Hostility Threat Management. Fight, Flight, Security Posture, Workplace Violence

Hostility Threat Management. In order to completely grasp this topic it is important to understand the core emotion that may lead to hostility. That basic emotion which can act as a catalyst to hostility is anger. We will first define anger, differentiate it from the term hostility, then we can consider how to handle hostility in various situations that may present itself at the workplace.

Basically, anger is an emotional response to either internal or external factors that we may or may not have control over. It is also a response to perceived provocation or mistreatment. In other words, anger is transient. Anger does not lack and is not a constant way of behavior. It is not normally a regular emotion that we experience every hour of every day. Once the situation causing the anger disappears, the anger vanishes. It vanishes because it has no reason to stay. Hostility; on the other hand, is something that does not require a lot of provocation. It is more of a consistent attitude. One that is so consistent that it could be referred to as a habit. This habit is caused by cynicism and resentment.

Anger presents itself more often than hostility. Anger can be triggered by numerous things and each person has different triggers. People are faced with so many frustrating situations in life which makes it unlikely not to meet with someone who has aggression issues every day. It is important however that we understand how to deal with people like this as it will be a needed skill, it is something that we have to deal with on a daily basis. This knowledge is important for those in the workplace because they have to deal with people more often. It is therefore important that you fully master the act of self-control. When an aggressor tries to transfer the aggression to you, be quick to deflect it, doo not let it stay with you. The most effective way to do this is to have a complete mastery of response mechanisms as it is pertinent that a worker understands common trigger points. By trigger point I mean things that could get under his skin.

Without having complete control of your own emotions it might affect the other person’s response and that will escalate the whole situation. When a person successfully handles his own mood, he makes it very easy for the second person to be able to effectively manage his own mood. An employee in a work place only needs to understand that there is more to the attitude he is seeing. He needs to see that he is not really the enemy of the aggressor. It is just a matter of being caught in the line of fire. When he understands this, he will try not to take it too personally. One more thing a person faced with and aggressor should learn is the power of listening. You should learn to listen and pay attention. You should learn to understand the stressors of the aggressor as that will help you understand the peculiar circumstance of the aggressor, in other to deal with his weakness and in turn ultimately deescalate the situation. What the person mostly needs Is self-expression. He needs to express himself. The worker should assist him do that by asking the right questions and paying attention to the valid responses. Ignore the curse words or words that work to affect your mood negatively. Focus on the valid points being raised and dress the person based on those valid points.

The next skill to learn in order to deactivate negative energy in a room filled with people let us say in a place such as the organizations meeting of shareholders is going on. A board of directors meeting for instance and hostility ensues. How can one deal with that. Remember it is a meeting of equals so the approach will be different. You first need to understand the different set of people in the room. After making this distinction then you try to talk with the positive people in the room. Communicate with them first so as to stop the increase of aggression. After curbing the violence then try to work on the already hostile ones by using empathy and applying a little bit of humor-the reason for this is to calm the tension in the room.

Now after this the next stage is building rapport. You will build rapport by buying into the voice of the dissenters. Make them understand that you understand their concerns. Whether you feel it is legit or not, remember this is a meeting of equals not just a place you can readily shove ones idea under a rug.

The last and most dangerous type of insider threat is the active assailant. It is important that when faced with this type of insider threat confrontation is only the last option. Now it is important to see the signs of these impending dangers before they occur. Some coworkers can at some point begin to show overt resentment, or extreme agitation. Now as a worker you may begin to get anonymous threats, or you notice a colleague is showing a violent type of indiscipline either generally or directly towards you. It is for this reasons that a psyche evaluation department should be needed in almost every organization. When these signs or more comes to play a person should know that this is a huge mass of trouble building up that could result in something far worse if not handled on time. A person could also notice that a colleague is unusually obsessed with him, or generally acting irrationally. This should be warning signs that should make the person report to the right authority and disarm the situation at its infant stage. It should be observed that more than half of the active assailant situations that have been reported around the globe are usually carried out by a member of the organization.