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It is recommended that you choose a person to be in charge of the process or a process coordinator as this person will be in a position to:
The coordinator, or another person who places importance on preventing violence in the organization, may be one of the people who originally signed the Commitment Agreement.
This person must have sufficient leadership skills, an open mind, and a proactive attitude if he or she is to successfully rally the different people that will be involved.
For organizations with a sufficient number of employees, it is recommended that a committee be appointed or created to take charge of the process. It must be a joint committee, that is, composed of both management representatives and employees (or their representatives).
This committee could, for example, include a representative of each of the following groups: Haute direction
Its objectives (which can be defined in the Commitment Agreement) could, for example, include:
TIP
Does your organization already have a joint committee concerned with occupational health and safety? If so, it might be pertinent to mandate this committee to take charge of the workplace-violence prevention process. However, if your organization opts to form a new, independent committee specifically to work on the violence prevention issue, it is important that the two committees communicate with each other because they have related functions.
In the context of a transparent participatory process, all employees should be informed that a new committee will be created.
Everyone can be invited to take part in this committee. To do so, an invitation can be sent to all employees asking them if they would like to participate and clearly specifying the committee’s objectives, the time they would be released from their other duties, and the qualities sought in potential participants.
If you decide to form a new committee, you may wish to use this sample invitation to participate:
Sample invitation
Download (.doc)
Lastly, after appointing specific individuals to be in charge of the process, you should plan for replacements and keep a list of interested persons who were not initially retained in the event that any committee members have to step down during their term. As the coordinator’s role is key to the process, it is particularly important, right from when the committee is first formed, to have a second person or “substitute” in mind, someone who can replace the coordinator if he or she is absent or unavailable. It is also important to welcome the substitute and keep him or her informed periodically so that he or she is at ease in the role.
TIP
As the coordinator will be an essential link between senior management, the union (if there is one), and employees, it is important that the person who holds this position:
- be appointed by consensus among all parties;
- be neutral and not have any ulterior motives or bias;
- be able to present everyone’s point of view;
- have good communication skills and be comfortable interacting with his or her co-workers.