Workplace Risk and Threats

Arguably the most important marker of work place risk is Engagement. The more engaged employees are, the greater their satisfaction and commitment to the organisation. It sounds simple, but employee engagement is often a barometer for the level of risk and threat that exists within a workplace. The more staff are disengaged and disconnected, the more likely that corners will be cut and lax work practices will occur. It’s a simple formula:

Unfortunately, a range of statistics suggest that there are widespread problems across many organisations that expose businesses to variety of risk and potential threats. Recent findings have shown an array of issues from bullying to fraud occurring. Some of these things include:

Bullying

1 in 6 employees affected by bullying (Nielsen et al., 2010)
15% of employees in the UK report experiencing bullying in last 3 years (CIPD, 2020)

Harassment

19% of women & 13% of men report experiencing harassment (Hango & Moyser, 2018)

Toxicity

$223 billion in US - cost of toxicity in the workplace in turnover alone (SHRM, 2019)
1 in 10 organisations hired a person despite known red flag in background (ACFE, 2018)

Fraud

Yearly global fraud approx. 7.1 billion (ACFE, 2018)
70% of corruption perpetrated by those in positions of authority (ACFE, 2018)

Disengagement and Distrust

Actively disengaged employees cost organisations $450-550 billion every year in lost productivity, about 34% of each employee’s salary (Gallup, Forbes, 2020)
Trusted workplaces show 50% more productivity and 13% fewer sick days (Gallup, 2020)

Screen Shot 2022-09-01 at 4.06.39 PM.png

The reality is most of the detected corporate crime falls within the ‘amateur’ category - often disorganised and with poor cover-up attempts. The ‘sophisticated’ perpetrator shows greater forensic awareness and is able to continue the fraud or deceit for a longer period before detection. While lastly, offenders committing complex and large scale corporate crime are classified as ‘untouchable’. They are able to successfully dupe high numbers of people, with their character often beyond reproach or questioning. This type of ‘untouchable’ corporate crime has been exemplified by the likes of Bernie Madoff or more recently, Elizabeth Holmes.

How Can We Help?

Our team are available to provide a range of services in relation to workplace risks and threats.

There are a range of services available, including:

An external threat review
Indirect personality assessment
Administration of workplace threat or violence tools for specific issues or conflict
Development of threat management policies and practices
Training relating to the identification of workplace threat
Conflict management plans
‘An independent ‘Lessons Learnt’ review following a workplace incidents