For Theseus, conducting good-quality research is an essential feature of quality management in its threat and risk assessment, and we publish our research in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Such work permits the giving of accurate advice to clients, specific to their sector and situation. It reduces the otherwise necessary reliance on research findings from other sectors, for example public figure or political settings, which may often not apply equally in the private sector.
It also enables the identification of practice points of day-to-day relevance for risk managers. For instance, one primary concern for clients experiencing the impact of threatening and intrusive behaviour, is the question of persistence: how long are we going to have to endure this for?
The answer appears to depend in large part on what is motivating the intrusion, this varying substantially between the corporate, talent management, private client and family office sectors. Grievance, for instance, predominates in the corporate sector, and the quest for intimacy in the talent world.
Our case profile indicates that the most short-lived bouts of intrusion tend to be motivated by attention or publicity-seeking. Such cases, involving the attempt to co-opt a prominent figure or brand, voluntarily or otherwise, to popularise a personal cause or desire for notoriety can arise in any sector. Whilst the mean duration of such contact in our cases is only 3.5 months, some cases go on for much longer if a response is offered up by the recipients of the communications in question. This is a good example of how understanding motivation can guide a management decision, the practice point in cases such as these, once recognised, being not to respond.
The most persistent cases are those driven by grievance and these predominate in the corporate sector, particularly among companies for which the handling of complaints is part of core business.
Almost half of Theseus’ casework concerns such companies, operating in the financial services, retail, utility and tech sectors. Of cases referred to us by these companies, 60% are motivated by grievance or 1resentment, and have already persisted for a mean of 21.6 months prior to being referred for risk assessment. (Actually, in this population, there are some clear markers for persistence: extremes of anger (rage rather than upset); clear threats and declarations of intent; and the making of demands, for money and/or apologies. But this is a topic for a future Insight.)
Those who intrude physically in the private sphere have almost all communicated beforehand – and usually over a lengthy period, using multiple means to communicate and doing so frequently.
This leads to a further practice point. Simply from the long mean duration of communication before individuals try to engage in physical approach, it is reasonable to assume that a significant proportion of those who will intrude on and disrupt the operations of companies and family offices in 2023 are already known to those organisations. Indeed, it is likely that their intent is being currently, clearly and repeatedly expressed.
The in-house adoption of a structured approach to identifying risk factors for unwanted outcomes in online and offline communications can be an effective strategy in reducing the risk of disruption, distress and reputational harm associated with persistent threat and intrusion.
