'National response' called to address aggression from customers
Most public-facing employees in New Zealand have experienced aggression from customers in the past 12 months, according to a new report, which called for a national response to protect workers from abuse.
New data from ShopCare Charitable Trust revealed that 91% of workers who deal with members of the public faced some form of customer aggression over a 12-month period.
The majority (86%) of these experiences involved verbal abuse, while another 10% reported being exposed to physical violence, including being threatened with weapons.
More than a quarter of employees (27%) said they did not report these incidents of aggression to their manager, with many reporting mental health issues, such as stress (67%) and anxiety (59%), as a result.
Selena Armstrong, chief executive of ShopCare, described the findings as "heartbreaking."
"Customer aggression has become normalised for far too many people. If your job involves serving customers, it is now almost certain you will face abuse," said Selena Armstrong, chief executive of ShopCare, in a statement.
"Workers carry this harm home to their whānau, and the next day they walk back in and face it all over again."
A 'national tragedy' that needs a response
Armstrong said New Zealand cannot afford to treat widespread customer aggression as an individual workplace issue.
"This is a national tragedy, especially when, for many of our kids, this is their first experience of work," she said. "We can, and we must, do better."
Woolworths New Zealand, a founding partner of ShopCare's National Customer Aggression Survey, expressed support for a joint response.
"No single organisation can solve this alone, but by working together on a joint response, we can strengthen prevention, improve support for frontline workers, and ensure respectful behaviour is the expectation," said Denva Wren, Head of Safety, Health and Wellbeing at Woolworths New Zealand, in a statement.
"Encouraging respect across our stores and communities is a shared responsibility. We are proud to support initiatives that put worker wellbeing at the centre and help build safer workplaces for all frontline workers."
Meanwhile, the poll pointed out opportunities where employers can support staff, such as enhancing reporting processes, workforce consultation, and post-incident reporting.
Nearly two in three (64%) of the respondents also said de-escalation and customer aggression training were the most effective actions that employers can take.
ShopCare's poll, conducted in partnership with KPMG, was carried out among over 2,500 frontline workers from various customer-facing industries.
The organisation said it wants the study to be an "ongoing benchmark" to measure progress at reducing customer aggression and improving health and safety outcomes for workers. It also wants to use the findings to inform future guidance, training, and resources.
