Imagine the following scenario:
“Early one morning a man walks into his office building armed with a handgun, a shotgun and enough ammunition to start his own small war. He has had enough of being mistreated by his colleagues and supervisor and decided to show them what he is capable of. He decided to take his whole department and his supervisor hostage.
It all started two months ago when his wife left him and the quality of his work started to deteriorate. His supervisor didn’t listen to his side of the story and threatened to fire him if he did not perform. Nobody supported him and his colleagues called him a no good crazy nut. He submitted numerous requests for leave to sort out his life but it was turned down every time. He got fired from work and nothing seemed to matter anymore”.
How well do you know the people in your department? Do you know, and understand, if they have personal problems?
Most of us assume that being taken hostage will happen to someone else and never to me. There is however a tendency for people to become more violent in trying to solve their problems. Examples of this are the increase in assault, road rage, murders and even hostage takings. People seem to be taking the law into their own hands.
Taking people hostage is a serious crime, but more and more people try to use it as a means of solving their problems due to an acute level of frustration. Hostage taking is a political act for terrorists but a feeling act for people whom believe that injustices have been brought onto them.
If a person is taken hostage that person is held against his/her own will. This is normally done in order to gain a specific end result.
There are different types of hostage situations. Being kept hostage in an office is called a barricade situation because the hostages are kept within a confined space. There are also different kinds of hostage takers. Some plan a hostage taking well in advance, while others take hostages in the spur of the moment. The hostage taker in the scenario is called a “wronged person”. The wronged person is motivated by a sense of grievance resulting from some experience with society. They feel that they were not treated fairly. The grievance may be due to a single event or a series of events. These captors may display violent rage if provoked. If the hostages or authorities do not listen to them they might become violent and even kill hostages.
Have you ever heard that after a “bad incident”, like the scenario above, people will normally say something like: “He was such a nice guy; who would ever thought that he will do something that this” or “he was always a quiet and reserved person, I wouldn’t have seen him as the violent type”.
What can you do to prevent a scenario like the one mentioned or to be prepared should something similar happen? With hostage taking, the old saying of prevention is better than cure, is a wise option:
- Make sure that your HR processes are always in place, meaning to assist people experiencing personal problems, financial problems or any work related problem.
- Make time to listen to and to get to know your employees better. This way you will know when the person struggles with a problem.
- If an employee’s behaviour changes suddenly, try to find out why? Offer support or professional help if needed.
- Be emotionally prepared for dealing with a crisis situation. Anything can happen at any time, whether at work or home.
Whenever you find yourself in a situation like being described above, you can do the following:
- Do not argue with the hostage taker, it will only provoke him/her further.
- Listen to instructions and follow them.
- Do not try to be a hero.
- Do not tell the person what to do – it will be the last thing he/she would like to hear.
- Treat the captor with respect. Respect work both ways, if you respect them, they might start to respect you as a person.
- Display non-threatening behaviour. Keep your hands clear and do not make any sudden movements.
- Have faith that you will survive and be rescued. As soon as you start losing your faith, you lose the battle.
If you ever feel that life is becoming too much for you to deal with – do not take the law into your own hands! Speak to somebody that can help you. It might be a close friend, the minister at your church, a doctor or anybody that you trust. Help is always available.
Any kind of violent crime can be very traumatic and may have an effect on your personal and work life. It is very important to go for debriefing or counselling after such an incident.
Gerhard Schoeman - Industrial Psychologist