Public Sector - Dealing with Unprofessional Behaviour

[Sanitary Stache]

I am looking for some training or education resources to address unprofessional behavior from people outside your organization. I work in the public sector often with insular civil engineers, rural high school graduates responsible for maintaining the public health of thousands of people, sometimes with volunteer boards, and sometimes with the public. 

This industry and geographic location is a hidden well of sexism and racism in an otherwise liberal bastion of progressivism. Hidden because these behaviors are rarely overt.  A well because they are always present.  This dynamic results in highly educated young women regulating a group of confrontational old men with public health on the line.

We are trying to arm ourselves with the tools to handle the situation.  There isn't really much discussion of trying to change it, just equip ourselves with the tools to identify when someone is behaving unprofessionally and either diffuse the situation or end it - we generally have a handle on protecting public health.

Most of the trainings we can find on the subject deal with unprofessional behavior within an organization.  This is a little different because we can't force training on the offenders, and only need training and tools to deal with them in the field or at meetings or in correspondence.

Any ideas?

[Metalcat]

Oof, that's a tough one.

The only thing I can think of is assertiveness training, moderator training, conflict management training, basically providing these staff with skills for commanding and managing unruly groups, and skills for diffusing hostile situations.

It all comes down to how seriously your employer takes this and how much in terms of resources they'll willing to allocate to manage the issue.

[Sanitary Stache]

@Malcat Thanks for the guidance.  I'll refine my searches to your suggestions and see what I can find.

We are mostly talking about hiring someone to create a custom training, but we don't have much in the way of points of reference for what to ask to be in the training.

[Metalcat]

@Malcat Thanks for the guidance.  I'll refine my searches to your suggestions and see what I can find.

We are mostly talking about hiring someone to create a custom training, but we don't have much in the way of points of reference for what to ask to be in the training.

In that case I would focus on hiring someone who has expertise in training people to handle aggressive groups. A lot of people have to do that professionally, so there is good, established training out there for those skills.

[LaineyAZ]

An interesting topic, and I'd like to see what your ultimate training solutions are.

My .02 from working for several decades in different office settings is that any new work processes must have the buy-in of the staff and then uniform reinforcement by management, no exceptions. 

I know you are being vague as to the exact problem due to internet privacy concerns, but I'm imagining there are scenarios where a worker is asked to accommodate users who are prejudiced in some way. 

It reminds me of an anecdote I read (maybe this forum, not sure) where a restaurant was getting slammed by "Karens" who were demanding their meal be comped for some flimsy reason or another.  The restaurant operated under the mantra that the customer was always right, and it became known as a place where you could eat cheaply or even free if you complained.  Then the restaurant switched to new management who decided that policy would no longer be in effect.  When the Karens realized they were going to have to pay their full meal tab despite their bitching, they left to eat elsewhere and the restaurant was calm and profitable again. 

So in that vein, I hope your workplace can accomplish what they need to do and keep everything positive going forward.

[SwordGuy]

Great book, helps you understand problem people and what motivates them and how to deal with them:

https://www.amazon.com/Dealing-People-Stand-Revised-Expanded/dp/0071785728/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=dealing+with+people+you+can%27t+stand&qid=1624576471&s=books&sr=1-3

Now that the serious recommendation is out of the way...

As for the bigotry, you're probably stuck with that.   I've seen a few articles about dominatrices reprogramming conservative bigots but you're not going to get budget approval for those services in the public sector and who would want to (YUCK!) handle that task as a DIY exercise.   Maybe one would take them on as a public service if they need new clients...

[partgypsy]

And as an aside, there is doing your job, but no job is worth placing yourself at risk. I work at the VA, and while verbal, even physical abuse of patients towards providers was overlooked to some degree because of the goal to provide healthcare to ALL veterans it's no longer the case. So, should also be education, of employees don't have to expose themselves to abuse to do their job.i have no idea if there are any "levers" to work on the people who are being abusive however.

[norajean]

Your description of the problem is too vague for anyone to assist.

[chasingthegoodlife]

If your goal is to support your own staff in dealing with these people, perhaps also consider what opportunities are available for ‘debriefing’ after a difficult contact. It won’t change the stakeholder’s behaviour, but will help to maintain staff wellbeing.

[RetiredAt63]

I also don't know your area, but signs are posted at reception at both my doctor's and dentist's offices that rude/aggressive  behaviour will not be tolerated.  So, advance warning, as it were.  Since I  am not rude, aggressive or violent I don't know how they enforce it.

[Sanitary Stache]

I appreciate all the input!

The discussion here and recommendations have definitely helped me better define what trainings to look for and also what the problem is.  @norajean I think my description is too vague because I am confused as to what the problem is as well as what the solution is.  I am starting to think that the problem isn't that some people will behave unprofessionally (aggressive, physical confrontation, lying, sexually suggestive, etc.), but more that our staff feels unsupported in dealing with these situations when they come up.  Maybe the training is just as much for the staff who have to experience the situation as for the people who need to provide support to those on the front lines, as it were.  One of the main complaints is that in the few instances we have had to deal with this, the solution has been to assign a new staff member to work with the problem client.  That hasn't been a satisfactory response and we need training to understand what is an appropriate response, or training on how to create an appropriate response.

I am going to pass some ideas back to my workgroup that look like:

Consider hiring a trainer with experience training people to handle aggressive groups. Other training topics could include: "assertiveness training, moderator training, conflict management training, basically providing these staff with skills for commanding and managing unruly groups, and skills for diffusing hostile situations." Thanks @Malcat

Formalize internal training to reinforce that "employees don't have to expose themselves to abuse to do their job". Thanks @partgypsy

Provide advance warning that unprofessional behavior will not be tolerated. Thanks @RetiredAt63

Clarify the goal of the training - To train the organization to support staff in addressing unprofessional behavior from outside the organization? To train Staff to recognize unprofessional behavior? To train staff to address unprofessional behavior in the moment?

Also, consider a debriefing protocol for difficult contacts to help maintain staff wellbeing.  Thanks @chasingthegoodlife

Potential reading recommendation (possibly related trainings?) Dealing with People You Can’t Stand, Revised and Expanded Third Edition: How to Bring Out the Best in People at Their Worst Thanks @SwordGuy

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.  This is a great community, full of insightful, helpful, and very smart people.

[Sibley]

It's probably not too dissimilar from retail managers supporting/not supporting the grocery store employers over the past year or so - lots of bad behavior from customers of all sorts. Maybe look at what's been coming out of that sector, see if you can apply anything to your situation.

And if your managers are just letting customers get away with things because they don't want to deal with it - they are part of the problem too.

[partgypsy]

Reminded me of this article, of a Reddit AITA? posted by the manager/owner.
Fired a male employee for not delivering where female employees felt unsafe delivering.
The correct response would be to: cut off that customer, than force employees to work in that situation.
https://percolately.com/fired-refuse-deliver-feel-unsafe/

[ltt]

Is your organization in a position where they can let the client go?  I would assume one phone call from someone running the place to let the person know of their unprofessional behavior would put an end to it. 

The thing about unprofessional behavior is that while your organization may see it as such, is that other people do not.  Most people, you'd think, would have common sense about what that entails, but it simply doesn't.  We've gradually devolved into a society where pretty much anything goes and more nonsense is tolerated.

Do as the airlines do and start banning people.

I will say, on the other hand, that we again, as a culture, wanted an educated society.  So, what did people do, they went out and got degrees of all kinds.  So, you are probably going to be up against a wall in terms of educated people who aren't necessarily going to be listening to you.  Just my 2 cents. :)

[Tinker]

Any ideas?

have you tried talking to those people to find out where they're coming from?

[RetiredAt63]

Just thought I would update my earlier post.  I called my doctor's office yesterday, and in the recorded message is a statement that verbal or physical abuse will not be tolerated. Further, verbal abuse over the phone will result in immediate termination of the call.

I thought that was interesting - be rude on the phone and we will hang up on you.  DD did phone service years ago and people were incredibly rude and nasty. She was not allowed to hang up on them, so there was no penalty for the callers.

Sad that in "polite Canada" this is necessary, but they are very upfront about it.

[norajean]

I have a friend who works at a busy pharmacy. Customers have nearly daily melt downs when their insurance won’t pay for their meds. They curse and scream racial epithets. Anything goes. The staff just smile and repeat themselves, even apologize. Eventually the customer goes away.

I wouldn’t last long in retail as I would have to tell people off.

[LaineyAZ]

Just thought I would update my earlier post.  I called my doctor's office yesterday, and in the recorded message is a statement that verbal or physical abuse will not be tolerated. Further, verbal abuse over the phone will result in immediate termination of the call.

I thought that was interesting - be rude on the phone and we will hang up on you.  DD did phone service years ago and people were incredibly rude and nasty. She was not allowed to hang up on them, so there was no penalty for the callers.

Sad that in "polite Canada" this is necessary, but they are very upfront about it.

Glad to read this.  I wish this was the norm in all of the job positions that involve working directly with customers.   

[nedwin]

Based on the brief description of your work environment (insular civil engineers, high school graduates responsible for public health), I suspect you work in water treatment with local government or quasi-governmental entities.  If that is the case, I would suggest reporting intolerable behavior to the local government's HR, city/town manager, or other position with direct management authority over the offender.  Local governments often take discrimination and harassment seriously, as it can create significant liability even where the behavior is directed at someone who is not also an employee.  This applies equally to large corporations that have need for water treatment expertise, and you may get faster responses from the private sector.

Similar to RetiredAt63's post, you can also draft into your service contract the ability to terminate or stop work if you are facing intolerable behavior.  This provides your organization with some leverage over your client's employee's behavior, and allows you to remove your employees from the situation.  Good luck!

[Metalcat]

Just thought I would update my earlier post.  I called my doctor's office yesterday, and in the recorded message is a statement that verbal or physical abuse will not be tolerated. Further, verbal abuse over the phone will result in immediate termination of the call.

I thought that was interesting - be rude on the phone and we will hang up on you.  DD did phone service years ago and people were incredibly rude and nasty. She was not allowed to hang up on them, so there was no penalty for the callers.

Sad that in "polite Canada" this is necessary, but they are very upfront about it.

Covid has made patients fucking insane.

I mean, I used to handle abusive patients all the time. It was nothing for me, I love the aggressive patients, they were actually my favourite, all of the doctors I worked with loved that they could dump their assholes onto me.

However, covid has made people insane. I retired right when it started, but I see my old colleagues regularly and the absolute batshit insanity they are dealing with these days is well beyond even my former stable of aggro assholes. I'm grateful every day I don't have to weather the onslaught of unpredictable and irrational abuse my colleagues are suffering daily as they struggle to work under much shittier and scarier conditions than normal.

I'm not surprised that clinics are proactively putting up policies about abuse, because the way people are treating medical professionals right now is inhumane.

[RetiredAt63]

Malcat, the signs at my clinic may be earlier than Covid.  I know I saw signs at Service Ontario, and its been a while since I renewed anything in person. Not since I sold the house, I think, and that was summer of 2019.

Yeats and years ago I had to call my internet service provider's help desk.  It was late in the evening, and an hour later in NB where they were located.  Things were quiet and I ended up chatting with the rep.  He said he used to work for one of the big providers and almost all the callers were angry and rude.  Working for a rural service provider almost all his callers were polite, unhappy but polite.  He thought it was rural versus urban.  I'm not so sure, because I see bad behaviour everywhere. 

[debbie does duncan]

https://outofthefog.website/what-to-do-1

Sending you a link that helped me. Check out boundaries. Maybe it can be fixed by setting boundaries and not letting people behave badly.