans. Banks are opting to play it safe by adhering to their strict requirements of a 680 credit score or higher and requesting tax returns for business lines of credit as low as $10,000. Before the credit crunch, it wasn’t uncommon to obtain a business line of credit with a 620 and tax returns weren’t required (except for lines over $50,000).
Doug Eddings, a 35-year-old small-business owner in Portland, OR, says three of his credit-card issuers all took steps in recent weeks to tighten his credit, either by raising his interest rate, halving his available credit or freezing his accounts. First, he received a notice from Chase in June notifying him that it was going to raise the interest rate on his Chase Amazon card to 29% from 17%. Soon after, another lender, HSBC Holdings PLC’s HSBC North America, dropped his $5,000 credit line on his Best Buy store card to $2,105 — just $5 above his current balance.
So what is a business in need of a loan to do? The best alternative in any market condition is to obtain trade lines of credit. Subsequently, trade lines of credit are the largest source of lending in the world, but the banks won’t tell you that. Trade credit is the extension of credit between two corporations. For instance, if you needed to buy a $10,000 copier, you could either obtain a line of credit from the bank and pay prime plus or go directly to the manufacture of the copy machine and ask them to sell you a copier on terms.
In most cases, the terms are more favorable and the requirements are less stringent because trade creditors don’t require personal guarantees (but they do require borrowers to be in compliance). Compliance is a set of standards that must be met to be considered a legitimate business.
We are different than many of our competitors because we only deal with creditors who do not require a personal guarantee. Secondly we give our customers our entire list of 135 creditors who fit this criteria. For more information about business lines of credit, trade lines of credit and compliance requirements, visit www.iusecorporatecredit.com