Beware of Employee’s Revenge. Sounds like a new horror movie, doesn’t it? Or perhaps some kind of viral infection that keeps the line forming in front of the powder rooms. But, all jokes, aside, Employees Revenge is very real.
According to Jared Shelly, in his article in Human Resources Executive, an employee may respond to a perceived slight or injustice by either backstabbing his colleagues or bad mouthing his employer. He may try to get a fellow worker fired. A disgruntled employee may try to sabotage his employer’s business. He could steal proprietary information or valuable data. An extensive, fifteen year study was conducted by Robert Bies and Tom Tripp, professors at Washington State University Vancouver, and Georgetown University, respectively. The two men have just completed their book, “Getting Even, The Truth About Workplace Revenge and How to Stop It. The authors interviewed more than 2,000 workers at over 100 companies. One conclusion they drew as that people are more worried today, as they are concerned with survival and the possibility of losing their jobs.
We suggest that this is a book well worth reading. This is a serious considering, workplace revenge and the possibility of damage to morale in the workforce and liability issues. While less frequent, there is also the possibility that a disgruntled worker will resort to violence.
Background checks will reveal the more obvious criminal records and behavior patterns. Incisive interviews will further discovery and clarify some of the issues regarding personality and skill sets. But in this economic climate, one can never be certain what a disgruntled employee will do in order to seek revenge. As they say, there is a first time for everything.
