TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. The Security Consultant’s Perspective…

2. The Insider Threat…

3. Threats by the Outsiders

4. The Terrorist Threat…

5. Protective Measures…

1) Security Consultant’s Perspective…

Traditional techniques at combating Workplace Violence pits the disgruntled employee against the system and the potential victims in a waiting game. It seems that the “Inside Threat” is reduced to monitoring the known potential, the “Ticking Bomb”, while the unknown threats go unmonitored. Threats by “Outsiders” are just as common and equally violent. Complicating this challenge, we now must grapple with the threat of terrorism (political and domestic) in our workplaces. I am reminded of a quote by James Baldwin from his book, “The Price of the Ticket”. “No one can possibly know what is about to happen: it is happening, each time, for the first time, for the only time”. Fighting the potential workplace threat requires a change in tactics and training techniques in order to be proactive.

2) The Insider Threat…

The “going postal” employee is as real in many workplaces as was the case of the rash of Postal Service incidents that gave rise to the phrase by the media. The difference between the postal employee and the ConAgra Shooting, Kansas (July 2004), the DaimlerChrysler Shooting, Ohio (January 2005) and the Weequaic High School Shooting, Newark, NJ (July 2005) North Toledo was the lack of sensationalized media coverage. I have found that career employees who “go postal” did not plan to do so over night, nor was he predisposed to kill employees. It was a series of gradual events in the employee’s life brought about by changes in personal relationships, a diagnosed medical condition perceived unjust or a caustic domestic situation
gone awry given rise to violence aggression as a form of retaliation at home and the workplace.

The environmental, societal factors and contributing events could not have been more apparent to the trained eye. Perpetrators of workplace violence are victims of their environment because they did not plan their rampage the first day hired. It was a gradual process with changes which bought about behaviors, attitudes and methodical planning clearly evident by the employee’s daily interactions, physical appearance, verbal utterances and documented slips in performance and efficiency. Everybody can see the indicators in the aftermath but most do not understand how to collaborate to prevent the “Ticking Bomb” from exploding before it is too late.

The Threat Assessment Process though intrusive in some quarters is an instrumental process worthy of attention. Subtle but contributory changes in an employee’s demeanor can be detected with early warning signs to provide assistance and intervention. This response unlike the threat posed by “The Outsider” is manageable (predictable)and preventable.

3) Threats By Outsider…

Confrontational crimes committed by “Outsiders” though unmanageable can be mitigated and somewhat preventable. Take the following incidents. A nurse who works at a hospital who tells a horrific story of being punched, kicked, scratched, bitten, nose and ribs broken, stabbed with a pen and suffered eye damage all as a nurse at the hospital are true incidents. He also testified that patients have assaulted his co-workers. This account represents one of several hundred such incidents at hospitals in our Nation yearly. A storekeeper who confronted an armed robber was shot because he did not have enough money. You stop your car at a client’s business and exchange what you need between the car’s compartment and the trunk and return to discover the trunk broken into and the goods stolen? How about the lurking perpetrator who finds the pleasure in attacking helpless victims between floors on the stairwell or on the elevator? But nothing is worst than the unsuspecting medical service provider who is confro nted by a client in his home or the office helpless to defend himself without any insight into appropriate protective measures.

These are situational accounts of innocent employees, victims of their unique situations created by their workplace environments and the threats posed by “Outsiders”.

4) The Terrorist Threat…

Though much attention has been given the political terrorist, little is mentioned in the workplace about our homegrown terrorists. The political terrorist who assimilates into the fabric of America to await the “call to arms”, is much different than the “normal” employee who harbors outward
political, social and religious positions but, is protected by freedom of speech that permits the employee to maintain antithetical positions for the safety and security of the workplace. Our workplaces are full of ideologies that spawn terrorism; Para-military and militia groups, white supremacist
groups, black hate groups; those who believe in extreme defense of the unborn, even environmentalist who work on the fringes of the law have spawned eco-terrorists, defenders of animal rights have attacked furriers and researchers and religious sects have spawned “holy warriors” who attack commercial and cultural interest. Similar to both of these groups they choose targets of value and opportunity. Unlike the “Insider” and the “Outsider”, the criminal behaviors of the domestic terrorist advertise their
moves and are predictable because they are known and apparent.

5) Proactive Measures…

In no particular order: Train your leaders in Threat Assessment, Synchronize the security process with other departments, Structure personnel security procedures, Design a unique security policy, Plan and Test your emergency
evacuation plans, implement strategy to prevent and interdict workplace violence by all, Limit & restrict access, Issue a suitable form of identification with photograph, Teach crime prevention and have desktop exercises and scenarios, test your crisis communications plan, run periodic background checks on all employees and establish a repoting policy to encourage early identification of potential perpetrators.

Nater Associates, Ltd is a Security Management Consulting Practice specializing in Workplace Security Issues and dedicated to providing clients superior security services based on Solid Situational Experiences.

The setting for the history of hoodia gordonii is southern Africa. Long before Europeans explored the continent giving Latin names to the strange plants and animals they encountered, the San peoples knew hoodia gordonii by different names; xshoba, ikhoba, xhooba, etc. The question of hoodia safety had long been answered for them. They knew that hoodia gordonii was safe to eat, though not a preferred food source. The history of hoodia gordonii as an appetite suppressant goes back to these people. When traveling or hunting they knew that hoodia gordonii would ease their hunger and thirst. There was no question about hoodia safety. It had been used traditionally to treat abdominal cramps and indigestion. It was even used to treat hypertension and diabetes. Questions of hoodia safety came later in the history of hoodia.

Credit for giving the plant a Latin name goes originally to a botanist name Francis Masson, who sailed with James Cook. He called the plant Stapelia gordonii and wrote a book about it and other species of hoodia, which he called carrion flowers, because the blooms smell like rotting meat. Later on the name Stapelia was changed to hoodia, in honor of an ardent succulent grower named Van Hood. This begins the history of hoodia gordonii, by its current name.

In the 1960’s scientists at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) investigated many African plants that were used by native people for medicinal purposes. They were interested in hoodia safety and effectiveness as an appetite suppressant. The scientists identified what they believe to be the active molecule in hoodia gordonii and patented the molecule. The recent history of hoodia gordonii scientific research begins here. The CSIR licensed a British pharmaceutical company to continue investigation of hoodia safety and effectiveness. Phytopharm sublicensed the rights to Pfizer, who returned the rights after closing their branch which dealt with plants and naturally occurring substances. Pfizer stated that they believed another company would be better equipped to continue research into hoodia safety and effectiveness. The history of hoodia and Pfizer ends here, in the late 1990’s, and caused some questions among a very few people about whether or not Pfizer would have returned the developmental rights, if hoodia safety and effectiveness could be proven.

Another opinion about Pfizer’s return of the hoodia license; often drug companies have several years to market their version of a new drug before anyone can market a generic or a similar natural health supplement. Because of Phytopharm’s long delay in bringing hoodia gordonii to the market (they are still involved in clinical research of hoodia safety and effectiveness), many health supplement companies have been able to obtain large supplies of the plant from farmers in South Africa. This actually begins the history of hoodia gordonii as a natural appetite suppressant. News continuously comes in. Just a few weeks ago (May 2006), Phytopharm announced that they and their new partner (Unilever) had just completed the first phase of a five phase clinical research program into hoodia safety and effectiveness. The world awaits the results.

For more information about hoodia safety, visit the Hoodia Info Blog at http://hoodiainfo.blogspot.com.

Patsy Hamilton is an editor of the Hoodia Info Blog.

Generation Y–The second-largest crop of young people in America’s history, offspring of the Boomers80 million of them, nearly 27 percent of the U.S. populationare in their late teens and 20s, and already a market force to be reckoned with.

The Millennials are here big time! “They’re demanding their own music, defining their own trends and starting to matter to advertisers, to retailers, to politicians,” chirped a recent Chicago Tribune editorial. What’s more, they are (or soon will be) buying cars and homes, getting married, starting families–and are going to matter very much to American business.

Neo-traditionalist in many ways, the Millennials are not cynical about marriage and having families. These young people value such intangibles as personal fulfillment, family well-being, freedom, securitylives on track. As a result, count on the Millennials to step up to the issues and needs most of us have no matter which generational cohort, market segment, or stage of life we’re in. “They don’t want to make the mistakes of either Generation X or the Boomers, to wait until the panic stage to have babies,” writes columnist, Suzanne Fields.

A High Dose of Reality

But no matter how great their marketing potential, Millennials with ground-floor incomes may be struggling to negotiate rent and other living expenses on top of college loans that the Christian Science Monitor estimates average $17,000. Or they may still be living with Mom and Dad!

So all is not a bed of roses, and even the most astute members of this (or any) generation will find the choices marketers ask them to make confusing. Or (worse) they may think they know it all or imagine they can get everything they need online, and don’t need help.

With so much at stake, indecision, inaction or mistakes born of misplaced self-confidence (”It can’t happen to me”) can be expensive–especially in periods of economic uncertainty. Yet this generation, which has known nothing but prosperity, is not used to doing without. Handed the choice of paying health insurance premiums or maintaining their savings and other financial security plans–and forgoing their cell phones or hanging up their social lives, many of these young people make the wrong call.

Setting priorities can be critical and shouldn’t be ignored no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, That’s one reason why realistic expectations should be communicated to consumers in this or any other age group. A difficult pill to swallow, but exactly the advice young families in that difficult position should hear.

How to Reach The Millennials

Generation Y is generally more comfortable using the Internet as a research tool to aid in making saving and investment decisions, rather than as a means for on-line banking or trading. “To effectively reach the youngest generation of adult Americans, whose lives are being shaped by digital media, marketers must deliver smarter, more sophisticated messages and build brands with them rather than for them,” a study by advertising firm, Saatchi & Saatchi suggests.

As described by Jane Levere in “Generation Shaped by Digital Media Presents Fresh Marketing Challenges,” in the The New York Times: “Saatchi & Saatchi, a unit of Saatchi & Saatchi PLC, based its study on interviews by child psychologists with 84 people ages 6 to 20 across the United States. They were asked what they thought about digital media like personal computers, the Internet, CD-ROMs, video games and cellular phones and other communication devices, and how these media affected their lives. Cultural anthropologists also observed 10 families at home for 50 hours each.

According to the agency, the digital media have several functions for the 80 million Americans born since 1977, the largest generation in the nation’s history. “The media serve as toys for these young people but also provide developmental challenges. Digital media also function as a virtual hearth at home,” the study said. It found that “most families have their digital media set up in a public room of the house; consequently, a lot of digital activities are shared by the family, making these media a center of family life.

“In addition, the study learned that the new media could function as a ‘cool library’ for the new generation.”Generation Y uses digital media as an extension of self socially, intellectually and emotionally,” the study said. ‘By extending the self in these ways, the new media help young people find their identity.’ It concluded that digital media act as “power tools” for the Millennials, giving them tremendous access to knowledge.

Generation Y is generally more comfortable using the Internet as a research tool to aid in making saving and investment decisions, rather than as a means for on-line banking or trading. “To effectively reach the youngest generation of Americans, whose lives are being shaped by digital media, marketers must deliver smarter, more sophisticated messages and build brands with them rather than for them,” a study by advertising firm, Saatchi & Saatchi suggests.

Social Security Reality Check

Despite Democrat and MSM protestations, many young adults are pushing for a privatized or partially privatized Social Security program, which would maximize their two greatest wealth accumulation assets — time and compounding returns.

Prediction: Petulently refusing any mention of privatizing Social Security won’t cut it for long. Washington must find the stones either to a) call time-out and switch over to a privatized Social Security system for everyone over a certain age, b) permit wage earners to invest x-percentage of their payroll tax into personal accounts, or c) come up with some other fiscally feasible, politically palatable version of Social Security reform.

Failing that, the discontent of Millennials and Generation Xers will become the political time bomb for future presidents and Congresses that Social Security had been until George Bush’s bold 2005 initiative.

Want More? Send questions and comments to w.willard3@knology.net.

Bill Willard has also been writing high-impact marketing and sales training primarily for the financial services industry for 30 years. Through interactive, Web-based “Do-While-Learning

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