WORKPLACE

Security in the Office: What do you do if you’re a receptionist and this happens?

A 10-year employee who was fired last week stalks into your reception area, where several important clients are waiting for appointments. He pounds on your desk and demands to see the personnel director. When you tell him that the director has left for the day, he pushes over a potted tree and starts yelling about how the company has ruined his life.

Solutions to that and other potentially explosive situations will be discussed at a seminar later this month in Anaheim. Called the Receptionist’s Guide to Front-Desk Security, the program reflects the growing concern over issues of violence in the workplace.

The seminar is sponsored by Keye Productivity Center, a Kansas City, Mo., division of the American Management Assn. The all-day session will also deal with such issues as how receptionists can command attention and respect, how to recognize when callers are fishing for confidential information and how to stop people who try to slip by the front desk.

The cost of the seminar is $139. For more information, call (800) 821-3919.