EYEBALL TO EYEBALL
DEALING WITH DIFFICULT IR SITUATIONS. IR situations can be like live ticking bombs and can explode in your face if not tackled with great care. The important features are that they are usually sudden (unlike planned agitations), incendiary in nature, highly charged with volatile emotions, and can turn explosively violent at the drop of a hat. THE TRIGGER The trigger for the situation can be almost anything, perhaps as simple as an ‘absent marking’ of an influential employee, or an accident involving one or more employees. But the crowd can swell with alarming rapidity, often leading to an intractable IR situation. DIFFICULTIES INHERENT The difficulties involved in such IR situations are as follows: • Identifying a leader to deal with. • Preventing a volcani