Regret

According to Psychology Today, the dominant emotions when feeling regret are shame and sadness. 

Regret can be caused by actions you’ve taken, or actions you failed to take. And between those two sources of regret, regret over inaction can last longer, and have a more devastating impact on the person experiencing it than regret over actions taken.

I bring this up, because I’ve seen the devastating impact that violence has on people. Too many times in fact. And I don’t want to see you, or any one else, experience that life altering devastation. 

For California business owners, California’s requirement that you establish, implement and maintain an effective workplace violence prevention program can feel like a major burden. There’s a lot to get done, and for someone unfamiliar with how violence happens, it can be pretty overwhelming.

So much so, that it just doesn’t get done. 

You’ve got to assess the safety hazards your employees face, you’ve got to identify ways to remediate those safety risks and then implement those processes. You’ve got to do an extensive amount of training on violence prevention and what to do if you’re physically attacked, including on what strategies to use to avoid physical harm.

And California requires all this be specific to your employees’ safety hazards and for you to involve them throughout the process. And that’s different from most other employment related issues, like sex harassment, where policy and training can be based upon a “thou shalt not” approach.

And, there’s another way that regret can filter in.

And that’s because there’s not just a legal obligation to create a safe work environment for your employees, but a moral one too. They work for you. It’s the right thing to do 

And from a business standpoint, you want them to be as productive as possible for you. So it falls to you to make sure they feel safe at work. Because there’s a direct correlation between feeling safe, and being productive. 

The safer employees feel. The more productive they are for you. And that’s good for your bottom line. 

So what happens if workplace violence prevention slips through the cracks, or falls by the wayside. After all California isn’t really enforcing the law yet, and one, or more, of your employees gets badly harmed or killed from a workplace violence incident. 

One that didn’t have to happen, or could have been safely handled if only you had created a workplace violence prevention program and trained your employees. 

Speaking for myself, the sense of regret would be overwhelming. To know that I could have helped the employee avoid that harm, but didn’t, would weigh heavily, day in and day out.

Maybe some business owners won’t care. But, those I know, would be feel a deep sadness, and shame.

Sure worker’s comp can address some of the financial burdens your employee faces as a result of the attack. 

But, that’s really a band aid. An after-the-fact panacea. And nothing more since the impact doesn’t just affect the employee, but families too. 

And it can affect your businesses’ bottom line too. For as much as six months or even longer if it’s really serious incident.

And as a business owner, if your revenue decreases for six months, because workplace violence prevention slipped through the cracks, your family’s well-being can be impacted too. Maybe you have to cancel a planned vacation or remodeling your house. 

And, there’s something else to think about too. Many business owners exempt themselves from the workplace violence prevention training they provide to their employees. 

And yet, business owners, as the face and brand of the business, are subjected to violence and threats of violence from employees, clients and customers, contractors, and from members of the public. 

And in today’s climate of grievance based anger, those threats have to be taken seriously, because attacks against business owners don’t just happen at the workplace, but at home, and while out in public too.  

As the business owner, someone with a axe to grind, whether real or imagine, will look for the easiest way to get to you. And that can be at your home.

And an attack at home, can harm your family, even if they themselves are not specifically targeted.

Further, business owners often do not have worker’s comp coverage for themselves. And let’s face it, health insurance coverage is not what it once was. So a significant attack, can cause untold financial strain on you as a business owner for a long time to come. 

It can also affect your ability to run your business.

And don’t forget regret. Especially from actions not taken. Being violently attacked, after choosing, as the owner, not to participate in workplace violence prevention training, or not getting any other type of safety training that would have helped you avoid the attack, or to defend yourself during the attack, can lead to significant regret. 

Especially because when you are victimized by a violent attack your family and your business are affected too.

That’s why prevention is so important. Once violence happens, you can’t put the genie back in the bottle. Its impact, including the regret it causes, can last for a very long time. 

Prefer to have someone handle establishing your work place violence prevention program from start to finish, I can do the work for you. Including: assessing your employees specific safety hazards, developing approaches that remediate those safety hazards, create a workplace violence prevention plan that meet and exceed California’s requirements, train a violence response team to be able to handle any incidents that occur, and provide all of the required workplace violence prevention trainings including on the most important, yet least understood, training on strategies to avoid physical harm from workplace violence.

I also provide single day VIP one-on-one, and small group intensive safety trainings, for business owners, who want to learn to keep safe from violence in a single day through a more personalized training experience.

You can schedule a free consultation to learn more about how I can help you and your employees be safe from workplace violence. or send me an email at [email protected]