A people leader’s guide to tackling occupational violence and aggression on the frontline

A sobering 75% of employees in customer-facing roles report experiencing customer aggression. But this isn’t just a statistic: it’s the daily reality for many hardworking Australians. 

If you’re leading a team of frontline workers, it’s never been more important to put strategies in place to safeguard against occupational violence and aggression (OVA).

Missed our recent webinar on tackling occupational violence and aggression on the frontline? Hear from our panelists Katie Alexander (Organisational Psychologist and Principal Consultant at APS), Lindy Miller (Head of People Experience at TPG) with Host, Julia Bageski (Head of Customer Success at Sonder) as they share their top strategies for preventing occupational violence.

Occupational violence and aggression (OVA) is an umbrella term for a range of behaviours that put your frontline workers at risk. OVA covers everything from lower-level behaviours (including verbal abuse, hostility and intimation) all the way through to more severe behaviours (such as physical violence and sexual harassment).

Unfortunately, customer violence and aggression are on the rise. Since 2018, there has been a 56% increase in serious workers’ compensation claims related to occupational violence and aggression.

Our research reveals that almost half of frontline workforces face customer aggression on a weekly basis, with 25% experiencing OVA every week or more. Concerningly, 29% of workers who experienced customer aggression didn’t receive any support from their employer.

But it’s not just acts of physical aggression that people leaders need to be concerned about. Many frontline workers are regularly encountering disrespectful behaviour from customers that can put their health, wellbeing and safety at risk.

Companies with frontline workers need to have an effective response plan in place to combat the employee safety risks of OVA.

So, what does an effective response plan look like? Our panelists pointed to several key factors that have enabled their organisations to build effective response strategies, including:

• Conducting a root cause analysis after every incident: Reviewing the triggers that sparked each incident allows organisations to spot trends and assess the root causes behind OVA incidents. From there, leaders can roll out targeted interventions that proactively prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
• Empowering leaders to be the ‘first line of defense’: Leaders need to be equipped with psychological first aid training and empowered to recognise and respond when they spot a frontline worker in distress, ensuring frontline workers aren’t left to navigate and process incidents alone.

• Adopting a people-centred approach: Every team member will respond differently to an OVA incident, meaning companies should offer a wide range of support options (not mandatory interventions). This allows people to be at the centre of their recovery, ensuring that care is personalised and never one-size-fits-all.
• Thinking beyond the immediate response: In many cases, employees may have a delayed response to an incident. The best response plans look beyond the immediate 48 hours after an incident, giving leaders the tools and training to step up an employee’s level of care and connect them with professional support through tools like Sonder.

Preventing incidents before they occur is an even more crucial piece of the puzzle. If you’re ready to manage and mitigate safety risks for frontline employees, here are five practical places to start:

• Understand how to conduct a thorough risk assessment: Using a root cause analysis or risk assessment allows your team to understand the common themes and causes of incidents, giving you the insights you need to put preventative measures in place.
• Stay on top of incident reporting data: Data management is key to ensure you take an informed, data-driven approach to your risk mitigation strategy. Speak directly with impacted workers and leverage analytics from platforms like Sonder to gain real-time feedback on where problems are occurring and why.

• Double down on training programs: Employees and leaders need to feel supported with robust de-escalation processes and frameworks for handling incidents. Plus, ensure team members are up-to-speed on the protocols and procedures in place when navigating high-risk situations, such as being a lone worker on shift late at night.
• Create open feedback loops with frontline employees: Listening to frontline workers is key to building policies and processes that will solve the real-world challenges they’re facing. Ensure you’re continually gaining input from frontline team members and creating strategies that are informed by lived experience.
• Build robust debriefing processes: By running effective, timely debriefing sessions, leaders can gain first-hand insights into the triggers of frontline incidents and pinpoint opportunities to prevent these issues from occurring in the first place. Plus, it ensures leaders can spot when a team member might be struggling after an incident, allowing them to connect frontline workers with the right tailored resources and support.

Plus, there are new trends emerging in frontline worker safety that are showing the importance of carefully evaluating company processes to ensure these don’t inadvertently cause harm to team members.

Want to learn more about tackling occupational violence and aggression on the frontline? Watch this webinar on-demand.

Sonder is a technology company that helps organisations improve the wellbeing of their people so they perform at their best. Our mobile app provides immediate, 24/7 support from a team of safety, medical, and mental health professionals – plus onsite help for time-sensitive scenarios. Accredited by the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS), our platform gives leaders the insights they need to act on tomorrow’s wellbeing challenges today.