Dealing with aggression in the workplace
Many employees encounter some form of aggression at work sooner or later – and that often has serious physical and emotional consequences. Short- or long-term sickness absence may follow.
Your challenge as an employer is to protect your employees to the best of your ability. You can start by creating a safe, connecting workplace. A strong aggression policy will point you in the right direction. The IDEWE Group can help you prevent aggression in the workplace and show you how to respond in the appropriate manner.
On this page:
- What is aggression in the workplace?
- What are the different types of aggression?
- What are the possible consequences?
- What does the law say about aggression in the workplace?
- What happens if an employee still has to deal with aggression?
- Why should organisations implement an aggression policy?
- How IDEWE can help you to deal with aggression in the workplace better?
What is aggression in the workplace?
Aggression at work is a form of unacceptable behaviour. This means that someone’s behaviour goes beyond what colleagues believe is acceptable.
What are the different types of aggression?
There are three main forms of aggression:
- verbal aggression – Insulting, yelling, swearing, etc.
- physical aggression – Punching, kicking, pushing, etc.
- psychological aggression – Verbal or written threats, extortion, etc.
We also make a distinction between:
- internal aggression – aggression between colleagues. An internal procedure is available through the confidential counsellor and the prevention advisor on psychosocial aspects.
- aggression by third parties – aggression by customers, citizens, clients, patients, visitors, suppliers and so on. These situations require a different type of support from the organisation.
Bullying and harassment are also classed as aggression.
How to prevent aggression at work ?
Seek support, from awareness-raising materials and training courses to a tailored aggression policy.
What are the possible consequences?
Employees, who are exposed to aggression, experience lower psychosocial wellbeing. They are less satisfied, less engaged and have a lower intention to stay. At the same time, there is an increased risk of work-related absenteeism, stress, detachment and burnout.
A preventive aggression policy combats these negative consequences and contributes to increased efficiency, higher turnover and fewer conflicts.
What does the law say about aggression in the workplace?
Every organisation is legally obliged to implement an aggression policy. This is set out in the Belgian Codex on employee wellbeing (Book I.3 Prevention of psychosocial risks at work). Identify the risks within your organisation by starting with a risk assessment on psychosocial aspects.
Employers have had to pay for specialist support following an incident of aggression since the Belgian Wellbeing Act was introduced in 1996. It is, therefore, crucial that employers develop and offer support and after-care options to employees.
Develop an aggression policy that strengthens your organisation
What happens if an employee still has to deal with aggression?
A combination of preventive actions and targeted support is essential after an incident. Below are some tips for an effective approach:
- Provide proper support and after-care. This can be done informally by the manager and colleagues to start with. Let your colleague tell the story and listen, without judging. Continue to monitor the situation following the incident and refer your colleague to specialists if the incident continues to have an impact. Some incidents can affect someone deeply.
- Don't forget their colleagues. Immediate colleagues can also be affected by an incident of aggression. They may feel more anxious and insecure, for example. Make sure their feelings can be discussed in team meetings and ask about what they need to be able to move forward. Make the subject of aggression a fixed agenda item during team meetings.
- Do not simply ignore minor incidents. As an organisation, you should also take note of incidents of aggression that seem trivial. Repeated minor incidents can become increasingly serious and eventually have an impact that is far greater than one major incident.
- Focus on a structural policy. Make sure that agreements, responsibilities and after-care are clear and that all employees are familiar with your policy. This allows you to create an organisation where safety, trust and professionalism are at the heart of everything you do.
- Train your employees. Targeted training helps your employees learn to switch between different approaches to dealing with aggression, enabling them to regain control of a tense situation.
Why should organisations implement an aggression policy?
Not only is it a legal requirement to implement an aggression policy (Codex I.3 Prevention of psychosocial risks at work), having such a policy also means that:
- your employees are less exposed to aggression.
- there are fewer accidents at work.
- your organisation works more efficiently and achieves better results.
- sickness absence following aggression falls.
How IDEWE can help you to deal with aggression in the workplace better
Protecting your employees against aggression at work is an ongoing process of monitoring and readjustment. To support you, IDEWE has developed the ‘Dealing with workplace aggression better’ solution flow. This comprehensive solution offers your organisation guidance before, during and after incidents of aggression.
The solution flow consists of four phases:
- Gain insight. Map out which incidents of aggression have occurred and how you are currently addressing them.
- Design a policy. Define a clear approach to preventing aggression. That way, your employees know exactly what to do when faced with aggression. Be sure to take after-care and support into account to help employees process what happened.
- Take appropriate action. Translate your aggression policy into specific actions to improve your employees’ sense of security. Address risky situations in a targeted manner, for example, or make aggression a fixed agenda item during team meetings.
- Share your approach. Your aggression policy will not be truly effective unless it reaches everyone. Make sure you continue to raise awareness among your employees. This also means that you will teach them to deal with aggression more effectively.
IDEWE can offer you tailored support at any stage of your journey. Discover our range of packages.
Why choose IDEWE?
- Preventive approach – We believe prevention is better than cure. IDEWE offers proactive support to prevent aggression and, at the same time, ensures equally that you can provide the appropriate after-care if your employees are still faced with acts of aggression.
- Tailored solutions – We offer four packages to support your organisation in dealing with aggression, from awareness-raising materials and training courses to a tailored aggression policy.
- Highly qualified staff – Thanks to their experience in dealing with aggression, our prevention advisors offer psychosocial support that produces instant results. Practical, relevant and tailored to your organisation.